Restaurants often operate within tight profit margins, making every dollar a customer spends crucial to the bottom line. Increasing the average spend per customer can significantly impact your revenue without requiring you to attract more diners. You can maximize each visit's profitability by encouraging existing patrons to order more or opt for premium items.
In this guide on boosting average customer spending in your restaurant, you’ll discover actionable strategies and insights to help you achieve sustainable financial growth.
Effective Upselling
Training restaurant staff to subtly suggest upgrades can increase revenue while improving the dining experience. Servers can offer premium wines, signature cocktails, or chef's special appetizers by focusing on unique flavors and perfect pairings.
After the main course, recommending popular desserts with a personal touch can encourage guests to indulge further. The goal is to ensure each suggestion feels authentic and customer-centric, seamlessly enhancing the overall dining experience.
Reduce No-Shows
No-shows can significantly impact a restaurant's revenues as the tables remain vacant, and there is a missed opportunity to serve paying customers. When guests fail to turn up, it impacts daily income and causes disarrangement in the staff schedule and overall operations. To minimize no-shows, restaurants can opt for a reservation system that requires guests to provide a credit card or a small deposit, ensuring a higher level of commitment and reducing cancellations.
Reminding guests about their booking by sending emails or SMS messages beforehand will enhance the proper management of resources and create a constant inflow of customers. Incentives can also be given to guests to ensure confirmation, like offering discounts and loyalty points to them to confirm reservations.
Establish A Loyalty Program
A well-laid-out loyalty program that rewards customers for frequent visits or spending more can encourage repeat business. Customers who feel valued with discounts, free items, or exclusive offers will likely return, pay, and stay loyal. This increases spending over time because loyal customers spend more to earn rewards.
Further, a well-designed program reinforces customer satisfaction by making the diners feel important and strengthening the perception of the restaurant. This will build favoritism for your business over other restaurants. Eventually, it helps establish a loyal customer base to support long-term growth. The program serves the interests of both customers and restaurants by increasing spending.
Make The Most Of Online Purchases
To increase sales and enhance customer satisfaction, restaurants can politely offer suggestions to online customers about ordering more items to sell their goods. For instance, recommendations could be on items that are liked with other food products at the time of the online order, like an appetizer, sides, drinks, or dessert, all at a little cheaper to make it simple and affordable for the customers who are not willing to splurge their money.
Limited-period offers or premium deals also build interest among consumers who try new things. By offering value deals, restaurants can increase their average check and enhance the fun value of dining.
Design Your Menu
The design of a menu is one of the key factors in what customers choose. Placing high-margin items in easy-to-see spots, like the top or clear sections, helps guide customers toward these dishes. Visual elements like boxes, icons, or unique names grab attention and make people more likely to pick them.
This approach boosts sales and creates a more enjoyable dining experience. Grouping related items together encourages customers to order more, increasing their total spending.
Provide Meals In Bundles And Combinations
Offering meal packages or combo deals is a good strategy to encourage customers to spend a little more while offering them greater value. With an appetizer, entrée, drink, and dessert all included, restaurants provide attractive options that encourage customers to order more than they had originally planned.
This adds to the overall bill and increases customer satisfaction because they perceive they are getting more value for their money. Such bundled offers can also significantly increase the average check, helping the restaurant and customer.
Increase Drink Sales
Restaurants can boost drink sales by offering a wider choice of wines, cocktails, and beers to suit different tastes. Adding premium wines, seasonal cocktails, and craft beers encourages customers to try new drinks and spend more.
Training staff to suggest drinks that pair well with meals and offering specials like happy hours or drink tastings can help increase sales. A clear and appealing drink menu with unique options improves the customer experience, leading to repeat visits and spending.
Send Deals Online
Digital marketing makes it very easy for restaurants to share special deals with their customers, helping to bring in more people both in the restaurant and online. By using email, social media, and push notifications, restaurants can send out time-limited offers like "Happy Hour" specials or new menu items directly to customers.
When these deals are available through mobile and online ordering, restaurants can boost sales and give customers a better dining experience.
Adjust Your Approach To Pricing
Factors like peak hours, special events, and changes in demand can significantly impact customers' pay and willingness to spend. By using dynamic pricing—charging more during busy times or on certain days—restaurants can boost their revenue while meeting customer expectations.
For example, raising prices during dinner hours or weekends, when there's more foot traffic, encourages customers to spend more. By understanding when to adjust prices, restaurants can refine their pricing strategies and create a better overall dining experience.
Train Staff On The Menu
A trained team can increase customer spending by improving their dining experience. When staff know the menu, they can suggest dishes, offer extras, and help customers choose more expensive items. This boosts sales and makes customers happier.
A well-trained team also speeds up service so customers feel valued. Regular staff training on the menu, upselling, and good service can help the restaurant do well and encourage customers to spend more.
Deliver Outstanding Customer Support
Good customer service is key to getting guests to spend more because it makes them feel welcome and appreciated. When diners get personal attention, they're more likely to order extras like appetizers, desserts, or drinks. A friendly and helpful staff improves the dining experience, helping guests feel comfortable.
This kind of service not only increases spending right away but also makes customers want to come back. Plus, happy guests will tell others, bringing in new customers who want the same great experience.
Maximize Your Restaurant's ROI With Checkmate
To increase your restaurant's profits, start small and focus on a few simple tactics. Offering upsell options, creating a more welcoming environment, and personalizing the ordering experience all contribute to improving your business and creating a more loyal customer base.
Want to see how we can help you increase customers and drive sales? Get a custom demo to learn more about how we can help your team grow your digital business.
