Have you turned up the holiday spirit at your restaurant? In our last blog, we listed a few ways to invigorate your guests with festive cheer. They included installing new signage, setting up a loyalty program and decking the halls of your social media profiles.
Here are three more ways to create a festive atmosphere in your eatery:
1. Offer seasonal specials.
It makes perfect sense to welcome the holiday season with holiday specials. Your customers will expect them. Spice up your menu with some special treats that can only be enjoyed at this time of the year. Even if you don’t necessarily wish to add new items to the menu, consider creating holiday specials out of the options you already serve. Naturally, your customers will appreciate savings anywhere they can get them.
“Seasonal specials can be a great driver of new and repeat traffic and can build over time to become quite impactful for your brand,” writes Adriana Desmond of Lunchbox, “When items are offered in a limited fashion and ran over consistent periods of time, a natural sense of anticipation builds.”
2. Decorate to the nines.
If you haven’t decorated your restaurant already, here’s a reminder that setting a festive atmosphere is a must. Don’t just assume that a tree, a wreath and some mistletoe is all that is necessary. Playing holiday music and even putting a few Santa hats on your wait staff can go a long way in invigorating your guests with holiday joy.
“Ambiance and vibes are more than just buzzwords in the restaurant business,” insists graphic design company, Kimp, “They can be the difference between customers choosing or not choosing you for their dining experience. The holiday season calls for an added effort to set the right mood. Most people are looking for an experience that matches the holiday theme rather than a simple night of eating.”
3. Sell gift cards.
Gift cards are atop many a holiday shopping wish list. People want them. It’s that simple. Gift cards always enable their recipients to buy whatever they want. When your restaurant sells gift cards, it firstly, answers a need had by many a holiday shopper. Secondly, it ensures that your customers will either return in the future or recommend your eatery to others. There’s nothing better than word of mouth promotion! Gift cards are the best recommendations you can get.
“Gift cards are still one of the most popular holiday gifts,” affirms Desmond, “In fact, for 13 years in a row gift cards have topped the most wanted gifts list. It’s actually known that around 20% of gift cards are never redeemed, making these tokens a profitable line item for your business.”
Is your restaurant’s menu online?
With Unity Payments’ online ordering system for restaurants, you can get customers to place online orders directly from your website. You can easily set up your menu, make live menu updates, manage inventory, process takeout and delivery requests, schedule pick-ups, create promo codes and more! For more information, please don’t hesitate to call us at 1-800-661-3761 or email us at info@unitypayments.ca.
