Black Friday in Restaurants: How to Plan
Black Friday is one of the most anticipated commercial dates by consumers, who eagerly await discounts and promotions on various products and services. Although offers are more common in retail and e-commerce stores, many restaurants also take the opportunity to attract more customers and increase sales.
But, to get good results, you need to plan your actions and prepare. In this article, learn all about Black Friday in restaurants, check out a step-by-step guide for planning and find out about promotion ideas. Acompanhe!
Why Should Restaurants Participate in Black Friday?
Black Friday was created in the United States and always occurs on the Friday after Thanksgiving, traditionally celebrated on the 4th Thursday of November. Black Friday 2023 takes place on November 24.
With the aim of promoting clearances and opening the holiday season, it became the most important commercial date in the world. Todas as grandes empresas promovem ações com descontos e os consumidores aguardam ansiosos para fazer compras.
Thus, the movement increases not only in retail and e-commerce, but also in other sectors — including food service businesses. Therefore, it is an opportunity for restaurants to attract new customers, gain visibility and increase sales.
To learn how to plan your actions and make the most of this date, check out the step-by-step guide below.
Step-by-Step Guide to Planning Black Friday at Your Restaurant
Without a doubt, Black Friday is a great opportunity to sell more at your restaurant, but first you need good planning.
After all, the competition is fierce, offers need to be really attractive, customers need to know about your actions and you need to be ready to handle higher than usual demand.
So, follow the step-by-step guide for planning:
1 – Research and Gather Ideas
Start with research to gather ideas for Black Friday promotions in restaurants.
You can research your competitors and the major players in the market. Look for news and posts on social media to see what actions they took and how they promoted them. Select ideas that make the most sense for your business.
To help you, we've listed some ideas below. Be sure to check them out!
2 – Define Your Offers
After analyzing the selected ideas, define what your offers will be for Black Friday 2023.
You can focus on just one offer or create multiple promotions. For example: special combo for delivery, flash discount at a specific time, special discount for social media engagement and so on.
Just be careful not to get overwhelmed with too many offers! Make sure you have the capacity to fulfill all of them with quality.
3 – Plan Your Promotional Campaign
After deciding what your Black Friday offers will be, you need to plan the promotion to attract customers.
Choose which channels you'll use (such as social media, ads and email marketing) and prepare everything needed to run the campaign, such as editorial planning, content production and contacting service providers.
It's important to build anticipation and not wait until the last minute. Social media posts that encourage interaction are great for engaging your audience and building excitement for Black Friday.
4 – Prepare Your Infrastructure
Black Friday promotions attract many customers and you need to be well prepared for high demand. If your infrastructure isn't ready, it could lead to customer frustration and dissatisfaction.
Some points you should check to ensure they are working correctly or perform necessary maintenance and preparation:
- Kitchen equipment and supplies
- POS system
- Internet network
- Card machines
- Production printers and KDS
- Dining area space
5 – Check Your Inventory
Stock up your inventory to ensure no supplies run out during Black Friday. List which menu items will be on promotion and check the stock levels of each supply needed for production.
A good tip is to negotiate with suppliers to purchase a larger quantity, since you'll likely have higher sales.
6 – Organize Your Processes
To ensure everything runs smoothly on Black Friday, review and organize your processes: reservations and waiting lists, service, production, dish presentation, payment etc.
This is essential for your operation to run smoothly and customers to be served quickly. If necessary, make adjustments and hire freelancers to strengthen your team.
7 – Train Your Team
Finally, train your team for Black Friday. Provide guidance on the discounts and promotions that will be offered, ensuring everyone knows how to explain them and answer customer questions.
Go over all processes and responsibilities so everyone knows exactly what to do on the day.
Following these seven steps, your Black Friday will have a much better chance of success! And, to get started right away, check out the list of promotion ideas below that you can adopt at your restaurant.
10 Black Friday Promotion Ideas for Restaurants
Remember: Black Friday promotions should be attractive to customers and profitable for the restaurant. It doesn't make sense to offer 10% off your signature dish if it ends up being a loss.
That's why when thinking of offers, it's important to consider your most popular and profitable dishes, analyze your inventory and understand if there are supplies that could be better utilized or included in a combo, for example.
This way, your restaurant will not only sell more, but also make more profit. With this in mind, check out some ideas to inspire you:
1 – Free Items
Who doesn't love getting something free? With the purchase of a specific dish, the customer gets a free item like a side, dessert or beverage.
This is definitely one of the most attractive Black Friday ideas. If you have any supplies sitting in your inventory, it might be a good idea to use them in this type of promotion.
2 – Special Combos
Combos are already traditional, and there's a reason they're so popular: they sell well. On Black Friday, you can innovate and create something different to catch customers' attention.
A tip to sell a lot is to combine customers' favorite dishes with something new. Plus, you can increase side portions and offer customization options.
Finally, it's important to pay attention to combo pricing on Black Friday to maximize profitability.
3 – Tasting Menu
If you already offer a tasting menu, why not offer a special discount on Black Friday? This is a way to attract more customers and showcase the best flavors of your restaurant.
Many people like to discover new restaurants starting with a tasting menu, and a promotion like this is a great invitation. Invest in promotion, showcase how the experience will be and it will definitely be a sales success.
4 – Couples, Families and Groups
Another good Black Friday idea is to offer promotions targeted at specific audiences. This way, you encourage customers to bring more people and your profitability increases too.
- A romantic dinner with wine discount.
- Complete meal at special price for families, including appetizer, main course and dessert.
- Giant portions for groups.
- Progressive offers: discounts that increase the larger the group.
5 – Flash Sales
Offers that last only a few hours create a sense of urgency and scarcity, encouraging customers to visit your establishment to get the best discount or exclusive experience.
Using social media to promote this type of action can also be a good strategy to increase reach. For example: anyone who shares the post gets a special deal.
6 – Delivery Discounts
If you work with delivery, it's worth thinking about an exclusive promotion for this channel. Delivery apps usually create their own Black Friday offers, which already attracts many customers. So why not take advantage of this opportunity?
Create discounted combos, share coupons on social media and prepare to handle many orders!
7 – Buy One Get One Drinks
The famous “buy one, get one free” works really well and is quite common during happy hours at bars. And it can be a way to bring more customers into your restaurant, too!
To make it easier, you can choose a single drink for the promotion, such as buy one get one caipirinha, or a signature house drink. This way, you can pre-prepare and speed up production.
8 – Extended Happy Hour
Another idea in the same vein is to extend the hours of your Happy Hour, if you already host this type of event and it has a loyal following.
Create a Black Friday special with double drinks, larger appetizer portions at discount. To make it even better, you can invite live music to entertain the crowd.
9 – Bonus Loyalty Points
You can also take advantage of this date for customer loyalty actions. If you already have a Loyalty programloyalty program, you can award bonus points, unlock rewards or create something that fits your program.
Combining promotions with customer loyalty is a great way to reward those who already visit your restaurant.
10 – Discounted Takeout
Also think about promotions for different sales channels. If you work with Take awaytakeout, offer exclusive discounts for those who choose to pick up food to eat at home or elsewhere.
This is a great strategy to promote the service, show its efficiency and attract customers with a different profile.
Make the Most of Black Friday and Other Important Dates for Restaurants
Black Friday in restaurants is an excellent opportunity to increase your sales, attract and retain customers.
As we've seen, to be successful you need good planning and be prepared to meet demands. Also, promotions should be attractive and strategic, always aligned with your business objectives.
The good news is you can apply all these tips to any commercial date. If you want to be always ready for them, download now the Calendário Definitivo de Datas Importantes Para Bares e Restaurantes.
