With in-person business severely limited or suspended altogether in many states, local restaurants across the country have been hit hard by coronavirus. Luckily, there are lots of things local restaurants can do to boost their revenue.
5 Things Restaurants Can do to Boost Revenue During Coronavirus
Robyn Rivera
A Local Restaurant’s Guide to Boosting Revenue During Coronavirus
#1. Make ordering convenient for your customers.
Regardless of whether you’re set up for in-house delivery, third-party delivery, take-out, or some combination of options, you need to give your customers flexibility where ordering is concerned. Don’t make your customers order through a third-party app or by calling your restaurant; give them lots of options so they can pick the most convenient one for them. If someone is only so-so about trying out your restaurant for the first time, they’re not going to follow through if you don’t make it as convenient as possible for them to order.
One of the options you offer your customers should absolutely be to place an order directly on your website. While they won’t be able to order third-party delivery on your website, they can order for carry-out or in-house delivery if you offer it. And it prevents them from having to place a phone call, which is probably the least convenient option of all for most people.
Of course, online ordering can’t be done on just any website, and if yours isn’t capable of supporting an online ordering system, it’s time to consider upgrading to one that does. Right now, with more people online than ever people, a local restaurant’s online reputation is everything. It all starts with having the right website.
#2. Overshare with your customers.
Learning how to get the word out effectively is one of the most important things you can do to protect your bottom line during the coronavirus pandemic. After all, it really doesn’t matter a whole lot if you’ve got a killer Monday night special if no one knows that you’re offering it.
Getting the word out effectively means sharing it in so many places and so often that you get sick of seeing it. Effective communication for a local restaurant at this moment can feel like oversharing, but there really is no such thing.
Your target audience may all have some things in common, like a zip code, relative age, interests, etc., but the truth is that not all of them are going to be on Facebook and not all of them will see your YouTube channel. That’s why the key to success lies in multi-channel marketing.
Not only should you share the basics, like what your menu looks like, the specials you’re offering, an estimated date for when you think you’ll be open for in-person business by, etc,, but you should also share how you plan to keep customers and employees safe when you do.
#3. Give your community what they want.
If ever there was a time to update your menu, it’s now. With the price of some foods sharply rising, not all of your pre-coronavirus menu items are quite as profitable as they used to be. Now is not the time to rigidly stick to the course at hand but to stay nimble and learn to be flexible. For a restaurant, that might mean offering a new menu.
If you’re putting together a new menu, one great place to start is by figuring out what people want to eat. Luckily, there are plenty of ways to learn what people are looking for:
- Check out Google’s most searched for recipes since stay-at-home orders were given.
- Find each state’s favorite order with Grubhub’s annual report.
- Learn what the most-frequently pinned recipes are on Pinterest.
- Pick from a few different menu options and take a poll on social media to narrow down your choices.
#4. Meet the needs of your customers.
More than half of all U.S. households have lost income amidst the economic fallout from the pandemic, which means that a lot of budgets are tighter than usual. If your customers aren’t able to afford your restaurant, it’s going to severely affect your bottom line. You’re much better off lowering your prices or offering specials that make your restaurant affordable for more people.
In addition to making your offerings more affordable, think about other ways you can meet the needs of your customers right now. Here are a few ideas:
- Offer online cooking classes to help your customers recreate their favorite dishes at home.
- Put together meal kits or drink kits for your most popular menu items.
- Offer family-sized menu items that can feed families for less.
#5. Take advantage of cheap advertising.
You may have limited hours of operation, limited services, and/or a limited menu, but your business’s online presence should be anything but limited right now. As I said, more people are online than ever before, which is a great thing for a local restaurant looking to build more recognition and a bigger following, because online advertising is also much more affordable than it typically is.
Even better, lots of businesses have pulled back their online advertising budgets, which means that there’s less competition. So, not only is advertising unusually cheap, but there’s also a minimal amount of other restaurants to compete with at the moment. It’s the perfect storm for businesses looking to grow their revenue and their online presence.
Your local restaurant’s online presence revolves around your website, and if you’re due for an update, consider building it yourself with Websites 360®. Our website builder is so easy to use that you don’t have to know a single line of code to build a beautiful, professional website that’s easy to use and user friendly.
Building your own restaurant website with Websites 360 is easy and starts with picking the perfect template for your needs. Get started today.