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Restaurateurs are thinking about how to enhance the dining experience. In the wake of the Corona pandemic, most restaurants have started thinking about the concept of contactless. This is especially beneficial when social distancing minimizes interaction between customers and employees. After the pandemic, the continuation of contactless dining and contactless ordering by restaurants has led to a significant shift in the food industry.

Customers always want complete freedom in their orders. New systems like self-ordering not only give customers complete freedom in their ordering but also a premium dining experience.

Contactless ordering and payments have revolutionized the restaurant business. That concept has led to many innovations in the restaurant industry.

In this blog, we are going to discuss.

• The digital dine-in concept
• The innovations bought because of this concept
• What is contactless dining?
• Benefits of contactless dining
• How is it beneficial for restaurant owners?
• How is it beneficial for customers?

The digital dine-in concept and opportunities

When it comes to the concept of digital dine-in, it opens up many opportunities like online delivery and QR code ordering. Such innovations help to manage the business easily and maintain the customer experience

Customers can make payments by scanning a QR code using their mobile. More people than they did before the pandemic (58%) want to use contactless payments. Self-ordering kiosks, online ordering, integrated payment, etc. all come under the concept of digital dine-in.

The digital dine-in system provides an opportunity for restaurants to grow and expand their business digitally.

What is a contactless dining system?

Contactless dining helps reduce customer-staff interactions and provides a premium customer experience. This gives the customer more freedom in their orders and beyond the traditional dine-in system, the customer can order food via QR code, mobile app, and website.

This system helps restaurants manage crowds and get more business even in limited space. As customers are all tech-savvy, there have been significant changes in buying behavior of customers. To meet customer expectations, restaurants need systems like Digital Dine-In.

Compared to before the outbreak(covid-19), 58% more people want to use contactless payments. More than 62% of restaurants already use contactless ordering and payment in their business.

Benefits of contactless dining for restaurant owners

The digital dine-in system has benefited restaurant businesses immensely. The advent of technology is the solution to many problems faced by restaurant businesses. It not only makes business operations easier but also helps manage customers, employees, etc., and provides a new experience.

Contactless dining offers many benefits to restaurant businesses. Let’s see what they are.

Increase order values

Reports suggest that orders increase when the customer has complete freedom in ordering. The waiter is not pressured when giving orders by himself. Also, an end to the problem of customers being unable to place their orders due to a lack of waiters during peak hours.

For example: If a QR code is placed on the menu table, each customer can scan the QR code with their smartphone and view the menu. So customers who come as a family or group are more likely to order by themselves. This causes the order value to increase.

Don’t waste your money on a printed menu

A printed menu has many limitations when compared to a QR code. It is very difficult and expensive to print a menu according to menu changes. Also, the printed menu is prone to tearing and smudges.

The menu can be updated in real time by using the QR code menu. No costs are incurred. To provide a better visual experience, the menu can be accessed and changed even when you are not in the restaurant.

You can also add detailed descriptions and multiple photos of each dish. Since the corona pandemic situation, many people have started using digital menus as they can reduce customer interaction by using digital menus.

Offer premium customer experience

We know all restaurant owners struggle to deliver a premium customer experience. Contactless dining is key to providing a premium customer experience. By implementing a contactless dine-in system in business, customers will have a digital experience.

It is imperative that businesses digitize to meet the expectations of tech-savvy customers. Contactless dining such as self-ordering kiosks, QR code ordering systems, digital payment, digital menus, and online ordering provides a new experience to the customer and makes their ordering process easier.

Boost employee productivity

Technology makes many activities easier in business. Running a business with limited staff is very difficult. This can seriously affect employee productivity.

Technology makes the work of employees in your business easier and more efficient. Helping employees focus more on their work.

Streamlining order-taking errors, payment transactions, etc. In contactless dining, the customer does all the food ordering, payment, etc., and the staff can manage the business even at busy times.

Visitor engagement

One of the most important aspects of customer experience is getting the customer engaged. While many restaurants aim to empower customer engagement, digital systems such as contactless ordering help restaurants provide seamless customer engagement.

Your staff and customer interactions must be robust enough to deliver a premium customer experience. But often it is not able to keep efficient.

By reducing interactions between customers and employees, you can maintain your service efficiency.

Access to the data

One of the most crucial elements in business is data. Planning a business without reliable data is quite risky.

Get real-time, daily, monthly, yearly, sales, and other business reports to understand business performance, take action and plan business for the future.

By collecting customer data, one can formulate an effective marketing strategy and strengthen the relationship with the customer.

Customers can link their account with their mobile number or email address when using things like online ordering and QR code ordering.
This data may be stored and used for marketing purposes.

The digital dine-in system opens up a lot of opportunities in the restaurant business. Customer data is crucial and helps to collect it easily.

Manage with limited staff

One of the problems restaurant businesses are facing is not getting enough employees. It is very difficult to manage a business with very limited employees.

But by implementing a digital system like contactless dine-in into the business, it is possible to manage the business with a very limited number of employees.

You can reduce the number of waiters as the customer performs many tasks themselves. You only need to hire a very limited number of employees as waiters. and also prevent rising labor costs by reducing employees.

The benefits of contactless dining for your customers

More freedom to choose

The customer has more freedom in their orders. They feel free to choose their dishes from the menu. The waiter is not in a hurry to take the order and the customer can give them the orders themselves.

