One week ago, our blog offered up some ways that restaurateurs could turn up the heat in their eateries this summer. To boost sales, we suggested that they unveil new summer menus, host outdoor events and promote a live concert series. Are you a restaurant owner? This week, we decided to take a deeper look into making your restaurant a summer hot spot.
Promote your drinks and desserts.
Naturally, the summertime is the hottest time of year. What do people want when it’s hot? Something cold! Promote your restaurant’s drinks and desserts by highlighting some of your special seasonal menu items. According to Laura-Andreea Voicu on GloriaFood.com, a seasonal restaurant menu can help you lower food costs and attract more people to your restaurant.
“Desserts are a quick and easy way to refresh your restaurant summer menu without changing too much,” she writes, “Case in point, ice cream. Everyone loves to enjoy a refreshing cone of ice cream in the summer. Add that to your menu and think of other ways to use it, such as creating delicious ice cream frappes.”
Sell gift cards.
For restaurant owners, the only thing better than welcoming customers to their dining rooms is welcoming them BACK to their dining rooms. Selling gift cards will do that. Arguably, there is no better recommendation for a business than when a person gives another a gift card for it. With gift cards selling in your restaurant, you assure both repeat business AND the ability to welcome new customers in future.
“Restaurant gift cards became more popular during the pandemic, as a way for diners to support their favourite eateries,” notes Bentobox, “But gift cards were also a smart way to drive extra revenue before the pandemic, and they will continue to serve that role moving forward.”
Advertise “Date Night” at your restaurant.
The pandemic forced us to completely rethink how we approach the dating scene. The dating lives of many people faltered. Without restaurants to go to, due to lockdowns, people found it next to impossible to spend evenings out. These days, with restrictions lifted, it’s wise to advertise that your restaurant is the perfect place to take someone on a date!
“Summer is all about celebrating love with that special someone,” insists Voicu, “Make your restaurant the place to do that by organizing regular date nights on the terrace. Make the atmosphere romantic by decorating the place with candles, flowers, or balloons. You can even bring in a photo booth where people can take snapshots as memories of this wonderful night.”
Set up an online menu.
We would be remiss if we didn’t reiterate a major point we made in last week’s blog. It’s important to continue to offer customers the ability to order food from your menu online. For many people, online ordering is a top choice way to go. It’s easy, quick, safe and convenient!
Take advantage of Unity Payments’ online ordering system for restaurants. With it, 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.
