How to Combat the Summer Slow-down at Your Restaurant

Like every other business, restaurants also suffer from their share of slow seasons. The summer season, in particular, can prove to be harsh for a restaurant. Since the children are on summer break during this time, you would expect business to be great, but in reality, the situation has been found to be the opposite. However, this does not mean there aren’t other ways to attract customers and actually grow during this slow season. With the help of some tried and tested strategies, you can increase the traffic at your restaurant and effectively beat the summer slow-down.

1. Online Orders

If you can’t beat them, join them; adopt this philosophy when battling the summer slow-down by giving the customers what they want. You might be dreaming about a local business expansion, but first it is beneficial to consider giving your customers the option of online ordering. Since summers make it difficult for people to step away from their activities, many customers prefer online ordering. In fact, a study found that 60% of the orders placed during summer time were online. Therefore, if you have been looking for the right time to launch your Ordering App, this would be it.

2. Changes to the Interior

Use the situation in your favor and carry out a remodeling project during this time. Since there will be fewer customers visiting the premises, you can tackle your to-do list in this season. Also, since the summer season is all about freshening up, you should give the interior of your restaurant a bit of a makeover. This can be done by adding some indoor plants, changing the color of the walls, and adding misting fans to your outdoor sitting area.

3. Addition of Summer Items

You can also give a twist to your menu by adding special summer items. Generally, a new variety of drinks is added to the menu to make it look more summer-friendly. Ice-cream, fruit, and, different colors should be your main selling ingredients in the summer season menu.

4. Social Media Marketing

A campaign designed to attract customers to the restaurant can work wonders for your business. However, coming up with the campaign is not sufficient, you also need to create significant hype around it to make it a hit. What better place to do so than the social media platform? You can arrange contests to engage customers by asking them to post their pictures at the restaurant or posting their check-ins on their profile.

5. New Promotional Offers

Customers love discounts; and by offering various discounts and promotional offers, you can attract many repeat diners. However, you need to have a game plan before you come up with a promotional offer so that you don’t end up hurting your restaurant’s cash flow. You can offer a free drink with every meal above a particular price limit or a limited hours’ discount to the customers.

Bottom Line

You should treat summer-time as an opportunity to bring a refreshing change to your way of doing business. With the right offerings and marketing techniques, you can make this season a hit with your customers. However, you might need to consider different restaurant funding options since your new summer goals may require additional business capital. If you need help financing your summer goals, contact ARF Financial! With a simple funding process, ARF Financial offers flexible loan terms up to 36-months, affordable rates and low fixed payments. We can approve you in 24 to 48 hours and your credit will not be impacted by this application! APPLY NOW.