They have complete freedom in their orders so they can accurately mention the ingredients in the tissues.

Healthy atmosphere

One of the biggest issues facing restaurant businesses during the corona pandemic is what precautions can be taken to prevent the contagion. The biggest fear of consumers was the spread of the epidemic. Contactless dine-in has helped restaurants maintain social distancing.

Social distancing prevented the spread of disease by reducing contact between customers and employees and created a new paradigm in the restaurant business.

In fact, the concept of contactless dine-in has revolutionized the restaurant business. Contactless dine-in helps restaurants stay clean. With systems like digital payment, there is no rush at their counters.

Speedy food delivery

Customers don’t like to wait too long. But in restaurants, food can be prepared only after ordering. Food preparation begins when the waiter takes the order and passes it to the KOT kitchen.

But contactless ordering can speed up the process. Customers’ phone orders are relayed directly to the POS and kitchen. The server serves the prepared food to the customer.

Booking option

Through Digital Dine-in, customers can reserve their table and arrange the time for the meal to be served. This way the customer can save time. No need to wait to get a table.

Premium digital experience

A premium customer experience is a key to success. To meet current customer expectations, you need to provide a more digital experience in your business. Tech-savvy customers want the digital transformation to make their operations efficient and transparent.

Customers love to connect with digitally transformed businesses. In this busy world, digitizing many customer functions can save a lot of time and make things like payments transparent and secure.

More privacy

Consumers want more privacy. Customers who come with or without family want more privacy. A system like contactless dine-in can provide more privacy than casual dine-in.

Customers can order and pay for food from anywhere. The rise of contactless dine-in concepts such as online ordering illustrates the changing buying behavior of consumers. There is 60% of Americans place a delivery or takeout order each week.

Digital menu – more information

The customer wants to know more about the dish they are ordering. There are several limitations regarding the printed menu. It would be difficult to describe each dish in detail or provide more than one photo. But by using the digital menu, each dish can be mentioned in detail and multiple photos can be added.

The customer can understand each dish without the help of the waiter. Since the customer places the order himself, there is no chance of any kind of misunderstanding.

In the US market size of 2022, there are $811.5b supermarkets & Grocery stores. The retail industry is getting more competitive day by day. Businesses like the supermarket are hard to survive in this competitive market. Growth depends on various factors like location, business model, customers, products, and other marketing strategies. For example, if your business is located with fewer customers, and you competing with an industry giant, probably you cannot survive. Here we can discuss various selling strategies to increase sales in a supermarket

Before looking at the strategy

Before planning a sales-increasing strategy you need a clear understanding of your buyer persona. It includes their demographics, behavior, and more. If you have a clear buyer persona it will be easier to make a winning sales strategy.

All business is customer-centric. Identify customer pain points and provide solutions to them. There is no end to this process. You should constantly search for their problems and keep providing solutions at the right time.

Skyrocket your supermarket sales

Here we can learn 14 all-time sales strategies that even work for you.

1. Have strong in-store visuals 

The customers want something to experience. The visual experience increases your brand recognition. It includes color, layout, interior, lighting, and other material. Focus on your customer preferences and bring that element to your in-store visuals. 

Pro tip: Here are some tips to provide a premium visual experience

• Color codes – use colors that grab attention. And also include your brand color as well
• Something to read – use quotes, or tell stories on your store’s walls. 
• Smell – a good smell can stimulate a better experience. 
• Lighting – try varieties of lighting for bringing a better visual experience such as general lighting, task lighting, accent lighting, and decorative lighting
• Music – music is another way to create a premium ambiance in your store.

However, providing a premium visual experience can help you to brand recognition, and increase sales, and customer retention.

2. Update your visual elements

Change your visual elements regularly. When customers revisit your store they will feel something new. You can also showcase seasonal products in displays and create a theme based on that.

For example, in the winter season, you can use some graphical images on your wall. and display your seasonal products. It will make an ambiance of the winter season in the store. These visual elements can boost your customer retention.

Pro tip: Experiment with different interiors, lighting, music, and other visual elements. Find your customer’s preferences.

3. Advertise and promote

Marketing is one of the most important ones to increase your supermarket sales. To promote your business you can invest in various promotion techniques. Traditional marketing techniques are still important. Billboards, posters, and other marketing approaches are great ways to promote your supermarket business.

But don’t stop there you need to invest your money and time in digital marketing. You have various digital platforms to promote your business. Use social media, google ads, and other online platforms to promote your products and business as well.

Pro tip: Personalize your marketing campaigns. Customer behavior has changed a lot. Personalizing your offers and customer communication can bring great results. Personalized customer interaction is one of the benefits of digital marketing. 

4. Instore coupons

It is a traditional marketing technique. The retailer gives a coupon to customers that have a special discount on a specific product. The customer can redeem the coupon when purchasing from the store. To increase your supermarket sales you need to focus on customer retention also. So your offer should be more beneficial to the customer. 

Here are some tips to consider when planning coupons for marketing.

• Expiration date

Always keep an expiration date. It will create a feeling of urgency. It also protects your exposure.

• Expose the number

The offer in your coupon should be attractive. The customer should feel that offer is worth it.

• Set a limitation

You should set some limitations on coupons. Decide what types of customers are eligible to use the coupon, and indicate what products have discounts.

