The restaurant industry is starting to recover over a year after the pandemic started. The industry saw a lot of its members closing permanently due to the lack of revenue. But the innovations that some restaurants have implemented allowed them to continue offering their products in the market.
Even as the delta variant threatens the recovery, restaurants can still increase their revenue by implementing measures to attract more customers. They can also create strategies that allow them to serve in-store customers while providing takeout and delivery services. Here are some ways for restaurants to increase their revenues in the middle of the pandemic.
Enhance Online Presence
Since the majority of consumers went online after the pandemic started, it’s only practical for restaurants to increase their online presence. They should set up a user-friendly website where customers can check their menu and order food. The website should also be mobile-friendly since many people use their mobile devices to surf the internet.
Aside from a website, the restaurant should also create accounts on different social media platforms. With nearly 300 million Americans using different social media platforms, it’s practical for restaurants to promote their products through this marketing channel.
The restaurant can create a social media strategy to reach new markets while maintaining its current market. They should also build a customer base that can help promote their products through word-of-mouth marketing.
Improve the Kitchen Layout
Before the pandemic, many restaurants did not offer takeout or delivery services. But the health crisis made these two services essential for the survival of a restaurant. Due to this, restaurants should improve the layout of their kitchen to allow them to provide takeout and delivery services without affecting their dine-in customers.
The layout should facilitate the delivery of its services to both in-store and out-of-premises customers. Aside from the physical layout, the restaurant should also invest in a reliable set of commercial cooking equipment since it facilitates work in the kitchen. The equipment should include commercial broilers, steamers, and ovens. Having a durable set of woks, stockpots, and skillets is also good in the new kitchen layout.
The restaurant should also install an additional refrigerator to store the perishable ingredients it needs for its dishes. Setting up a separate refrigerator for takeout and delivery orders is a good idea. This also facilitates inventory-taking, which is necessary so that the restaurant will always have the ingredients for its dishes.
Offer Signature Dishes
Restaurants should have signature dishes on their menus to set them apart from their competition. These signature dishes reflect their brand and make them stand out in the market. Restaurant owners should work with their main chef to create these signature dishes. It should be unique and incomparable to what its competitors are offering in the market.
Optimizing their menu also offers an opportunity for restaurants to increase their revenue during the pandemic. Instead of putting the items in simple alphabetical order under each category, restaurants can position items with the highest margin closer to the initial gaze of the customer.
For instance, meat items with the highest margin can be located on the first line of the meat category of the menu. This increases the chances for customers to pick these products when they order food. The restaurant can also promote these items on its website and social media accounts.
Increase Service Speed
Aside from their food, customers also patronize restaurants that offer prompt service. Restaurants can increase revenue when they serve more customers at any given time. With this, they should provide their employees with the tools to increase efficiency and the speed of service.
One way to increase service is to provide servers with a mobile point of sale (mPOS) device. The device allows them to send the orders of its customers to the kitchen. This allows the servers to stay in the dining area since they do not have to go to a stationary terminal to send their orders to the kitchen. It also reduces bottlenecks at the terminal with other servers.
Work with Delivery Services
Restaurants should also work with delivery services. With many consumers using apps to order for their needs, it’s a good idea for restaurants to be among the options that the consumers can choose from when they are looking for something to eat.
Even if the restaurant has its delivery service, working with these delivery services can increase its sales channels and reach more customers.
Starting a restaurant is challenging during the pandemic. But restaurants can increase their revenues by implementing strategies that allow them to connect with their target market.
