The restaurant industry has become very competitive, making it challenging for restaurants to stay always at the lead of the curve. However, that does not mean that your restaurant cannot have a brand name in the market and become lucrative.
You just need to integrate a few things with the right strategy and execution in the proper manner.
If you’re seeking ways to boost restaurant sales, you’re in the right place. Many restaurant owners are asking themselves how to grow a restaurant business. In this particular article, we will discuss some easy ways to gain more market value and attract consumers with increased sales of a restaurant.
How to Grow a Restaurant Business with Online Food Delivery Apps
It’s a fact that free online food ordering apps have brought a change in the Food and Business industry. The food delivery apps have given this amazing opportunity to many small-scale and large-scale restaurants to reach the audience through their mobile phone.
Just with simple few clicks on the app, one can find any type of cuisine to give satisfaction to their taste buds. Moreover, the home delivery option is like a cherry on top.
Every day, these portals see a glut of orders coming their way which gives huge exposure to the restaurants.
If you want to know how to grow a restaurant business in 2024, you should register your business on these portals to serve your customers in a better way. Make sure your restaurant profile should be up to the mark on these portals. All your menus should be enlisted properly with categories.
By doing this, your dishes will flash in the results when the consumer searches for similar dishes.
Have a Safety Badge
Safety badge is a necessity in the restaurant industry. It is a certification denoting that you follow all the safety measures as per the government rules. It also includes regular sanitization of the place, usage of gloves during the preparation of food, wearing of a mask, and many other things.
This safety badge is another aspect that customers look for in restaurants while placing an order for food or dining. It is a supplementary client faith custody factor.
All online food ordering systems have started this trend. If you have omitted the badge on your website or listing, you must get one. All these portals allow you to get connected with a wider audience with not much effort.
However, these orders will come through a third party and you’ll need to pay a commission. Still, it’s worth exploring to boost your restaurant’s sales.
Have a Google Business Listing to Grow Your Business
Google processes over 50,000 search queries almost every second on average which translates to over 3 billion searches per day.
Aside from these points, here’s why listing your restaurant on Google is important:
- Google is the go-to platform for most people searching for restaurants. Whenever someone is looking for a new place to eat, Google is usually their first choice.
- Advanced technology has made it easier for tech-savvy consumers to use voice assistants like Google, Alexa, and others to search for restaurants. Here’s an example of how a Google business listing helps these assistants find your restaurant:
Customer: “OK Google, what’s the best restaurant near me?”
Google: “Here are some popular restaurants near your location.”
Customer: “OK Google, what are the hours for the first option?”
Google: “The restaurant is open from 11 AM to 10 PM.”
People also often use Google Maps to find directions, making a Google Business listing even more essential.
Listing your restaurant on Google is a no-brainer. With just a few clicks, you can add important details like your contact number, address, hours, menu, directions, images, and even the option to reserve a table.
A well-maintained Google Business listing allows you to showcase vital information to potential customers before they even visit your website. Best of all, it’s FREE! This makes it an excellent way to reach your audience, attract more customers, and boost your restaurant’s sales.
Grow a Restaurant Business with a Website and Blog
Even in this technical world, most restaurants don’t believe in having a website for their business. Mainly, because they already have enough consumers. It is a myth that without an online presence, your business will grow.
These days, no business can grow without an online presence. You won’t even realize the major impact of having a website for your restaurant unless you experience it by yourself.
For instance, if any of your friends or relatives recommend a restaurant, the very first step will be to search online and look for the website. Through the website, you can also provide the basic information to your consumers that you may need to know such as directions, hours, cuisines, payment methods, and much more.
You can also keep consumers aware of any offers, gift cards, or promotions like lunch deals, festive menus, combo packs, and even happy hour services. If you don’t have an attractive menu in your restaurant, then it is time to upgrade it by using various POS software available.
Providing ready and steady information solves a lot of questions that consumers might have in their minds. Thereby, it saves a lot of time and effort for your staff members.
This is all about brand awareness and why one should have a website. Creating good content will get you more online traffic. Putting more content will attract your target audience to visit your website eventually and frequently and it will gradually increase your restaurant sales.
Organize Workshops and Events
This is the most underrated idea to boost your sales through workshops and events. In this, you can collaborate with food festivals and with various events or you can also host your own event. All such events will expand your horizon to increase sales and attract more customers.