5. Loyalty programs

Customers always looking for rewards. 63% of members spend more to earn loyalty rewards. By identifying your loyal customers you can run loyalty programs. It will encourage them to spend more.

However, you can identify your loyal customers by tracking them. A point of sale software can track and record every business transaction. With the help of reporting and analytics features, you can find your loyal customers.

Personalize your loyalty rewards. It will help you build stronger relationships with customers and increase sales. And make them feel like they’re getting VIP consideration.

6. Use larger carts

Let customers use larger shopping carts in your supermarket. It is psychology that encourages customers to spend more. Studies show that by using larger carts we can increase 40% in sales. It is a psychology that a customer to spend more.

7. Sell trending items

Sell top trending and best-selling items. It helps you to reduce your cost and increase sales. Identify what is most popular or trending and keep stock of those items.

For example, if you are selling seasonal products, then you don’t want to keep stock of that product in the off-season.

You can find your top-selling items by using point of sale software. The software tracks every item in your inventory. It will help you to identify your top-selling items and sales trend.

8. Keep stocks available

If you don’t sell a product that customers looking for, then they will rely on your competitors. To keep your product stocks available you need a proper inventory management system.

Using point of sale software you can manage your inventory efficiently. Advanced supermarket POS software like LithosPOS can automate all your inventory operations.

If you are running out of stock on an item, the software will notify you. Or you can set a level and when the stock goes below your preset level the stock will automatically add.

Studies show that if your inventory is taken regularly and accurately your operation profits can maximize by up to 26%.

9. Engage with the WhatsApp group

WhatsApp is one of the most widely used social media. You can create a WhatsApp group and ask your customers to join the group. So you can share your special offers and discounts with the group.

Pro tip: However, you don’t need to go for paid promotions. All you need to do is collect and add the customer to your WhatsApp group.

10. Enough parking

Parking is one of the important ones to increase sales in supermarkets. The majority of customers owned vehicles.

If you don’t provide enough parking facilities, then the customer will not likely choose your store. Parking is one of the important aspects to increase sales in supermarkets. You should have to create a well-designed parking layout.

11. Faster checkout

Customers don’t like to stand in a long queue. For speeding up your checkout process you should use technologies. Using POS software you can simplify your checkout processes. LithosPOS support different types of payment methods and payment partners. So you can offer multiple payment options for your customers.

Using digital receipts will help you to reduce printing time. You can simply send invoices to customer emails or phone numbers.

However, customers can use contactless payments and digital receipts you can speed up your checkout processes. It will make the customer love shopping.

Pro tip: You can implement a self-checkout option for a better customer experience and avoid the long queue. Invest in a self-checkout kiosk for that. it will also encourage customers to purchase more.

12. Promote corporate social responsibility

As a business owner, you have responsibilities to society. Many business owners successfully have more Instagram followers than their company’s Instagram page. They are interacting and help people. They are doing so many social welfare activities. It will increase your sales and business goodwill as well.

Pro tip: You can start with your local welfare associations. Help and collaborate with them.

13. Provide delivery option

Delivery is one of the options to increase sales in your supermarket. Customer behavior is changing day by day. To meet their expectations you have to simplify your business transactions.

So the customer doesn’t need to come to the store to purchase. However, it is one of the pain points of your customers and you can provide delivery options as solutions.

14. Proper visibility

Visibility is one of the main things in business. If you do not get enough visibility to customers, you cannot survive. Make sure both your online and offline store getting visible to customers.

However, make more visible gets more sales. you should also optimize your entrance. Keep eye-catching products, add top-selling products, and create a good customer experience.

Pro tip: You can billboards, and signboards in front of the store. Also, run brand awareness campaigns on Facebook by targeting customers of your store location. It will help you to increase sales in your supermarket.

15. Train your employees to provide premium customer service

You need to train your employees to provide premium customer service. Provide training to manage all types of customers. If your employees can build a relationship with customers, sales will be much easier.

People want to get suggestions about a product before they buy it. Your employees have a good rapport with the customers so they can make suggestions to the customers.

16. Cross-selling and upselling

You can suggest complimentary products or upgrades to customers during their shopping journey. For example, if a customer is buying pasta, recommend pasta sauce or grated cheese. It allows you to increase your sales and customer retention by up to 90%.

For a customer unfamiliar with a particular product type, you can educate them about the product and its uses, It improves your service quality and customer experience.

However, make sure your customers are well-trained and knowledgeable about all the products in your store.

Not where opportunities arise. Marketing strategies succeed where opportunities are created. Burger King always tries to come up with very creative marketing ideas. Being the largest fast food chain in the world, they are willing to take any kind of risk in their marketing. The biggest example of that is the campaign called “The Beauty Of No Artificial Preservatives”. 

Preservatives and artificial flavors in many fast-food restaurants have long been criticized. Being a fast-food restaurant chain has a lot of commitment to the community. The campaign represents a shift in the fast food industry toward more natural and socially conscious foods.

What is The Beauty Of No Artificial Preservatives

Burger King banned 120 artificial ingredients from its Whopper sandwiches in the U.S in 2020, such as colors, flavors, and preservatives. Today’s society has a clear understanding of what they eat. 

Advertisements feature Whopper Burgers with no artificial ingredients added. And with a 34-day time stamp, the aging of the burger is beautifully illustrated. In fact, by making the process of food rotting beautiful, the importance of unadulterated food is being exposed. Burger King strives to give organic food the definition of beautiful in a nutshell.

