While everyone is thinking about what party or venue to go to on New Year’s Eve, restaurant owners are thinking about how to make the most of this industry opportunity that only comes around once a year. As New Year’s Eve (NYE) approaches, there’s still time to ensure that you make the most of this occasion for your restaurant.

Partner up

Partner with other businesses in your area such as hotels, clubs and taxi services. In this way, you can promote each other, which makes good marketing and business sense for everyone involved. For example, hotels can recommend your restaurant to their guests or hand out promotional materials like invitations to your New Year’s Eve party. Consider offering an NYE special that includes dinner, a club and a taxi home.

In with the new

Get into the spirit of the new year by offering a new spread of recipes. You can offer a new burger or pizza with a hot new topping or a totally new menu item to ring in the changes. And what better occasion than NYE to debut your new options? It’s the perfect opportunity for a test run that can give you an indication of your patrons’ reception in the coming year.

Be their first on the first

Many restaurants close their doors on January 1. You can capitalise on this by being the restaurant of choice for patrons who need sustenance on the first day of the new year. You can be the place where families spend their first outing of the year, or where friends nurse their hangovers, leaving them with a good feeling about your restaurant for the year ahead.

Make them feel like loyalty

New Year is a great opportunity for restaurant owners to introduce loyalty cards. Modern PoS systems can gather vast amounts of data about every transaction, patron or menu item. This is invaluable information that you can use to improve your marketing tactics and get that much closer to achieving ultimate customer satisfaction.

Loyalty programmes are also better run when they can integrate with your PoS in real time. Some restaurants have introduced branded apps through which they manage online orders, payments and rewards. These apps won’t be as effective without a robust PoS system as a foundation.

We wish you every success for your restaurant’s NYE festivities. However, restaurant management stretches beyond planning fun events. It also involves implementing methods to improve the customer experience, streamline operations and boost efficiency. Find out more about how you can do this in your restaurant by reading our e-book.

Author : Rudi Badenhorst

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