As holidays such as Valentine’s Day are quickly approaching, there are certain things that restaurants should do to prepare. Around these kinds of romantic holidays, customers are typically willing to open their wallets and spend a little more to make this day special. As a result, celebrations surrounding these special occasions typically provide an opportunity for increased profits. If planned correctly, it can be a great time for restaurants to establish themselves as a place for customers to celebrate.
It could also be the perfect time for restaurants to recruit and impress new customers. To capitalize on these holidays, however, planning will be the difference between the holiday season being boom or bust. If not done right, it could be a missed opportunity versus one packed with engaged customers, increased reservations, and enhanced revenues. Let’s look at some ways that restaurants can prepare for romantic holidays.
Holiday Food Options
The most obvious detail that restaurants need to pay attention to during holidays is the food. Special holidays serve as a perfect time to implement a special menu. Menu items such as special cuts of meat and sweet treats like chocolate-covered strawberries can prove to be a great way to build your holiday offerings. You might also think about bringing back popular 86’d items as a part of the seasonal promotions.
Adding new menu items or bringing back old ones for a limited time can be an excellent revenue booster. You might also come up with ways to integrate a holiday touch into your usual fare. A popular example is a pizza shop baking heart-shaped pizzas on Valentine’s Day. Spoon University offers up some great inspiration for holiday-inspired menu items.
Another way to boost your revenue during holidays is to expanding your takeout and catering services. With Covid-19 influencing holiday celebrations, these options could be invaluable this year. During normal times, however, your customers might simply decide to spend a romantic evening at home. This could prove to be your opportunity to provide a meal for that special night. To capitalize on this, restaurants may need to look at their online ordering platforms to ensure a pleasant customer ordering experience.
One option instead of using their own website could be for restaurants to work with a delivery platform such as Uber Eats, DoorDash, or Grubhub through the restaurants online ordering system. How you choose to offer your holiday fare, restaurants need to focus on the menu and getting these items to the customer.
Gift Giving
Aside from good food, customers are looking for gifts to commemorate these special holidays. One of the best revenue-generating ideas is to let customers give the gift of your restaurant. A gift card to your restaurant is a convenient gift and an easy way for you to make money. A popular promotion is to offer discounts for multiple gift cards. If you want to think outside of the box, your restaurant could partner with other gift-giving services that could deliver strawberries, bouquets, or gift baskets, to your dining room to be waiting at a customer’s table when they arrive.
Offering promotions such as a Valentine gift delivery could give your customers the option for flower bouquets and dinner at the same time. Incorporating gift-giving with your holiday dinner offerings could set your business apart from other establishments, impress your customer base, and boost your restaurant brand.
Business Operations
For romantic holidays and special occasions, customers are looking for an outstanding dinner and the perfect gift. Outside of ensuring this, however, your restaurant might need to make tweaks to certain business operations to capitalize on the holiday profits. You may need to address any staffing concerns to ensure that your service will be able to handle increased traffic and offer top-notch service.
As part of planning for increased traffic on a specific day, the restaurant should also evaluate inventory and plan for any additional ordering that might need to happen. This is especially true if you plan to offer special promotions.
Finally, along the line of special promotions, you will want to increase your marketing and social media presence leading up to the holiday to generate interest and reservations. Carefully planning your operations going into a holiday can ensure a successful business day.
A holiday can provide a unique opportunity for restaurant owners to increase profits, impress repeat customers, and recruit new ones. By focusing on things like special menu offerings, catering and delivery options, and gift ideas, restaurants can benefit from the holiday. While it could mean changing your operations for the day and rearranging things, with a little planning, a holiday could turn into a big payday for your restaurant.