Burger King has also made it clear that they do not use preservatives in the form of colors, additives, and flavors from artificial sources for a natural taste in all their products. 

The output

• After publishing the video they got 8.7 billion organic impressions from social media (according to Verizon Media and Boxnet). 
• And 40 million earned in media. (according to Cision and Boxnet). 
• There were as many negative comments as positive. However, 75% of the comments were positive.

As I said before, people can identify the pros and cons of each food. Burger King exposed a reality to the people. As a restaurant, by organizing such a campaign, their business has proven to be transparent. And it helped them to build trust and a good brand image.

With this, Burger King has been chosen to have organic fast food, putting an end to the age-old criticism that fast foods are adulterated. Here, the video is exposed to a horrifying reality of a burger with Artificial Preservatives. Here we can see that everything that seems good has a negative side and everything that doesn’t seem right has a positive side.

In The View of Marketing

Burger King brought a huge change to the food industry. They can provide the healthiest food to their customers. Discussing the marketing aspect of it, it is seen that they have got a very successful output. 

By exposing a fact, they developed faith in the minds of the people. People today are very health conscious, so when they want to eat a burger they want to choose a healthy or unadulterated one. Burger King has taken timely business decisions by carefully observing the changes in the lifestyle of the customers. Therefore, they were able to generate 14% sales with this one campaign.

However, the video was able to explain to customers in a very simple way why customers should choose their business in a competitive market. It has become a challenge for other businesses as they have proven to be committed to the community.

What Do You Have to Learn From It?

Whether you are a small or medium business, you can learn a lot from the marketing strategy of a big-chain fast food restaurant like Burger King. Identify marketing opportunities and plan when and how to use them. You need to identify the changes in customers, trends, or lifestyles and the changes they can bring to your business and use it for marketing strategies. 

Burger King understood the pain point of their customers and made a big business decision to solve it and marketed it well.

Also, we can see the importance of being very transparent with a business customer. Keeping customers informed about what is happening in the business and what changes you have made to prevent will help you to build a good brand image.

How to Use Instagram for Restaurant Marketing

Until a few years ago, businesses relied on traditional POS software for their operations. However, with the advent of cloud-based POS software, they are now making a significant shift. The transition to cloud-based platforms has empowered businesses with even more powerful and simplified POS capabilities.

The main reason everyone is switching to the cloud is that cloud-based POS is more convenient and easier to use than traditional POS. it became essential for restaurant and retail businesses. it also helps to manage merchants, customers, sales, inventory, and more.

So before discussing how to switch we want to choose the right software.

Tips for choosing the right cloud-based POS software

A cloud POS should have these features:

Compatible with any devices

The software you are going to purchase should work on any device. if you already have the hardware you do not need to buy another to install the software. You can access it through any device like Android, iOS, or Windows.

Works on offline mode

Internet is essential when using cloud-based software. software needs to be able to work even when the Internet is down. syncing data as soon as the internet connection is restored. the software can work offline just like you do online.

Analytic and reporting feature

Based on the detailed data, the business can move forward. software capable of providing detailed Analytics will help you grow your business.

Integrated payment

Integrated payments are a crucial part of the customer experience. cloud POS software should be able to offer different payment options and partners depending on the specific country

Manage inventory

Manage your product inventory, and increase profits by preventing stock shortages with Purchase Order Receiving.

Customer loyalty program

The POS should include a loyalty program option. new customers can automatically be added to the program

Multi-store business managing

As your business grows, it should be easy to add new outlets and be able to manage products, pricing, and promos across all stores. The cloud-based solution can be expanded as your business grow.

Online ordering

POS software should be able to accept orders online using the web & app and online aggregator integration. It allows you to expand your business online and generate more profit. By integrating with popular online ordering aggregators you will get higher visibility on customers.

eCommerce integration

eCommerce integration should be possible. The cloud-based POS should have integration with e-commerce platforms. It will help you to scale your business online and make more profit.

Employee management

Employee performance can be tracked using reports and analytics to hold your employees accountable. So you can identify their efficiency and inefficiency and take action. It can also help you to manage HR operations, So you can manage them more efficiently.

24/7 support

Find a service provider who provides 24/7 support to address your issues.

Why you need to use cloud-based POS

Why you should switch to cloud-based POS. if you are using a traditional POS and it is important to understand the needs when switching to a new system. if you are currently using cloud POS, it is time to examine how effective your current POS is.

So let’s start from the beginning what is a cloud-based point of sale (POS)?

A cloud POS is a web-based point-of-sale system that allows you to manage your entire business. the business data is stored in the cloud so that you can access the data anytime from anywhere in the world. simply allows access to all information from a remote server instead of being stored and accessed locally.

Importance and benefits of a cloud-based POS

Accessible from anywhere

Access and manage your business data from anywhere in the world with the help of the internet. because the data stored in the cloud makes it more convenient to manage your business efficiently.

Traditional POS has limitations in accessibility. you must be physically present at the store location. because everything is stored on local servers. this is one of the significant reasons you should switch to cloud-based POS.

Maintenance

Cloud POS software is easy to maintain. no manual operation is required to install updates, it automatically keeps up to date. so no special maintenance, you can save money.

Maintaining traditional POS is more crucial. The updations can be made only by a technical person. it is time-consuming and expensive.

