Happy Hours Made Happening
How Restaurant Owners can make their Happy Hours reap profits
Have you ever wished for nothing but happiness embracing you warmly for just a few hours, if not the entire day? And have you ever wondered if you’re the only one yearning for such things?
William Shakespeare had similar thoughts as you too back in the year 1599! Surprised? Me too! The phrase ‘Happy Hour’ appeared in his play, King Henry V,
“Therefore, my lords, omit no Happy Hour that may give furtherance to our expedition…”
It’s not just the term that dates back to so long ago; the concept of Happy Hours has been practiced since 1913, when specific hours were dedicated to entertainment in the form of wrestling, boxing, music, movies, dances and so on in the United States Navy.
Happy Hours today is a popular marketing concept for restaurants & pubs. Usually, adults getting off work go to restaurants, bars and cafes during these Happy Hours to let off steam after a day’s hard work. Many venues have Happy Hours, but what else can you do to make them really popular and happening? Here are some steps to use your Happy Hours for driving sales and walk-ins at your restaurant.
Brush up the Basics!
Food is the way to a person’s heart, and Happy Hour specials should be no different. Make sure to put together smaller portions of your main dinner and lunch entrees like burgers and sandwiches with burritos and wraps to go down with sparkly cocktails, mocktails and other types of drinks. You can either miniaturize your portions, providing a little bit of everything. Or offer a combo with one premium item, or stir up a nice mix of drinks. Do it in the most unique ways, so that the customer feels propelled to attend your Happy Hours, and the feels like he is getting a solid return on their money. Isn’t that a win-win?
Speaking of money, try not to mark up prices to make profits after discounts. The goal is to make them keep coming back for more, especially during regular hours. Provide larger food portions to groups of people. because sharing is caring! The ambience should be soft and soothing to the eyes & ears, and play music like jazz, violin or piano to complement it, thereby turning the hour into a relaxing one.
How to make it happening?
To provide your customers with Happy Hours in the truest sense, you need to provide a relaxing environment. The events can be as simple as live music performances, entertainment performances (like stand-up comedies), opportunities to play games like pool and darts, karaoke and much more! And if you noticed, these are the activities that can be enjoyed by groups of friends as well as customers who have come by themselves. Not only will the single customers feel at peace with such activities, but they will also get exposure to interact with other loners enjoying the same activities.
Aside from the usual fun-filled activities to keep your place abuzz, you can occasionally heat up the house and do something special on days when an important event is to be held, like during a cricket tournament! For instance, you can project live streaming of the match on the projector and stir up your menu to make it a match-themed menu.
You can try novel marketing strategies to not only attract potential customers but also to ensure that you retain them. From the usual corporate and group discounts, to novel offers such as Get one drink free for your friend for every drink you order yourself.
Catch up with Happy Hour Trends
Late nights are for the young crowd. This means that after a late-night movie, or working late in the office, they can drop over to your place and unwind. Also, it can help them to pre-drink. Pre-boozing is quite common nowadays simply because some of the clubs charge a lot. Customers usually need to pay for entry, and then it just hurts to pay so much for the drinks. With Late Night hours, you can help them save money, and earn on food options.
Who loves Monday? No one, literally. That’s because the Monday blues kick in and you contemplate all day if you really need to do a job or go to college when you can just stay at home and sleep for those extra 5 minutes. Well, that’s where your role comes in and Happy Hours all day on Monday and Tuesdays can fight back all the lethargy. This will motivate them to go out at the beginning of the week to de-stress a little more and can be one of your best marketing gimmicks. You can also designate specific days for specific groups of customers, offering them different types of services and discounts . Bluesy Mondays, or Corporate Tuesdays could become really trendy days!
Stand for love! You can help young couples make their first date special. First love is always new and exciting and people like to make a good first impression. Tinder dates are not at all uncommon these days. This is where you can take charge and extend offers for those on their first dates. In fact, you can also come up with surprises such as a small cake or free dessert. The idea here is to make little things look cute & romantic. You may charge a little extra for decorations if either of the partners wishes so, and the offers can be valid on their drinks and food. You help to make the setting perfect. Special games can also be organized for those on their first dates. In fact, not only this, you can also help them propose through your games. For example, a lounge I know has the rule that if you send three drinks to your crush, they cannot say no to you. The decision finally depends on them but you get to earn and play cupid.
I’m sure this was a useful read for you, and will definitely help you in making the Happy Hours at your restaurant, bar, or club even happier, thereby attracting and potentially even retaining more customers. Wish you more sales and more profits!