Many famous food festivals are organized each year in various countries drawing enormous crowds. These are such as the pizza festival in Italy and the bacon fest in California. While these are popular international food festivals, participation is not mandatory.
You can also consider participating in local, state, and country-level events. All these events give a golden ticket to showcase your special delicacies and attract the audience more essentially.
Also, if you are a patisserie or bakery person, you can plan cupcake workshops, especially for little ones or you can also invite the customers to come and taste the new cupcakes for free. Apart from this, you can also organize charity events or fundraisers that will bring you into the limelight and can also bring more and more customers to your place.
Grow a Restaurant Business with Social Media and Visuals
Whenever people go to any restaurant or want to order online, they mainly choose food based on the photos. If the dish looks appealing then the customers go through the content and order it directly. This implies that strong visuals are the critical aspect of making the right decision.
What you see is what you get: these strategies can help you improve restaurant sales in 2024. The best part is they’re super easy to implement and completely free. Simply take high-quality photos, upload them to your portal or social media platforms, and enhance them with some basic editing tools.
Many food bloggers on Instagram actively seek out restaurants with a strong social media presence to feature on their pages. These bloggers visit the restaurants and share their personal experiences with their followers, bringing free promotion and increased visibility across social media platforms—a win-win situation for your restaurant.
Another effective strategy is recording and uploading videos. Post-pandemic, capturing customers’ attention has become more challenging. However, video content can give you a competitive edge and help you stand out.
Apply Strategic Marketing
Marketing your restaurant business is a key aspect on a daily basis. In present times, you must have several marketing strategies to apply for your restaurant business. However, it’s important to assess whether these strategies are delivering the desired results.
In the new competitive world, you cannot expect to use old market strategies; you need to apply innovative ideas for high growth. Adopt contemporary ways to market your restaurant business like Google Ads, Facebook, and many more. You have to gear up your social media for steady market growth. Consider using email and SMS marketing as well to capture your customers’ attention and keep them engaged.
Diversifying the Menu
It’s undeniable that food is the heart of any restaurant. No matter how much effort you put into marketing, if the food isn’t good, you won’t win your customers’ hearts.
You can’t compromise on the quality of your food. It is not necessary to have a 5-star chef in your restaurant, but you can at least understand what your customers prefer from your menu. Also, try to maintain a catchy menu for your audience to provide them with unique and maximum options to choose from.
An updated menu and a well-presented menu can be a fundamental choice for an improved restaurant business. Other than that, make your restaurant interesting by adding some unique delicacies to your menu to provide them with a good ambiance, great music, and top-class service.
Add seasonal dishes to the menu to also improve the restaurant sales in every season. After the pandemic, most people are suffering from health issues. You can consider including healthy dishes in your menu or have a separate keto menu for health-conscious people.
All these steps are very small but the impact they have is very big in increasing your restaurant sales. Seasonal menus, in particular, can attract returning customers eager to try new dishes and encourage them to bring along friends and family.
Reorganize Your Loyalty Curriculum
Even today, restaurant loyalty programs have not lost their charm. If organized smartly, these programs can help you strike a home run. Always keep a record of the customers visiting your restaurants regularly and ask them to get themselves enrolled in the loyalty program. These programs work best to increase customers.
Make sure that your loyalty program offers real value to attract customers, such as:
- A 3-year membership program where customers receive a 10% discount on every bill.
- A 1-year membership program that includes a free beverage with every order.
Additionally, give exciting discounts, food coupons, and reward points to customers when they visit your restaurant.
Loyalty programs can work wonders for restaurants struggling with sales. Want to know how to increase restaurant business? Incorporate gift vouchers in the loyalty program and provide gift vouchers to your customers.
Many restaurants choose these vouchers to increase their sales during the festive time. Restaurants with buffet systems usually reap maximum benefits. Gift vouchers can feature various promotions. This can include a free second meal, a complimentary buffet for couples, and special discounts on bills during occasions like anniversaries and birthdays.
All these strategies can help you in retaining customers. You can also choose to launch these vouchers in association with many other vendors. This can also include paid access to offer discounts for customers ordering online food, as a reward for customers participating in local events, etc.
Try fundraising and charity events and it will bring you into the limelight. This can also bring more customers to your table.
