How to increase restaurant revenue in 2024

Here at Access Hospitality, we hear a similar story all the time. We frequently talk to our customers and prospects who have already implemented various cost-cutting strategies to optimise their operations and reduce overheads, and the next logical step is to focus on boosting sales.

The importance of upsell for increasing restaurant sales

In the cost-conscious landscape of a cost of living crisis many of our customers are reporting that consumers are increasingly leaning towards more wallet-friendly choices. And that can have a big impact on your sales, imagine for example, the cost difference of 30 customers choosing a glass of water instead of wine. It certainly emphasises the crucial role that upselling plays in your restaurant’s revenue strategy.

So, let’s talk about upselling – a simple but powerful way to increase average order values and in turn increase revenue. When done well, upselling not only boost your bottom line but also helps to foster better customer relationships. It’s a chance for your staff to showcase their expertise and get to know the customer better, offering a more personalised dining experience.

To make sure your upselling game is on point, there’s a few key considerations. Firstly, comprehensive staff training. When you operate across multiple sites, sometimes spanning the length of the country, staff training will help you provide a consistent standard across the business. Across your sites, your teams should have a good knowledge of the menu, and know which products are best for upselling (and when to push them). That way, they’ll be able to maximise sales whilst offering a great customer experience.

To deliver consistent training at scale, a hospitality Learning Management System (LMS) for hospitality is essential. You’ll be able to deliver training across your business from service to compliance as well as track the rates of completed training across the business at the touch of a button.

And it doesn’t end there, there are other crucial touchpoints in your customer journey where you can utilise upselling. A restaurant EPoS enables you to add prompts so your staff always know when to offer an upsell. Your restaurant booking system can also provide an opportunity to upsell before your customers even walk through the door. Upsell opportunities in the booking process might include offering pre-booked drinks for the table or appetisers on arrival.

Exploring new sales streams

As well as upselling, you could try experimenting with alternative restaurant revenue streams. Don’t just rely on people to come to you; implement new strategies to attract them. While customers value consistency, you could also test different tactics across sites to compare which works best for you.

Special offers and vouchers

Create and market special vouchers that give customers an enticing new reason to visit. This could be:

• Discounts
• Bottomless Brunches
• Buy One Get One Free (and similar offers)
• Free sides
• Special menu items

If marketed correctly, these sorts of offers could renew your visitors’ excitement for your food and encourage new interest.

Promotions

Similarly, offering promotions on specific items is another way to intrigue customers. Cheaper drinks during certain periods (‘Happy Hours’), or discounted meals on certain days (like ‘Fish Fridays’) can help increase business and subsequently, restaurant revenue, especially if what you’re offering is high quality. 

Events

Special events are a great way to get attention, particularly for newer venues. A grand opening (or re-opening, after some time off or a rebrand) is a great way to drum up hype for your establishment, while other events such as tasting menu evenings can reinvigorate interest and encourage people to experience a new side of your business.

Takeaway and deliveries

Beyond providing a top-quality service, the best thing you can do for your customers is to make everything as simple as possible. And one of the simplest ways to do that is to offer takeaways and deliveries.

If you go a step further and combine this with the offers above, promoting exclusive offers when a customer orders online, you’ll give people even more of an incentive to try ordering from you, and another opportunity to increase your restaurant revenue.

Increasing sales by attracting new customers

Of course, events, takeaways and other restaurant revenue streams will only get you so far if you have a limited audience.

To increase restaurant revenue, you need to attract more customers.

Social Media

Social media is a great way to promote venues locally or develop your brand identity for an audience of millions.

Social media platforms offer a cost-effective way of establishing personal connections with your existing and potential customers. By actively sharing pictures/videos of your culinary creations, different sites, staff, daily offers and anything else that your customers might find engaging and useful, you can cultivate a community beyond the walls of your establishments.

Social networks also enable you to broaden your business's marketing efforts and increase brand awareness. Targeted paid advertising, promoting events, and showcasing customer reviews are all great for building an online presence and attracting more guests, which leads to noticeable improvements in restaurant revenue streams.

When creating social media content, remember to keep your content consistent and high quality across all venues. It’s also important to keep a regular posting schedule so you don’t fall out of people’s view and get punished by those unforgiving algorithms.

Pre-Paid Vouchers

Pre-paid vouchers are a great way to attract new customers. Current customers who already love your brand are likely to be delighted at the idea of sharing this with others in the form of gift vouchers.

Similarly, offering the chance to win these vouchers on your social media may encourage people who might have otherwise passed you up to take note in the hopes of getting a free meal. And if you’re able to impress them on their visit, they’ll be more inclined to spread the word, leave positive reviews and return at a later date.

Promotions

Offering special limited-time promotions on certain items can create a sense of urgency that could push any customers who were hesitant to try you out to take the plunge.

People can be frugal and understandably want to be sure they’re getting the best value for their hard-earned money. These promotions can allow them to try your menu without having to dump large sums of money on a previously unknown quantity.

