Now we finally have a roadmap to restaurants reopening in the UK, there’s a window of time to plan without all of the daily tasks of running a hospitality business. One key area to focus on in your planning is which tech platforms to make use of, to supercharge the re-opening and drive extra revenue.
Below are 3 you can use to drive extra revenue for your restaurant, that will help turn a good reopening into a great one.
Some food waste is unavoidable, no chef has a crystal ball and can perfectly buy in what customers are going to order in a few days. Not only is food waste terrible for the environment, it’s bad for the bottom line, so what can you do to cut out unnecessary waste give the planet a little helping hand?
Over the last few years several app companies have launched in the UK that can help you, “Too Good to Go” and “Karma” are direct competitors in this space. They both enable hospitality businesses to offer un-sold food that will otherwise be thrown away at a discount online. The main additional costs to consider are additional packaging and the commission charges by these platforms but as you’re essentially turning what would be waste into revenue I think it’s a good trade off.
The other key benefit of these apps is their existing user bases so it’s a great way to both introduce new customers to your brand, and turn what would be food waste into incremental revenue for your business.
There will always be quiet times in hospitality, it’s part and parcel of the business but as restaurant technology evolves there are more opportunities to boost these quieter periods.
Swipii is a customer loyalty app that uses automated marketing to drive incremental orders to your business. Swipii links to customers' cards, and gives them cashback each time they pay at a business on the platform. Usually this is a small amount between 1%-5% but businesses can schedule extra cashback offers of 10%+ when they expect to be quiet, these offers are sent to your customers which helps to drive extra revenue for your business.
Swipii will help you sign up you customers as well, by giving your staff & the customer £5 instant cashback when they make their first purchase. One they’ve signed up, they can see your extra cashback offers in the Swipii App and can be notified by emails or push notifications. Regularly running offers at non-peak times can also drive incremental orders and build customer habits. Keen to find out more? Book a free 15 minute demo with our team!
People eat with their eyes, and in our modern world those eyes are often glued to screens. Social media for restaurants is really important now, and most hospitality businesses appreciate it can no longer be overlooked. It is becoming increasingly pay to play but there are still ways to use social media to get free marketing for your restaurant.
Social media is predominantly a visual medium, so there are two things to nail, that will pay dividends long term. Designing the presentation of your dishes to photograph well increases the likelihood your customers will share pictures online. You don’t need to go over the top and use gimmicks like multi colored bagels, charcoal burger buns & edible flowers. Careful consideration of the presentation, colour palette and what your menu item is served in/on can be enough.
It’s also a good idea to get a high quality photoshoot done of your dishes, you don’t always have to hire a photographer, instagram is full of pics from non-professionals, but upskilling yourself on photography & editing is a good idea if you’re doing this in-house. In 2018 20% of customers looked at a restaurant's instagram to check out what food looks like before going to eat there. This is much higher in younger demographics and is only set to increase, so thinking of it as a virtual menu is a good approach.
It may not be measurable or immediately obvious the extra revenue you are generating with your activity online, it’s a long process but will pay off over time. Social media also acts as an amplifier for your other incremental revenue drivers, so if you’re using this channel to post about your extra cashback offers on Swipii, or your partnership with a Food Waste app they will see an increase as well.
So to round up these are our three tips to drive extra revenue at your restaurant
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