Data Security

With the use of cloud-based POS, small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) can significantly reduce the risk of fraud connected with credit card processing by automatically backing up and syncing data via a remote server.

Also, the business data kept on servers is highly encrypted. This implies that the information saved in your system would be unreadable even if someone were to obtain access to it.

In the case of a traditional POS system, the data is stored in a local server. so there is a high chance of physical damage, such as fire, flood, theft, etc.

Hardware

The hardware is really expensive. no need to buy special hardware when switching to cloud-based POS. you can use it on your existing Android, ios, and PC devices. All you need in addition is an internet connection.

Scalability

Business growth and expansion are desired goals of every business. the POS system can scale. when your business grows it is possible to upgrade POS also. You do not have to spend too much time or money on that.

Seamless Integration

One of the main reasons you should switch to cloud-based POS is seamless integration. One of the most complex parts of managing a business is payment transactions. but unfortunately, it is an important part of the customer experience.

Integrated Payments gives your customers a premium checkout experience. a cloud POS enables you to accept different payment types and payment partners.

So what to look for when switching to a cloud-based POS

Switching from traditional POS to the cloud:

• Migrate your menu, inventory, and loyalty data
• Ensure that your payment processor is compatible
• Connect third-party integrations
• Set up new or existing hardware
• Organize training(it is simple than you think)
• Install your new POS

Start using today

The restaurant industry is becoming more and more competitive day by day. The only way to stand out in the market is to keep up with industry trends. Keep an eye on market changes, customers, technology, and more. keeping up with industry trends can help you to plan and forecast. So its time to discuss how to keep up with the restaurant industry trends

1. Read restaurant industry blogs

Reading industry blogs is a great source of knowledge gaining. there are so many blogs consistently writing about the restaurant industry. you will get everything to run your business. new market trends, strategies tips, and more.

Just google “restaurant industry trend” and you can find so many blogs. to know what’s happening in your industry this is a great source.

You can also subscribe to a newsletter, so you will get industry news instantly through emails. this is one of the simplest ways to keep up with trends.

2. Research on social media

Analyzing your competitor is the best way to keep up with the current trend. you can use social media for that.

Your competitors or industry leaders are active on social media platforms like Instagram, Facebook, and more. analyze what technology, and trends they use. stay updated with your competitor.

This platform is also helpful to show customers that you are on the trend.

3. Talk to other restaurant owners, managers community

To grow in any industry community are helpful. for example, as a content writer, we have a WhatsApp community

Growing up in any industry community is helpful. For example, as content writers, we have a WhatsApp community. that helps us to grow our careers. we ask about our doubts, share thoughts, and more.

There are a lot of restaurant community groups on Facebook, and WhatsApp. join that community, and share thoughts and doubts with experienced industry experts.

4. Set Google alerts for your industry updations

Google Alerts is a free service offered by Google. you can set a specific keyword as an alert. whenever someone mentions the subject of the notice you entered, the service will send a mail with the specific link to your email address.

For example, you can set Google alerts with the keyword “Restaurant industry Trend”. If someone wrote a blog including that specific keyword, Google Alerts will send you an email containing that blog link.

It helps you to keep up with restaurant industry trends. set google alerts within one minute.

• Go to http://www.google.com/alerts
• Choose how often you want to receive updates (as-it-happens, once a day, or once a week).
• Type in the search query you want to get an alert.
• Choose results you want to follow (everything, news, blogs, video, discussions, or books).
• Select the language and Region you want alerts from
• Choose if you want “Only the best results” or “All results.”
• Give the email address you want your alerts sent to, or create a feed.
• Click “Create Alert.”

Some restaurant industry trends

• Facilitates better customer engagement through personalization.
• Automation is permanent in the restaurant industry trends.
• Building a community and maintaining relationships are more crucial than ever.
• Data is needed for optimal customer retention.
• Technology relieves workers’ stress.
• Online presence is more important.
• Ghost Kitchen grows.
• Contactless ordering

Frequently asked questions

How to keep up with the restaurant industry trends?

• Read restaurant industry blogs
• Research on social media
• Talk to other restaurant owners, managers community
• Set Google alerts for your industry updations

Is the Restaurant Industry Growing?

Between 2017 and 2022, the US chain restaurant’s market size increased by an average of 2.2 percent a year. so yes restaurant industry is growing.

Why the restaurant industry fails

Not every startup fails. the reason for failing a restaurant there is a lot of reasons such as management, marketing, service, technology, capital and location, and more…

Is the online presence of a restaurant important?

Yes, it is. There has been a huge increase in internet usage since the pandemic. The customer like to order online. they look online platforms for suggestions before buying a product.

Related blog: How to Survive the restaurant labor shortage

Acquiring new customers costs more than retaining the existing ones. targeting your existing customers is simple and more powerful. they know about your brand and experience your service or product. behind every customer retention technique, there will be a winning strategy.

Customer behavior (it keeps changing)

Consumer behavior is constantly changing. If you look at their 5-year purchasing history you can see that a lot has changed. But it has not completely changed.

Let me explain…

Technology has changed a lot. the buying behavior of people also changed. they always looking for something to experience. we can see that there is a huge growth in online delivery. people would like to purchase and pay online.

Customer buying behavior has changed but the marketing strategies still work. for example, giving offers and rewards are all-time strategies, and so many businesses are using those techniques.

