While most pizzerias are going to be closed on Christmas Day, New Year’s Eve is a different story, and is responsible for a nearly 200% increase in pizza takeout orders. Therefore, the holiday season can be a very lucrative time for restaurants. But if you’re worried about underperforming sales numbers, or your restaurant has a history of disappointing holiday seasons, here are a few reasons why that might happen, and how you can avoid it for the upcoming holidays.
People might not be eager to go out and spend money at a restaurant around the holidays since they’re already so costly, but this decision comes much easier when they’re armed with a gift card they were given during the holidays. And nearly half of all digital gift card sales for the year occur in December alone. So if you don’t have gift cards that your customers can buy, then you’re not maximizing your holiday sales potential.
Choose a POS that integrates with a gift card provider like Paytronix to make it easier for your restaurant to create a good gift card program.
If your menu looks the same year-round, then you’re missing out on a huge opportunity to drive holiday sales by introducing new seasonal dishes. By injecting one or two new dishes that feature holiday-themed ingredients, you can draw in the crowd interested in trying things just because they are limited-time items. This might look like a special Thanksgiving menu or a pizza full of your Christmas favorites; the possibilities are endless.
Just remember not to get carried away with the seasonal dishes. It’s easy to get caught up in the planning and create some elaborate dish that will take a lot of time and money to produce. In reality, it might be as simple as offering triangular Christmas tree-shaped pizzas, or a pizza that only uses red and green toppings.
Now that you’ve finished creating special holiday offers, you still need to go through the process of promoting these specials.
Here are a few of the best holiday marketing strategies to follow this season:
Use specific dates rather than vague language. “Our deal is only here until Dec. 28” sounds a lot more urgent than “only available during this holiday season.”
By avoiding these costly mistakes, you can help make every holiday season a more profitable one. And if you’re interested in increasing your sales year-round, check out these 5 ways to boost lunch sales.