By Indiana Lee, Contributor
With summer just around the corner, now is the perfect time for restaurants to start leaning into alternative offerings to enhance the customer experience. As inflation continues to drive up prices, providing unique and fun dining experiences can help boost brand awareness while enticing people out of their homes to spend their money.
The longer days and warmer weather create the perfect opportunity for restaurants to leverage mobile and outdoor dining experiences. If you are looking to boost your restaurant’s profits, these offerings just might be the thing you need to have a more fruitful summer.
Here are a few ways to unlock summer profits and take advantage of increased foot traffic.
1. Open Up a Food Truck
Everyone loves a good food truck. These mobile dining experiences are the perfect complement to active summer days and chill summer nights. Whether you have been wanting to open a second location without breaking the bank or you simply want to take advantage of higher foot traffic in outdoor areas, a food truck is the way to go.
Having a restaurant on wheels makes it easy for you to go where the people are during the summer months. You can set up shop outside of a popular bar, near the beach, outdoor shopping centers, music festivals, farmer’s markets, and other outdoor events. The opportunities are endless.
A food truck is also a great way to test a new location before investing in a more permanent brick-and-mortar storefront. You can even try out multiple spots you might be considering for a new restaurant location as you can easily move the food truck around without it being much of a hassle.
2. Try a Pop-Up
We love a good pop-up as they are the perfect way to boost customer experiences. The reason pop-ups do so well is because they are novel and play on consumers’ fear of missing out (FOMO). That’s not to say that all restaurant pop-ups need to be themed to create a novel experience, but it certainly helps.
When you curate a pop-up, the novelty factor of only being able to access this unique experience for a limited time is what drives people through the doors. When consumers see the fun others are having at your pop-up on social media, they will do whatever they can to also be a part of the experience so they don’t miss out.
If you don’t want to go all out on a themed pop-up, you can still boost interest by leveraging a limited-time offer (LTO). For example, you could create a special dish that will only be available at your pop-up location or a unique cocktail. That “get it now while you can” type of summer special is a classic, yet effective way to drive seasonal summer sales.
3. Partner With Events
If you really want to put your restaurant out there and up your profits this summer, look into your city’s local events calendar. Summertime brings with it a wide range of outdoor events that make for the perfect sales opportunity for food and beverage vendors.
You can set up a tent or booth at marathons, outdoor concerts, music festivals, carnivals, charity events, outdoor markets, parades, and more. When you partner with other organizations hosting these events, it can also open your business up to a new customer base that you might not have otherwise considered.
Alternatively, you could host your own event if there’s room near your food truck or pop-up. Follow event organization best practices and ensure you have the necessary permits. This is a fantastic opportunity to put your restaurant on the map.
Additionally, just like with pop-ups, you can also use events to offer special promotions such as discounts, special merchandise, and limited-time menu items. Events are also a great way to leverage social media engagement exchanges, such as offering something special to those who show up and post about your booth on their social media page.
4. Collaborate With Other Businesses
Another unique way to set up a temporary location this summer is by collaborating with another business on a co-retailing space. You could view this as more of a pop-up type spot or it could end up being a permanent situation if it does well.
Co-retailing spaces make for a unique experience for customers. For example, if you are a café, you could collaborate with a book retailer and create a combination bookstore and café shop. If your brand is more about health foods and smoothies, you could partner with another health and wellness brand, such as a spa, fitness studio, or even an athletic wear retailer.
Again, these kinds of collaborations can be temporary, like a special summer-only pop-up. Or, it can be a great way to open a second location more affordably by sharing the rent with another business that would complement your restaurant.
Final Thoughts
Summer is full of opportunities for unique dining experiences. If you don’t have the budget to go mobile or open up a pop-up location, you can also put what money you do have into upgrading your outdoor dining area. Diners love a good outdoor seating option so they can take full advantage of the nicer weather. So if you don’t already have a good outdoor area, it’s worth considering as it can easily help you attract more people and boost your summer profits.
