MARKETING: 3 Alternative Ways to Market Your Frozen Drinks
In many ways frozen drinks can market themselves. They’re a staple of summer festivities and summer meals – be they alcoholic for adults or booze-freeze for kids. They’re delicious and refreshing, so just having them listed on the menu is sometimes all it takes. But successful operators don’t settle for mediocracy. They seek out new ways of engaging with their guests, including trying new marketing ideas such as featured frozen drink of the day, thematic menus, frozen drink pairings, and even tastings.
DID YOU KNOWS…
Communal Cocktails Get a Makeover
Much like shared-plates and tapas has gotten a revitalization the past couple of years, so has the shared-cocktail. Large-format shared drinks are popping up in all sorts of venues – from bowling alleys to high-end hotel bars. VinePair has a nice story on what a bunch of different bars and restaurants are doing to capitalize on the shared-drink trend.
Gas Tax Boost
Yesterday, gasoline taxes rose in a dozen U.S. states. The increase is particularly notable in Illinois given that the state hasn't altered its gas tax since 1990. It's bumping its gas tax by $0.19 to $0.38 a gallon. California is also among the states with increases and taxes in the Golden State are going up by $0.056 cents. That now equates to $0.473 cents per gallon, meaning California once again has the highest gasoline prices in the country.
Where Trade is Bursting with a Bang
Fourth of July is just a few days away and that means one big thing – fireworks. Overall, the U.S. imported around $280 million worth of fireworks in 2017, with China making up nearly 96% of that trade. Spain came in a distant second with the U.S. importing just over $5 million worth of fireworks.
HOT SEAT FOR GRUB HUB
Why it matters to you: Is third-party delivery a savior or saboteur?
The New York City Council hosted a sit down with the restaurant industry and two major delivery services about third-party delivery’s impact on the industry in the Big Apple. As you would expect, representatives from GrubHub and UberEats stressed the incremental nature of the sales they generate to justify taking between 10-30% of every sale they cause from an industry that on whole has only a 6-10% profit margin. In addition to complaints about the aggressive costs of using third-party apps for delivery management, Grub Hub was hit with a class action suit regarding fees they charged for non-delivery orders they processed on the restaurant’s website. We reported on this recently and the particulars are disturbing.
On the operator’s side, the head of the City Council Small Business Committee described third-party delivery like this, “These online platforms represent a slow death. Without them, it's an instant death. They came into my place of business like a Trojan horse. They've taken over my entire business model.”
Many of you might be conflicted in this particular conversation. Whether you believe you can live without these services and go it alone or feel like without them you never would have built off-premise sales, it’s a very difficult decision. In an effort to address this we have posted several blog entries discussing this issue. We would like to know how you feel about delivery so we can share your opinions with our community. So, either take our survey about delivery or email us your thoughts. We look forward to how you see it.
[Source: Nation’s Restaurant News]
LOVE YOUR FLOOR PLAM
Why it matters to you: You can learn from the floor plans of other restaurants how to fix your own.
How many times have you fantasized about renovating your restaurant to modernize it or improve your operational performance? Yeah, lots...us too! That’s why this terrific post on Toast POS’s blog is so much fun. They have taken nine prototypical floor plans and published them as samples for laying out your restaurant. For some of you, this isn’t a realistic goal, but that doesn’t mean you can’t learn things that might improve your current operation. Designers that really understand our industry don’t just create cool looking restaurants; they also focus on the function behind that design to ensure the restaurants they envision will last longer than the honeymoon period.
What caught our attention about the post was that the author breaks down the various function areas of the restaurants he means to inspire, so you can view the insights as separate opportunities rather than being restricted by the overall design. From the front entrance to the outdoor and everything in between, the post provides inspiration and ideas that could help you both improve your floor plan and increase your profitability. Just because you can’t write a six or seven figure check to renovate your restaurant doesn’t mean you can’t do anything to address the operational and design challenges you face. So, check out some new ideas and it might just help you solve a problem you may not have known you have.
[Source: Toast POS]
