How to Make Your Restaurant a Holiday Party Destination
There's no question that the holiday season is one of the busiest for the restaurant industry. However, with fierce competition among restaurants for the same customers during this busy season, owners and managers must stand out.
One of the best ways to attract diners during the holiday season is to give them a reason to be excited about visiting your establishment. In other words, making your restaurant an enticing destination by making it fun or unique is a surefire way to draw in new customers during the hectic holiday season.
So how can you make your restaurant a holiday party destination? What steps can you take to make your place more festive? Let's look at five ways restaurants can make their establishments more appealing during the busiest time of the year.
Provide a Private Dining Room
One of the best ways to ensure you secure those all-important group bookings at this time of year is to offer diners the option of reserving a private dining room for their party.
The holiday season is all about celebrating as a family or as a close-knit group of friends, so providing a private space ideal for dining out is a great way to ensure your restaurant is booked up this holiday season. Be sure to offer special packages and incentives for private dining parties.
For instance, you can offer private dining space at a discounted rate for those who book reservations for four or more people. Or, you could offer a complimentary bottle of wine or a dessert to diners who reserve private dining space for your establishment during the festive season.
Create a Special Holiday Menu
Another excellent method for drawing in holiday shoppers is to create an attractive holiday menu. If you're struggling to come up with new holiday menu items, look to your community for inspiration. Ask your staff what their favorite holiday dishes are and what they're craving this holiday season.
This is a great way to get your customers involved in the planning of your seasonal menu, and it could spark some creative ideas of your own as well. After all, there's nothing like fresh feedback from your guests to help you create delicious new dishes for your seasonal menu.
Whether you swap in turkey for prime rib or serve a winter-themed salad in place of a traditional spring green salad, there are plenty of ways you can adapt your existing menu to suit your customers' needs this holiday season.
Offer Tailored Gift Cards
One of the best elements of the holiday season is gift-giving. And what better way to show your friends and family that you care than to give them a gift card to enjoy at their favorite restaurant?
With that in mind, consider offering gift cards that can be customized with names, greetings, and other personalized messages. This way, you can ensure that your gift cards stand out among the sea of generic gift cards on customers' desks this holiday season. Gift cards can be sold individually or bundled into baskets or gift sets.
You can even create themed gift card bundles for your establishment, such as "The Chef's 12 Days of Christmas" or "The Cookie Cutter Family." Whatever you choose, be sure to promote your gift cards throughout the community through traditional and social media so that potential customers know they can buy your gift cards as presents for their loved ones this Christmas.
Create Holiday Discounts
A considerable part of your holiday marketing strategy should revolve around discounts and promotions. So be sure to offer special holiday deals to new and existing customers.
For instance, if you're struggling to fill tables at your establishment during the festive season, why not offer a set price for any table of five or more people? Or perhaps you could offer a 20% discount to customers who dine at your restaurant before a certain time each day.
Similarly, you can boost customer engagement and loyalty by offering special discounts on holiday menu meals, festive-themed cocktails, desserts, and other festive offerings at your restaurant. If you operate a customer loyalty program, why not offer double or triple points on purchases during the holidays?
The best way to ensure the effectiveness of these discounts is to utilize your restaurant's POS technology, analyzing customer behaviors to identify trends and habits that could help improve your holiday marketing and promotional efforts.
Add Festive Decorations
If your restaurant looks the same as it does at any time of year other than the holidays, you're missing out on a golden opportunity to attract customers this season. Your eatery must offer a festive atmosphere that sets it apart from every other place in town for it to be considered a holiday party destination.
One great way to achieve this is to add decorations to your eatery that reflect the holiday spirit. Hang garlands around the entrance of your restaurant and adorn your windows with red and green ornaments. Put up a holiday tree in your lobby and encourage your staff to wear festive accessories in addition to their standard uniform.
Your décor doesn't have to be over the top; simple touches such as tinsel or bows can go a long way when it comes to creating an inviting atmosphere in your eatery this holiday season. The point is to create a warm and inviting space, ensuring guests stay a while and linger over conversations as they enjoy their meal.
Facilitate Mobile Ordering
This holiday season, technology is your friend. To draw in casual holiday shoppers and potential customers in your community, encourage mobile ordering through your website and in person.
By incorporating advanced technological solutions such as QR code ordering, you can wow customers with the speed and ease of service, encouraging them to spend more time and money than they may have otherwise planned at your establishment.
This technology is particularly important for attracting younger consumers, who are more likely to dine out using smartphones than older generations. In fact, a recent study found that up to 55% of millennials say convenience is a top driver when buying food, demonstrating the importance restaurants should place on offering quick and easy mobile ordering solutions during the holiday season and beyond.
So if you want your establishment to be considered a holiday party destination within younger cohorts of your community, implement technological solutions such as mobile ordering into your payment mix this season.
Repurpose Your Outdoor Seating Area
If your establishment boasts an outdoor seating area, rather than letting it go to waste over the holidays, transform it into a pop-up Christmas-themed café of sorts. Regardless of your specific cuisine, you can add a temporary cover and heaters to create an intimate and cozy atmosphere perfect for intimate gatherings with friends and family.
You can then serve customers with handheld POS devices, allowing them to order drinks, appetizers, entrees, desserts, and more from the comfort of their outdoor seats. It's a great way to make the most out of the space you have available in your outdoor areas, helping you to increase your overall revenue during this busy time of year.
Your wireless credit card machines will make it easy for customers to pay for their orders on the spot without having to wait in line – ensuring you turn around tables faster and serve more customers in the time you have available each day.
Make Your Restaurant a Thriving Holiday Party Destination with POSTRON
When it comes to securing a slice of the busy holiday market, making your restaurant a party destination in its own right is one of the best ways to boost sales during the busiest time of the year.
By taking the steps outlined above - namely, updating your menus to reflect the holidays, implementing technology that helps to streamline and improve operations, offering tailored gift cards, and creating a festive atmosphere that makes customers feel warm and welcome - you'll ensure that your restaurant is a must-visit destination for friends and family this holiday season.
With a POS system from POSTRON, you can harness the power of the latest technology to effortlessly draw in lucrative festive crowds. With tailored promotions based on previous consumer behavior, the ability to offer gift cards, and QR code ordering (to name but a few), you'll be able to cater to a wide range of consumer needs with ease this holiday season.