By Raichelle Carpio, Contributor
With the pandemic currently going on, fewer people, as a result, have also been dining and drinking out. A huge part of the restaurant and dining out experience has been anchored on sensory: the smell of food wafting and the physical elements one can find in a bar and restaurant. In all honestly, it is hard to replicate that at home. But for everyone’s safety, it is the next best thing.
State regulations in the US vary greatly, at the moment. Some bars and restaurants remain closed for in-dining, some are open with limited capacity, and some with little to no regulations at all. For those closed or operating under max capacity, the party is far from over. Just because your guests cannot drink and dine out physically in your dining rooms does not mean it is not feasible for them to enjoy your bar’s happy hour. Despite the pandemic, bars continue providing great food and, at the same time, finding new ways to create a wonderful experience for their alcohol, beer and wine drinkers online.
One way is by hosting a virtual happy hour hangout, where guests stay at-home but still enjoy the drinks and food your business is known for. Let’s look at some ideas for hosting one of these.
Hosting a Virtual Hangout: Tips for Bars & Restaurants
Here are tips to help you out with hosting the best virtual happy hour hangout!
Present a Well-Defined Drinks Menu
A selection of fancy cocktails in different types of glasses.
Different drinks suit different people. A wide classification of drinks is highly encouraged so everyone can enjoy and have a good time. The good news is states that have previously not allowed alcohol-delivery from restaurants have eased regulations. So if you haven’t yet, you’ll want to set up an alcohol-to-go program or, at the vest least, figure out how to do curb-side pickup legally in your area.
Your restaurant may also want to consider rotating your menu offers with special themes. For example, you can feature your drinks of a country for each week or month. Let’s say, Spanish wines. Spanish wines are among the most popular on the planet; they are also among the oldest and the climate, as well as winemaking traditions in their regions, influence their tastes. You can really play up the theme with some cool facts about different Spanish wine types, so your virtual guests can make informed decisions ahead of time. Same goes for any other theme. Really try to find ways of immersing your virtual guests into your event.
It also is essential to keep tabs on inventory and stocks constantly. Whatever kind of wine or spirit you intend to deliver to your customers, having a detailed checklist will help you get a better idea of what you can provide for your customers.
Have a Solid Tech & Customer Set-Up
As restaurants and bars are currently physically inaccessible to most guests, and you cannot be with them, a great customer experience online will play a vital role in coordinating and connecting with your guests.
Fortunately, you don’t need a lot of fancy tech to get going with a virtual happy hour. You obviously will want to make sure you have a good and stable internet connection to host the event and a computer for your business that can handle the stream. Virtual happy hours can be easily hosted via third-party groups like Zoom, Google Meetings, or Discord. You may also consider investing in live chat or chatbot services to help with any tech issues, too, if your setup is a little more complex.
We’re especially a fan of video software that allows for side chats or “breakout” rooms where smaller conversations can happen. Fifty people all talking at once in a bar is fine but in a video chat is overwhelming and not very fun. Semi-private side chats allow groups to go off and talk and then come back to the main room to enjoy the main festivities of the evening.
Build a Solid Delivery Program
That way, you can be assured that your customer receives their food and booze deliveries in time and that their orders are well-packaged, too. We’ve covered pretty extensively the differences between third-party delivery partners as well as the pros & cons of using a third-party or building your own delivery fleet. Either way, delivery is king in a pandemic world.
You can combine your delivery program with digital payments and curbside pickup for completely contactless transactions that will keep both your courier partner and customer safe.
Promote Special Offers & Your Virtual Events Properly
With physical locations still primarily closed for regular operating, everything is now done online—from maintaining your relationship with your guests to hosting special events. You can host Trivia Nights, Movie Nights, Virtual Karaoke, and even create a package where customers can hold their own virtual events with the help of your products and services.
With whatever content and event you may come up with, it’s a must to share and announce them all your communication channels. You can do it over email, Twitter, Facebook, Discord, and even Viber! Make announcements and notifications on schedule by having a social media content plan for your business.
You can opt to meet up online with your regulars to catch up with them. It will offer something familiar and comforting to your regulars, especially in this time when a lot of things are changing.
While you may have your regulars, you also can get new customers online. You can work with influencers, promote on social media, and focus on community engagement through Facebook, Twitter, or Discord, which you can use for hosting your virtual events.
Now is the time to maximize digital tools and see what they can do for you and your business. You can connect with your loyal customers and attract new ones online, engage with the community through virtual events, and continue to provide them with food and drinks after a long week through reliable delivery.
Hang Out & Have Fun Online
Necessity truly is the mother of innovation, as a wise man once said. Despite the pandemic, providing people with a good time alongside good food, drinks, and a round of engaging activities virtually is possible. With everything now online, the sky is the limit with what you can do!
About the Author
Raichelle Carpio is retail assistant manager at Txanton Philippines. She obtained her Sommelier license with WSET2 by late 2018 and has been working in the hospitality industry over the past 10 years. Her exceptional skills have driven her to the top and the truth is she has a real passion for premium gastronomy, beverage and service.
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