Marketing Events

Events are also a great way to draw in new customers. If you’re able to use your social media and built-in client base to generate a significant buzz about your upcoming event, it will likely draw in curious potential new customers.

Whether it be a tasting evening, a themed evening or something else entirely, having a large group of curious new and returning customers allows you to expose them to the best or most interesting things you have to offer and secure their support by giving them a fun and exciting evening.

Increasing sales through repeat visits

You shouldn’t just be focused on new customers when it comes to increasing sales. It’s much easier to get customers back for a second visit then through the door for the first time – in fact, it costs 5x as much to attract a new customer than to keep an existing one.

Our hospitality CRM software data reveals that as much as 70% of a restaurant’s existing customer base may have only visited once. If you were able to generate one extra visit from just 10% of that database, what impact would that have on your sales revenue?

Let’s look at some of the ways a hospitality CRM can help your business:

Targeted communications

When new customers visit one of your venues, think about the digital touchpoints in their journey that serve as opportunities to collect their marketing data and consent, such as when booking online, when using table ordering and when using the WI-FI. A CRM system can help you connect all the digital points so that you can personalise communications based on their food choices and preferences.

You can then use this data to transform them from one-time visitors to returning customers by sending out targeted communications that highlight similar events, new dishes that they might like, special offers that they will want to know about, or even just friendly updates that keep you at the forefront of their mind.

Through clever and relevant communication, you can keep your customers loyal and get them excited to keep coming back.

Special promotions and loyalty programs

With a customer’s details and information in your database you can then send them relevant communications to encourage a return visit. This could be a new ‘Buy One Get One Free’ deal to a ‘Two for £10’ dining offer that demonstrates how much you value their custom.

You could even develop this strategy by introducing a customer loyalty program.

Rewarding your guests for their loyalty is one of the best strategies for improving revenue streams for restaurants. It shows you value their custom and encourages them to return and spend money.

According to a survey by RetailMeNot, 81% of UK consumers said they would switch restaurants if offered a good deal or discount on food offerings.

Your loyalty scheme could include discounts on certain menu items, freebies, guest package deals, mobile-only offers, comp points, and anything else that drives repeat business and makes customers more inclined to support your brand.

Increasing revenue by monitoring profit margins

No matter what avenue you choose to take to try and increase sales, you should always be mindful of what’s going on in your business and look for ways to save money and reduce unnecessary spending.

Strategic menu management

When it comes to optimising menu management you should regularly review the popularity and profitability of each dish on your menu to ensure you’re maximising your income.

Less popular dishes could be costing you money in wasted food, while increasing costs for certain ingredients could be cutting into your profits on a particularly popular dish.

The best way to establish what’s working and what isn’t is to start menu engineering, which involves strategically selecting price points and menu offerings that can boost your restaurant sales.

Minimised stock waste

Monitoring busy hours and studying what dishes are most popular in each venue also allows you to strategically purchase stock. If you find you sell one dish more at certain times, you can buy more of the necessary ingredients for the times you know you’ll need them.

Similarly, using smart restaurant technology such as hospitality purchasing systems allows you to connect your stock levels to your EPoS, so your chefs and management teams can keep track of what supplies their venue has and automatically order more once you reach a certain level.

Strategic staffing

Reducing staffing levels during quiet periods is a great way to save money. By monitoring footfall and identifying patterns with hospitality staff scheduling software, like Rotaready, you can make informed decisions about opening times, staffing levels, and more.

You should consider closing during quieter periods for maximum financial efficiency. Opening at lunch and in the evenings, while staying closed the rest of the day allows you to save money on wages and energy bills, maximising your profits.

Using a hospitality LMS may also be worth considering. Ensure that the staff you do have are operating efficiently and are well trained to make the most of their time and provide great service with hospitality eLearning courses. By offering staff adequate training and career development opportunities, you can reduce staff turnover rates and avoid the expense of regular recruitment.

Utilise smart restaurant technology

Countless restaurant operators and hospitality businesses rely on restaurant tech to streamline processes and daily operations. If your business isn’t utilising a smart POS system, operational efficiency could become compromised, limiting the number of sales you can process in a given timeframe.

Dated technology can stunt revenue and business growth because it makes service slower and leaves room for error when processing orders, calculating payments and monitoring sales. This creates a frustrating atmosphere for both your customers and your staff, causing them to leave.

A top-level POS system solves these problems by allowing you to monitor, report, control and automate virtually all aspects of your business across sites. It also provides valuable insights into your customers’ buying behaviours and helps you make informed decisions based on sales performance.

---

In this article, we’ve explored some strategies for increasing restaurant sales in your business. There’s plenty that you can do right away to start impacting on your sales revenue but there is also plenty of opportunity to explore new or upgraded software solutions to help you achieve your revenue goals.

At Access, we specialise in hospitality focused software solutions that connect together to build a robust sales engine powering your business. And if you already have business software in place, we can demonstrate how our seamless software integrations can help you make the most of your restaurant tech.

Get in touch with us today for a personalised consultation where we can help you assess your restaurant software needs.