Restaurant Trends To Follow In 2018
With 2018 gearing our already fast-paced life, it’s time for restaurants to fasten their seat belts to provide a better customer experience. Today, majority of customers are looking for a convenient and comfortable lifestyle aided by technology.
In such times, it becomes necessary for restaurants to provide a long-lasting experience making sure that it caters to their needs. Focusing on improved operations, strategic marketing and modern-day tech can help you give a fresh and unique experience to your customers.
Here are a few trends which will shape the restaurant industry this new year. Top the ladder by utilising these opportunities in hand to provide an uncompromised experience to your consumers.
1. Drive your brand, not just sales
Sales automatically follow once you shift your focus to building a brand.
One of the significant issues faced by restaurant owners is that of visibility. Your intended customer might know about you but not choose you when given a list of 5 different restaurants. What then becomes necessary is being the one they prefer and trust.
Social media
During the day 2.8 billion people use social media equaling 37% penetration. With such numbers at hand, you can build a sharp brand image and improve your sales by keeping your audience informed about the new additions in the menu and new offers and discounts. To fuel your brand awareness, you can run social media campaigns around loyalty boost and holiday offers. Contests and sweepstakes are also a key to brand awareness and customer engagement.
Referrals and influencers
The impression you make on your customer contributes not only to your sales and brand but also to your visibility through reviews and word-of-mouth.
85% of consumers trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations. Thus, taking a look at Zomato and TripAdvisor reviews of your restaurant can give you an insight into your consumer’s feelings.
Bad reviews act as a spoiler for the restaurant’s reputation. The old traditional method calls for repairing the damage which has already been done. With LimeTray’s feedback tool, you can say goodbye to the old traditional method of handling bad reviews by taking an immediate action even before someone writes it on platforms like Zomato and Yelp.
Working on the received feedback and reviews will improve your services, further contributing to the brand image and making your customer feel valued. You can also send out gift vouchers and loyalty points to the customers for their poor experience.
“Thank your customer for complaining and mean it. Most will never bother to complain. They’ll just walk away.” ― Marilyn Suttle
2. Market what your consumer desires
Strategic marketing campaigns will never fall out of time. Use your customer data to drive more sales by sending them regular emails about ‘what’s new’, personalised offers and discounts and happy hours. Birthday and anniversary wishes with special discounts can also make your customer feel happy and desired and will make him visit you more often. You can even run region specific offers and campaigns to improve sales of your newly opened restaurants increasing the footfall at the outlet.
Looking for the perfect marketing strategy for your restaurant? Consult our marketing experts today!
3. Integrate your management and operations
One of the challenges faced by the majority of restaurants is that of retaining its customers due to poor experiences caused by compromising services. This new year, you can let go of your worries on how to retain a customer by improving your management and operations system.
POS systems are now replacing billing books and manually recorded data by keeping all your information in one place. 2018 will see an upsurge in the number of restaurants using these systems to manage their inventory, cash and customer history.
Improved management can become a way to your customer’s satisfaction by providing them with an everlasting experience.
However, integrating your management with operations can be a task in itself, Merge can provide hassle-free management with a single application for online, offline and third-party orders from Zomato, Swiggy, Foodpanda.
4. Technology
Technology is transforming the restaurant industry by leaps and bounds. The industry has come a long way from what it was a year ago as it has seen a speeding growth with technologies like table reservations, CRM systems and online ordering.
In 2017, restaurants saw a 60% hike in the number of food orders received online and this year too, the industry is expected to sight an ever-increasing rise in online orders.
With online ordering system being one of the significant facets of growing businesses for restaurants, it becomes necessary to have your online ordering platform. Having an online ordering platform will not only help you deliver an experience exclusive to your brand but will also help you in saving thousands paid in commission to third-party food ordering marketplaces and building your loyal customer base.
5. Tell your story
Restaurant brands rarely tell their stories.
This year, tell your customer what you stand for by tapping into their psyche. Telling them about your brand will not only build your customer’s trust in you but also contribute to your brand visibility and further your sales. Sharing stories about how you prepare an order or how your restaurant works, can strengthen your customer’s confidence in you.
Don’t forget, “Stories are how we remember; we tend to forget lists and bullet points.” — Robert McKee
2018 will see immense growth in the improved working of restaurants and restaurant technology. The time calls for keeping up with the pace by offering a unique experience to the customers to not just drive your sales but also to build a brand.
