The summer is upon us, and the restaurant industry looks forward to reopening—this time for good. Certain menu trends have come into style, and restaurants should pay attention. For example, social distance has made digital menus rise. That, alongside contactless ordering and other technology trends, will continue as the world reopens.
Meanwhile, with fierce competition and an audience with new expectations, revamping your summer menu may be the key to drawing in new customers.
Photo by Amanda Vick on Unsplash
What’s On the Menu?
So what dishes should you create to drive traffic? Most importantly, stay true to your brand. Create desserts themed for a particular summer holiday or mix cocktails for the warmer weather. Combine digitization with promotions, new dishes, and deals to maximize revenue.
Host special events or discounts for big holidays, like the Fourth of July. Post about it on social media or find ways to have the celebration through video. These connect you to guests who are still more comfortable eating from home.
Run regular weekly or monthly specials to encourage people to return.
Hold charity fundraisers. This also provides plenty of opportunities for promotion and digitization, like having a link on your website where customers can donate money directly.
These are just a few ways to combine summer promotions with online experiences, which appeases a modern crowd. However, find little ways to give your brand an edge too. Even choosing fun names for your house specials will delight customers and improve your reputation just that little bit more.
How Digitization Works
Ultimately, the best part of digitization is adaptability. With the right tech, your restaurant can do what it needs even as the marketplace evolves. Consumer expectations aren’t static. As new dishes and mentalities take hold, restaurants will need to cater to them.
And with digital menus, you guarantee customer satisfaction with every purchase. Drive guests off costly third-party apps and onto your platforms by offering special discounts the first time they come to you directly. Virtual experiences have also taken off during the pandemic, from cooking classes that teach guests their favorite recipes to meal kit subscriptions. Find little ways to get your restaurant online.
Now, even menus have gone digital. QR codes let customers scan and pull up a mobile-friendly menu on their phones, so they order and pay right there. eatOS technology also makes this tech easy to use, by connecting to your POS through the cloud for real-time syncing and integration with your other devices. Building a technological ecosystem to bolster your summer menu shows guests that you’re dedicated to their safety concerns.
Get Your Menu Online
Digitizing new menu ideas will draw in new customers during a financially stressful time. With a lot of competition, knowing what’s coming gives you time to prepare something great. Create a summer menu that will make your restaurant stand out when you go digital.
A few trends have risen during COVID-19 that restaurants can incorporate to help grow their business. For example, more customers are experimenting, like creative fusions and branching out to try new cultural staples. The pandemic has also caused guests to prioritize convenience and social distance, too. This shows that online ordering solutions will continue to play a massive role in foodservice moving forward.
Finally and perhaps most telling, customers are also buying more food that can do something for them. With health and wellness more important than ever, people crave delicious meals that support the immune system, mental health, or help in another way.
The Future of Digitization
As we finally move past this pandemic, restaurant trends and technology will evolve too. Keeping up to date with efficient, flexible, smart POS systems will define your business’s success.
eatOS offers an all-in-one cloud-based eco-system exclusively for restaurants. From Point of Sale to Contactless Ordering, Pay & Order at Table, Kitchen Display System, Customer Facing Display, Online Ordering APP / Website and Workforce Management there is everything to help a restaurant succeed no matter the size. Click Here to Schedule a demo to learn more about how your restaurant can make a smooth transition into the world of restaurant technology made simple.