We can confirm that such strategies are very effective in infiltrating digital platforms in marketing. now we can target customers more strategically.

11 Customer retention techniques

So, stop wasting your time on building customer retention techniques. here are all-time customer retention strategies that work.

• Send them educational emails
• Loyalty Rewards Program
• Customer Service
• Incentivize Referrals
• Customer Experience
• Feedback
• Email Campaigns
• Social Media
• Advice
• Push notification
• SMS discounts and offers

1. Send them educational emails

Email is a loyalty loop. sending educational emails after purchase helps to maintain customer-business relationships.

Teach them to use your product for a better experience. make them satisfied. it helps to build relationships and trust.

for example, if you are selling cosmetic products. you can educate your customers about grooming and style tips. advising makes you an industry expert from a customer perspective.

You can also increase sales of new products. Linking your new products in those emails leads customers to your sales page. Teach them why new products, their features, benefits, and how to use them.

2. Loyalty Rewards Program

Giving customers points for each purchase can encourage customer loyalty and spending more. this is an all-time customer retention strategy.

Rewards attract customers to buy again. They expect it. Find your loyal customers using POS software based on their buying behavior. let customers feel that they have special consideration.

3. Customer Service

Premium customer service is the key to success. 94% of customers are likely to make repeated purchases with companies that offer excellent customer service.

focus on customers, and make sure your product or services satisfy their needs. ask them what they need and ensure to meet their expectations. collect and respond to the feedback.

Let them speak, and do not be afraid to admit when you make a mistake. make sure that this does not happen again.

Customers always looking for better service. you need to satisfy their expectations.

4. Incentivize Referrals

Referrals always make results. when buying a product 84% of people seek recommendations from friends and family. references build trust in the customer’s mind.

Incentivize is a good strategy to encourage referrals. Offer attractive store discounts to customers who refer your business. it not only helps you gain new customers, but it also helps you retain customers.

5. Customer Experience

Personalization getting more and more important. Personalize their experience in marketing and communication based on a customer’s purchase history.

Track customers using point of sale (POS) software. it tracks every purchase and customer. you can manage customers’ data from this platform. because POS collects customer contact information it is more simple to personalize in marketing and communications.

It’s more personal when you send an SMS starting with their name instead of calling the Sir or Mrs. it helps to build a good relationship with the business and that relationship will bring them back into your business.

6. Feedback

Collect customer feedback and recommendations. prove to your customers that you are listening to them. list all the recommendations and find the solutions for them.

Next time they visit your store, they have to feel you are considering their recommendations. so they feel more attached to your company. this is the best way to enhance your customer experience. and this is an all-time customer retention technique.

7. Email Campaigns

Emails are a great way to maintain relationships. email campaigns are a proven customer retention technique. stay connected with customers all the time.

Emails are also a good platform for marketing. Offer discounts to customers via email coupons or discount codes to make them feel appreciated. Encourage them to come back.

8. Social Media

Nowadays, connecting customers through social media is important (Instagram, Facebook, Linkedin, Twitter, Tiktok). this platform helps you to engage with your customers more personally. building relationships, trust, and offering accessible customer services are simple here.

Introduce your new products, offers, and more. this is a cost-effective way to market.

9. Advice

Become an industry leader. Share recommendations, experiences, and advice about your products and industry. The customer will feel that you are the leading brand. this will encourage your customer to approach you when they need help.

10. Push notification

If you are providing online ordering and have a mobile app. if the user didn’t open it for a long time, you can send a push notification. they will more likely to click the notification and start using it again.

For example, you can send an offer as a push notification. Users will click on it and use your app again. These retention techniques are used by many businesses.

11. SMS discounts and offers

After customer purchase, you can collect customer contact information (that we discussed earlier). sending SMS as offering discounts is an all-time customer retention technique.

As I mentioned earlier you can send more personalized SMS with the help of POS software. the strategy is less expensive and highly conversational. give a link to your website or app on the SMS.

For example:

The offer is clear and click-worthy. The landing page goes to their product page. the deals and offers via SMS will prompt your customer to visit your business again.

Conclusion

You can also go for paid marketing options. you can remarket your store visitors, website, and app visitors to encourage them to purchase. the growth of internet users, this is also a good customer retention technique.

Above discussed all strategies can be done via digital marketing tactics. because customers purchasing behavior has changed, but the tactics can be used with the help of digital advertising.

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The coffee production industry is worth $11.6bn by 2022 in the US. It’s been shown that the coffee production industry is growing faster than the manufacturing industry.

The rise of the coffee shop industry also makes high competition. It can be challenging to run a successful coffee shop in this market condition.

The coffee shop business failure rate is 80% within 2 years. lack of a marketing plan or strategy is one of the reasons to face failure. A good strategy makes you successful. In a coffee shop, all activities influence sales.

How to increase sales in a coffee shop

As I said, every activity in your coffee shop influences sales. It’s something that affects your brand. The goal is not only to make a profit but also to build a brand.

People are always looking to interact with trustworthy businesses. Turning your business into a well-known brand will definitely help you get more sales.

Here’s a step-by-step guide to increasing your coffee shop sales.

Healthy and Hygiene atmosphere

Health and hygiene are compulsory for all food and drink businesses. Make sure you comply with relevant health and hygiene requirements.

In this situation where the corona pandemic exists, you need to be able to address the worries that consumers may have.

