Restaurants can increase sales on slow days by thinking outside of the box, trying something new and analyzing the performance of the strategy. Below you can find a few ideas for increasing sales at your restaurant on slow days.
Create a Special Menu (Limited Time Offer Idea for Restaurants)
By using ingredients that you already purchase for your restaurant or by adding a few new ones, you can conjure up a special menu that is only available on your restaurant’s slow days to draw people in. You should have two or more dishes on the special menu so that the probability increases that more customers will see something that they think is an absolute must-have! Try to create unique dishes or use ingredients that are popular on search engines or on social media.
- Example 1: You have eggs, cheese, flour and breakfast meats in stock for your regular menu. You could sell a breakfast quiche on your slow days.
- Example 2: You have oxtails, macaroni and a variety of cheeses in stock for your regular menu. You could sell an oxtail mac and cheese on your slow days.
Offer a Limited Time Discount (Limited Time Offer Idea for Restaurants )
Offer a percentage or dollar off discount to your customers on your restaurant’s slow days. Only offer the discount on your restaurant’s slower days or even limit it to certain hours on those days. This discount should encourage people to come in so they save money on things they were already interested in purchasing.
What we’re manifesting🪄 They come in for the discount on Monday and come back Friday when they’re tired from the work week and just don’t feel like cooking or cleaning.
Offer a Freebie (Bundle Offer Idea for Restaurants)
For bundle offers for restaurants, you’ll probably need to look at your sales data. Which of your high margin/high profit entrees, small appetizers and side dishes are selling the most? Now let’s bundle those into a buy one get one deal on your slow days.
- Example: Your best selling entrees is your chicken pasta and your short ribs. Great! Your best selling appetizer with the highest margin is your cheesy garlic bread. Well you’ve got the perfect bundle offer. On your restaurant’s slow days, customers can purchase chicken alfredo or shorts ribs and get a cheesy garlic bread for free! Easy deal!
Run Specials for Local Organizations (Neighborhood Promotion Idea for Restaurants)
It’s easy for these people to come to your restaurant because at some point in the day, they are in your neighborhood so visiting your restaurant won’t be inconvenient. Offer discounts on your slow days to people who are apart of organizations like nearby schools, churches, universities and even local government offices.
- Example: You can require them to show their affiliation to one of the local organizations by showing an ID or a name tag. This is their golden ticket to a discount! Encourage them to bring a friend next time and be sure to give them marketing materials about your catering services if you offer them!
Marketing and Timeline for Increasing Sales at Your Restaurant on Slow Days
You’re going to need to create some marketing materials for this campaign such as:
- Flyers
- Email content
- Social media posts
- Website pop-ups or banners
Don’t spend advertising money on this campaign until you see how the free (mostly) tools get the job done. I would promote the new special for at-least two weeks before rolling it out to build up some awareness and anticipation. During these two weeks, you can also make sure you have all inventory necessary to provide the offerings and also create and print marketing materials you can give out or have on display when customers arrive.
Making sure every single customer experience is a good one is really the key for restaurants to increase sales on slow days because not only will people spread the word but, like magic, they will be back! Read more about what it takes to ensure every customer experience is enchanting in our next blog post!
Here at NANDI, we are major believers in seasons and patterns, we do believe in marketing magic after-all✨ So continue to analyze the maturation of your efforts and make time for a final analysis at the end of a 90 day period.
We use MarketMagic here at NANDI! MarketMagic is a 90-day approach to restaurant marketing campaigns. Need help with getting started? Email us now at [email protected].