Pro tip: Get rid of physical loyalty cards. Opt for cashless with digital cards. If managing a loyalty program is a task for you, then you can also opt for loyalty program software. With these programs, you can also increase your brand value and customers and eventually your business as well.
Grow a Business with Seasonal Promotions
Offers, promotions, and discounts are undisputed ways to attract customers. It is a proven technique to increase your sales in any season. To run your business efficiently, you can start promotions such as:
Special day promotions, festivals, and seasonal events: While you may have run promotions in the past, consider refreshing them by focusing on local holidays and offering discounts or special deals on these days. Experiment with unique occasions like International Food Day, Mother’s Day, and Women’s Day to attract more customers.
Focus on Good Ambiance
Good ambiance plays a major role these days in the restaurant business. Food is the first priority but the ambiance is also equally important. Having a good ambiance doesn’t mean spending thousands of dollars on your restaurant.
Making it a more photographic place and lavish interiors is not the priority. But, cleanliness and good service with hygienic sitting will attract your customers to visit your restaurant on a daily basis.
A vintage-themed restaurant with colorful walls will make it a more attractive place to enjoy the food. It plays a major role in growing your sales. After cleanliness, you can have good music by having a guitarist or live music around your dining area. You should also make sure that the dining area is spacious and comfortable enough.
Play with the lights of your restaurant to give a lively effect. These days many restaurants are designed on themes like Game of Thrones, Friends, and Stranger Things. Whatever changes you opt for, don’t forget to endorse them on your social media handles and website. An appealing ambiance has the capability to attract customers on a daily basis.
Reorganizing Seating and Spaces
As restaurants remain popular gathering spots, creating a comfortable and spacious dining environment is essential. While strict social distancing measures may no longer be required, it’s still needed to consider thoughtful seating arrangements that prioritize customer comfort and safety.
You might need to reduce the number of seats to guarantee a more spacious dining experience, which can enhance your restaurant’s appeal as a hygienic and safe place to eat.
Many restaurants are adopting open kitchen formats, where customers can see how their food is being prepared. This transparency can build trust, reassuring customers that their meals are made with proper hygiene practices. However, it’s essential to maintain high kitchen standards, as one mistake could lead to significant business setbacks.
Managing Reviews
Reviews of your restaurant are very crucial. They are silent but salient players. Reviews are a decisive partner of your customers. Your reviews on various ordering platforms play a major role in bringing your business. Yet many restaurants fail to manage reviews and keep a follow-up with them.
In 2024, the question of how to grow a restaurant business is on every owner’s mind. To stand out, try reaching out to your customers personally through email or phone calls, share their feedback, and respond to all reviews regularly. This shows that you genuinely care about your customers and their concerns.
Take time to respond to each of the reviews. You can even highlight a few on your website. This will show that each review matters a lot. Observing the reviews, your customers are more likely to choose the restaurant over others. You can also send them links to give an SMS, feedback message, or e-mail.
Moreover, by analyzing all the reviews, you can also search for what is appreciated by the customers and what you need to improve in your restaurant business. You can always work on your weak points to increase your business appropriately. This way, reviews can easily help you in increasing the sales of your restaurant.
Get Associated with Local Businesses
To increase restaurant sales, it is important to get in touch with the neighboring food community or other associations related to the government that can endorse your business. Partnerships can always help in growing the business by tapping other businesses and their customers.
You need to find out the customers who would prefer your food like kids, corporate people, and youngsters. Then, target them through various platforms.
If you want to focus on people who are health conscious and gym freaks, then start with low-calorie food like smoothies, salad, and non-fried items. If your restaurant is near offices, then reach out to corporate people. All these ideas help you to have a great deal and major profits.
Growing a Restaurant in 2024
Now it’s time to put these strategies into action and discover what works best for your restaurant business. Increasing sales won’t be easy, but it’s certainly achievable with patience and persistence. Among these strategies, something is bound to resonate with your business.
You’ll find the answers to growing your restaurant once you explore every possible solution to stay ahead of your competitors. For more tips and technical assistance in boosting your restaurant, reach out to App2Food and get ready to give your food business an energetic kickstart.
For further tips and technical assistance in growing your restaurant, reach out to App2food and get ready to give an energetic kick-start to your food business.