Make sure the tables are properly sanitized and that staff wear masks and gloves.

Customers will have more trust in such a coffee shop. Trust helps you to build your brand.

Here are some tips to increase sales by giving more health and hygiene precautions

• Wear mask, gloves and face shield
• QR code ordering
• Table reservation system
• QR code payment
• Provide a counter outside of the coffee shop or pick-up window services

Customer Loyalty program

The customer loyalty program can increase sales. a great strategy to bring customers back. A loyalty program can increase your customer base by giving them the incentive to buy again and again.

Use point of sale (POS) software to track your customers and identify the most loyal customers. Use this data for various advertising activities.

When a transaction is done, POS software creates a profile for every customer. It records every transaction the customer makes. You can analyze and find out who your most loyal customers are and their purchase history, contact info, etc

One way to encourage customers is by implementing offers that give them a reason to come back and visit the store. This can lead to more opportunities for loyalty, repeat purchases opening up, and customer satisfaction.

Build strategies and get more sales…

Digital Marketing

Do you know how important digital marketing is for a business?

56.8% of the population use social networks – Out of 7.87 billion people in the world.

This is a great opportunity not only to sell but also to build your brand.

Nowadays it’s important to engage with customers outside of the business. How will you interact with them? Social media like Facebook and Instagram is an opportunity to engage with your customers.

Are you struggling to promote your coffee shop on social media?

Study industry-leading brands, what they post on Instagram, how they engage customers, their ads, etc.

For example visit coffeestanza Instagram page, in their bio

“A place to read, study, and work while enjoying thoughtful conversations, coffee, and food! Home to @albaicinbs”

It is attractive, right? Speak about who you are, and how you are different from others? Complete your bio.

Post high-quality photos and videos and make creative reels. Reach more people. You can use content that targets your specific customers. Introduce your new items.

Use stories for different polls and quizzes, and engage your followers.

Run ads

Run Facebook ads to reach more people. Building a Facebook ads strategy will help you get better results.

Run location-based ads

Target your audience based on your location. Use images or videos for the ads and circulate creative content

Some ideas

• Brand Awareness ads
• Introduce your special drinks
• Provide online ordering
• Offer promo code only for social media

Increase traffic to your website, video, etc. Through ads. Use that audience for remarketing. When someone sees your video ad or visits your website. Target them for remarketing.

Technology

Technology has an important role in every business. To run your coffee shop business efficiently, you need to rely on technology.

Businesses are closing down due to a lack of proper management or reports. For example, managing inventory is a headache. You cannot control it manually and it will also increase your expenses.

you have a variety of inventory management software available. Automate your inventory with software and make your business efficient.

By automating your coffee shop things will be easier. You can manage your whole business from anywhere.

When you are not in the cafe, with the help of an internet connection, you can access real-time data and manage everything from there. It helps you control your expenses and increase your sales and profits.

Loyal employees

Employees have a vital role in making a business successful. When hiring employees consider their skills and behavior. Because they are the one who interacting with your customer.

A good smile may be enough to make your customer a regular customer. People are always looking for the best service. If you can not handle it, you will not succeed.

Behavior of your employees are very crucial in increasing your sales. Customers may be of different natures. Your employees should be able to treat them with dignity and listen to their problems and find solutions. Give employee proper training to anchorage them to offer quality service

Get customer attention to your coffee shop

How do you get customer attention for your business? it is a common question for every business owner.

Customer attention not only means eye-catching storefront. But yes, it is a fact that grabs customer`s attention.

Don’t stop there… I mean that’s not enough. let me explain

As I said earlier, your customers are online and you can grab their attention using online platforms.

Social media is a great platform for keeping your online presence. Upload your menu, creative photos, dishes, special offers, etc.

Make sure your targeted location users are engaging with your social media page. You can also run paid ads by targeting your service locations

But not only on social media, but also on other internet platforms. For example, you can use google my business, website, etc. When a customer searches google “best cafe near me” you can be visible.

Visibility helps you to get more attention. This will increase your coffee shop sales and brand awareness.

Related: How to become successful in restaurant businesses

How to increase sales using LithosPOS

We asked a few of our coffee shop clients what is the biggest problem they are faced before they using LithosPOS. and we found 3 major problems. We realized that was the main reason why the restaurant business was failing.

• Inventory management
• Poor customer experience
• High Cost

Inventory management

Do you think you can manually manage your inventory? if you manage it manually, then you can’t focus on other functions of your business.

Our client is saying that before they approached us, they were operating everything manually. There is no proper management or control over stock and cost.

With the use of lithosPOS, things became automatic. Inventory became efficient and was able to reduce large amounts of costs, which, basically, improved the overall performance of the business.

Customer experience

Poor customer experience is another problem faced by coffee shop owners. It is important how you satisfy your customers. A small reduction in service is enough to make a negative impact on the customer.

For example, you provide an online delivery service. When a customer orders an item and selects an online payment option. He is trying to get the GPay option. However, you are not integrated with GPay and customers are more likely to abandon their cart.

I mean you need to give the customer what they need. One of our client is saying “when we started using LithosPOS integrated payment feature, we got more orders online and offline” as a matter of fact lithosPOS will help you work faster and smarter and win more customers.

Improve customer experience and increase coffee shop sales.

