What is Happy Hour and the importance of the Happy Hour promotion for your F&B businesses
‘Happy Hour is the Hour you make your customers Happy.’ These are just the shorten words to visualize the spirit of this kind of program. Happy hour is the familiar classical marketing term in F&B businesses. It means ‘hour of happiness’ in restaurants, bars or coffee houses, mainly because of exclusive discounts on prices which mean cheap wine, beer, meals or complete special menu at certain hours. Every successful F&B business owner who is looking for new and fresh ideas to engage with customers use Happy Hour to enhance business performance. It’s entirely that Happy Hour is one of the best ways to make customers happier, and that Happy Hour takes a significant impact on the overall profit and also customer loyalty.
Before you start to organize the Happy Hour of your stores, you should understand what your customers need and the key objective of the program. Regardless of whether you’re the owner of an exclusive restaurant with full service, fast food restaurant, cafes, lounge bar or nightclub, with a few statistic figures of happy hour can guide you to create the appealing Happy Hour program to your customers.
The role of Happy Hour:
True Stories:
#1. Price of food and drink is a key reason
63% of all surveyed were attracted with low prices of foods during Happy Hour program in F&B stores. Also, 45% thought that low rates of foods and drinks during happy hour are a great reason to come and visit the restaurant, bar or coffee shop. Moreover, 29% pointed out that happy hour is a lower-priced alternative to a dinner out at a restaurant, although almost as many (22%) said they appreciated the chance to stay on for dinner.
source: statista.com
#2. Late night is an opportunity to attract younger customers
More than half of customers under the age of 35 make late-night restaurant visits several times a month, as compared to just a quarter of customers over 35. Again, one-third of 18- to 34-year-olds agree that they would visit restaurants late more often if these locations remained open later, compared to just 16% of consumers aged 35 and older.
Besides, late-night specials on adult beverages are of far more interest to younger consumers than to older patrons: 41% of customers aged 21–34 said that such specials are very important to their decision regarding whether to visit a late-night restaurant, vs. just 27% of those aged 35 and up.
source: restaurant.org
#3. Beer is the favorite choice for Happy Hour
42% of respondents stated that they were most likely to order a beer, making it the most popular happy hour drink. Cocktails|mixed drinks and soft drinks are also the second choices with 38% and 37%. Among various kinds of beers, customers also make their attention in domestic beer with 59% while just 20% of respondents stated that they preferred imported beer at happy hour.
Also during the survey, 73% of respondents stated that the most appealing happy hour food special was a free or low-cost buffet and 76% for the promotion of 50% off for all appetizers.
source: statista.com
#4. Thank God It’s Friday
The statistic of the most popular night for happy hours at U.S. bars and restaurants as of March 2014 indicating that 69% of respondents stated that Friday night was their favorite night for happy hour, making it the most popular night.
source: statista.com
#5. Friends or Spouses are best partners for Happy Hour
The statistic of the happy hour companions of U.S. customers at bars and restaurants as of March 2014, by location showing that the most of respondents who lived in a city or suburb, small town or rural stated that they attended happy hours with friends.
source: statista.com
