We’ve set and carved the Thanksgiving turkey, ate the pumpkin pie, and watched the football games; the Thanksgiving holiday is behind us with the entire Christmas season to come. As we enter into this wonderful time of year, we want our businesses to capitalize on the holiday season. There are many ways to do that, but the food menu is often overlooked or underutilized. Changing a menu can increase your bottom line. Consider these three changes to your menu to boost holiday sales.
Offer Seasonal Dishes
Offering a prix fixe holiday menu is a great starting point. It will simplify the pressure on your back of house and create higher checks on average. They allow you to show off your or your chef’s creative gifts and make something truly eye-catching.
Along with the dishes being attention-grabbing, you can also incorporate seasonal items and ingredients to add that magical Christmas flavor. Of course, don’t forget to get your inventory orders sent in advance. Many restaurants place larger orders in December, and you don’t want to run out of the seasonal ingredients needed for your holiday menu.
Some restaurants even offer lunch on Christmas Eve or dinner on Christmas Day. You can create social media hype around your restaurant with an exclusive menu item only available during one or both of these services. Gold leaves and flakes are a good starting point for this.
Update Your Online Menu
As the saying goes, out of sight, out of mind. When making changes to your menu to boost holiday sales, we tend to only think of the physical in-house menu. But with the holidays being the busiest season of the year, it will behoove you to extend your prix fixe holiday menu to your online menu as well. That way, all your customers, even those not eating in your restaurant, can experience your restaurant at home without getting dressed up for the occasion.
Depending on your POS system, changing your online menu might be a big inconvenience, but it’s well worth it for the holiday season. The Total Restaurant POS system software allows you to make changes to its integrated online ordering menu quickly and easily, all within the POS system itself. Then, you can post it to your website instantly.
Promote Catering Services
Catering is another profitable revenue stream to consider. Even if you are already offering it, you should focus on promoting it during the holiday season. You could offer a free side dish for any catering order over a certain amount that you’ll deliver during December as a promotional tool.
If catering is not something you normally offer, consider creating a temporary holiday catering menu. Fill the menu with your most popular and profitable menu items, along with a few items from your seasonal holiday menu that you offer in the restaurant. Just make sure your profit margins for large-volume orders are substantial enough to make it worth your time.
When making these three suggested changes to your menu, you will maximize the profits your hospitality establishment can earn during this and every holiday season as well as provide a unique holiday experience for your customers who will remember it fondly and look forward to it every year.