High Cost

The food business is expensive. The main reason is that you do not have proper management. Understand where the high cost to you is and focus and take action. But how do you identify that?

Our client says “without POS software we can’t identify which business functions have a high cost”

Lithospos gives you all the reports to manage and grow your business. Identify your most selling and lowest selling dishes, on which dates which item increases the cost. This more insight will help you make better decisions with confidance.

Lithospos gives everything to increase your coffee shop sales. View your current business statistics based on detailed reports and make a business plan for the future.

Start a cafe

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This is the age of online business. The online retail business has great potential. It’s a must-have for any retailer. In 2021, all e-commerce sales increased by 13.2%. Surprisingly, in 2023, e-commerce sales are expected to reach 22%. That’s a huge growth, isn’t it?

Many retail business owners have realized the need for online businesses in the context of the Corona Pandemic. from small businesses to large organizations expanding their business online. No matter what you sell, online business is a great opportunity to increase sales and expand your retail business.

The buying behavior of customers is changing day by day. Today, customers are more likely to purchase online. 95% of all purchases projected this year were done via e-commerce. Here’s a checklist that will make you a professional online retail business owner…

Top 09 e-commerce platforms

Various e-commerce platforms are available such as Shopify, WooCommerce, and BigCommerce.

• Shopify
• WooCommerce
• BigCommerce
• 3DCart
• Wix
• Squarespace
• Volusion
• Quick e selling
• Prestashop

Let’s get started with the online retail business

Step by step to become an online retail business owner.

Business plan and model

The first step to build a business is to plan what you are going to sell, your target market, competition, etc. The e-commerce business will not succeed unless you have a strong plan like your brick-and-mortar store.

Choose your product

What type of product category are you planning to sell? does your targeted location have enough customers? their lifestyle, their buying behavior, and more. You need to know everything about your product, including the price also.

For example, if you are selling a seasonal product, the sales will fluctuate in seasonal and nonseasonal times. So you can choose the products in a way that makes the sale all the time.

Choose a medium to sell

You need a platform to sell your products. You can do this through your website or e-commerce platforms like WooCommerce and Shopify.

Consider this when choosing an e-commerce platform

• Pricing and payment
• SEO Friendliness
• Integrations
• User friendly
• Customer support
• Security
• Scalable

Upload your product and start selling

Once you have selected your e-Commerce platform, you can add each product and its details to it.

moreover marketing is essential for an eCommerce business to thrive. identify your customer journey, what are they searching on google, which social media they are using, and what kind of content they like, their engagements on social media, and their comments below your competitor’s post.

in addition Sales can be increased through several marketing activities such as social media, paid advertising, and SEO.

Manage eCommerce, brick-and-mortar stores

Managing your physical retail store and online store can be very difficult. Of course, you can only focus on one business. especially inventory, order management, reporting, analytics, etc

That’s where the need for integrated point of sale (POS) software comes in. by integrating POS with e-commerce platforms, you can easily manage your entire business.

LithosPOS with WooCommerce integration

Are you using the WooCommerce platform – by integrating with LithosPOS software you can manage your whole business using one software. it helps you to manage inventory, reporting, analytics, etc.

If you have e-commerce and physical retail stores. when a purchase happens in your physical store, you also need to manually change the stock on the e-commerce platform as well.

It’s hard, right?

Let’s get it automated. Using lithosPOS software, when a purchase happens in your WooCommerce store, that stock automatically reduces from store inventory. So you don’t want to make any manual stock adjustments. Because everything is automated your efforts and time can be saved and you can focus on business growth.

Other benefits of using LithosPOS – WooCommerce integration

Faster shipping

You can offer speedy delivery option to your customers. when a customer places an order, the order oprtations will be automatically process. payments, invoice and other inventory operations will be simple and fast.

Better customer experience

Customer satisfaction is really important in businesses. you can ensure premium customer experience by automating your delivery transactions.

The LithosPOS tracks all your product on inventory. you can identify your top selling items by analyzing your inventory reports.

The biggest advantage is that you can distinguish between offline and online sales and data. This will help you understand the performance of your brick-and-mortar and e-Commerce store.

Identify your loyal customers and use loyalty techniques

Identifying your loyal customers is very important. Keeping track of each customer’s purchase history helps you identify your loyal customers.

LithosPOS creates a profile for each customer, records each customer’s purchases, and helps identify your loyal customers.

You can use loyalty techniques for both online and offline purchases such as offers, coupons, and gift cards to target your loyal customers.

Better reporting and analytics

It is important to be able to distinguish between offline and online businesses. you will have to make many decisions in the business based on the data of each day, month, and year.

After multiple purchases, you can assume the purchase frequency of each customer. You can market them more personalized.

For example, a customer purchased peanut butter from your online store on 23-January. after one month on 24-February, the same customer again purchased the same product. You can assume that his purchase frequency is one month.

You can target and remind him when it’s time to next purchase (March-22) using various platforms such as google ads, social media ads, or push notifications.

lastly, Integration with LithosPOS-WooCommerce makes it easy to get profit data for your brick & mortar store and e-Commerce Store, as well as purchase reports, sales reports, tax reports, Etc.

Conclusion

It is difficult to run both online stores and brick-and-mortar shops at the same time. But with lithosPOS, it is much easier. You can handle both platforms equally and utilize online business opportunities. Start your online retail business now. To get started with e-commerce integrated POS

here’s your free trial…

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