How Can You Increase Bar and Restaurant Sales With A Happy Hour Strategy?
Happy hours are an internationally effective sales and marketing strategy for bar and restaurant businesses.
“Happy Hour” is a term used to promote the selling of wine, spirits, and beer at a discounted price. They’re frequently introduced during the day’s calmer hours when individuals can gather to chill, celebrate, and relax with their friends.
However, if you delve a little deeper, you’ll find that happy hour methods aren’t only about discounts and free drinks; they’re also about customer psychology and how to get people to buy more drinks.
Table of Contents
Happy Hour Strategies You Should Implement In Your Bar Business:
- Create a unique menu
- Concentrate on your regulars.
- Make a reasonable offer.
- Menu items that can be upsold
- Make a buzz about your Happy Hour.
Happy Hour Strategies That You Should Implement In Your Bar Business:
Create a unique menu.
Because a restaurant’s menu represents its soul, developing an exclusive menu will be an important component of your happy hour strategy.
There are a few items on this menu that are only available during Happy Hour. You may compensate for all of the low-cost beverages by creating combo packages that include your most profitable and popular drinks, as well as some nibbles or light food on the side.
Also, keep in mind that there is a sizable group of non-alcoholic drinkers.
If there is even one person in a group of ten who does not consume alcoholic beverages and you do not supply a substitute, that group will most likely depart.
You should have something on the menu that appeals to their demographic. Make a unique combination of mocktails or other non-alcoholic drinks, as well as a variety of food alternatives.
Concentrate on your regulars.
“The majority of your restaurant’s sales will come from loyal customers, not new consumers.”
The most crucial thing to remember when establishing a unique menu and a successful marketing strategy is your target demographic. You should learn about the people who frequent your restaurant or pub and tailor a program and menu to their tastes.
Determine whether your target demographic is a group of working professionals who attend the party after work on weekdays or a group of youthful college students.
This will assist you in choosing your Happy Hours and days. If you keep your happy hour from 9 p.m. onwards and your target audience is working professionals, your consumer base is unlikely to visit your bar.
As a result, make sure you understand your target audience and cater to their needs to keep them coming back.
Offer Reasonable Price.
The most difficult and critical criteria for the success of your approach is the pricing of your Happy Hour. To determine the pricing of the drinks and food that will be served during Happy Hour, you must first understand the food costs for all of your restaurant’s menu items. With only a few clicks, you can figure it out using your restaurant POS
data.
Happy Hours are all about getting discounted or complimentary beverages, or a combination of both. When you provide a drink for half the price it was originally, you must make up the difference by raising the pricing of your most popular things. The key to profiting from Happy Hour techniques is striking a balance.
Upsell your Food items
Upselling tactics in your restaurant have been proven to increase revenue significantly. Upselling is also crucial to your happy hour approach. It’s simple to get people to move from simply beverages to combos and light foods with drinks, which can significantly increase your sales.
Waiters should be appropriately taught to always offer high-profit menu items to consumers while upselling. An incentive program keeps your team motivated to upsell your customers more and more things.
Advertise your Happy Hour
“A discount would encourage customers to eat out rather than cook at home, according to 80% of customers.”
So, what do you have to lose? Make use of your consumers’ psychology to spread the word about your Happy Hour deal. To raise knowledge about your happy hour program and highlight your beverages and food specials, use social media, local newspapers, and even word of mouth to promote your promotions. Happy Hour strategy is a terrific opportunity to try out new things, get to know your customers, and boost your bottom line.
It’s critical to keep track of your sales after your Happy Hours. Multiply the number of orders by the Profit Margin per sale to get the total number of items sold during Happy Hour.
