Whether your establishment is a restaurant, bar, gastrobar ou pub, one thing is certain: having a happy hour menu can increase your sales and attract more customers. In this post, see how to implement this advantage in your business in an easy and efficient way!
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5 Items to Include in Your Happy Hour Menu
Unsure what to include in your happy hour menu? Of course, the menu specifics will be linked to the type of food you serve in your establishment.
But in general, there are tips and best practices that help build a balanced menu. This way, you embrace the happy hour spirit and make it functional for a gathering of multiple people.
Check out five types of items that can't be missing from a happy hour menu below!
1. Easy-to-Share Foods
A happy hour is a gathering of many people – whether friends, family, or coworkers. That's why it's very common for items to be shared among them.
In other words, take this into account and include in your happy hour menu foods that can be easily divided (such as slices, cubes, etc.) and also items commonly consumed as platters, such as fries and other appetizers.
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2. Smaller Portions
In a happy hour, the goal of customers is not necessarily to have large meals with big portions. Moreover, it's usually accompanied by beverages and drinks. This means it's more efficient (and economical) to offer smaller portions.
This prevents you from wasting supplies and also increases item turnover, increasing the average table ticket – which order more portions for more people.
3. Exclusive Combos and Promotions
In addition to smaller portions and highlighted appetizers, also have combos and promotions exclusive for the happy hour. This helps differentiate the day from others, highlighting it as a special moment with unique attractions.
Furthermore, encourage combo consumption, such as double rounds of draft beer, a beer accompanied by a portion, or a period when certain items are cheaper or have a buy-one-get-one promotion.
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4. Offer Good Drinks
Every respectable happy hour has good beverage menu. Afinal, esse momento é frequentemente associado a bebidas e drinks com os amigos e colegas. Por isso, capriche para garantir que as bebidas favoritas dos seus clientes estejam disponíveis.
This, of course, involves creating specific drinks for happy hour (as well as those promotions we mentioned earlier) and also ensuring that your inventory will be well stocked to meet demand.
5. Offer Healthy and Alcohol-Free Options
But this doesn't mean a happy hour only needs caloric foods and alcoholic beverages. Increasingly, customers seek healthy options that combine fun with wellness.
Therefore, include more diverse options in your happy hour menu, such as vegetarian, vegan, non-alcoholic beverages, and items that won't leave anyone out of the fun.
Learn more: know the advantages of a QR Code menu
5 Tips to Create a Great Happy Hour
But it's not just the menu that makes a quality happy hour. There are other aspects that influence this moment and help create a pleasant environment that captivates customers and increases sales.
Check out five tips below to make your establishment's happy hour unforgettable for your customers!
1. Pay Attention to Decoration
The first step is to ensure the environment is inviting, pleasant, and distinctive. Try to create a decoration that sets the happy hour apart from other days.
For that, it's worth investing in distinctive lighting, special decorative pieces, “Instagrammable” spots, among others. The goal is to create an identity for your happy hour that makes it unique.
2. Keep a Specific Day/Date
Beyond themed decoration, consistency in happy hour frequency helps mark this date in customers' minds. Therefore, it's important to establish a specific date or day for it to occur consistently.
You can do something fixed, like every Friday, or more sporadic, like the first Friday of the month. To define this frequency, what matters is taking into account your audience's characteristics and preferences and your establishment itself.
3. Include Attractive Entertainment
To complete a good happy hour, it's important to have attractions and activities that make this day even more special. Here too, it's advisable to consider your customers' profile and what they would like to have at happy hour.
Among the most popular attractions are karaoke, board games, pool, foosball, live music, and sports broadcasts. Implement those that will grab your audience's attention and even test different attractions on a rotating basis.
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4. Promote Your Happy Hour
But it's no use having all these attractions if people don't know your establishment has a happy hour. Therefore, promote the event through all possible channels of your establishment, such as social media, websites, and in the environment itself with banners and flyers.
This should be done before happy hour and during it as well. Post content, share videos, repost what your customers share on their accounts, promote your combos, promotions and extra happy hour attractions, and of course, make sure to always include the establishment's location and event time.
5. Seek Feedback and Continue Testing and Innovating
Finally, keep in mind that having a good happy hour menu and attractions and decorations that complement this event is just the beginning. Like everything involving working with restaurants and bars, it's essential to constantly update and improve.
For this, the best practice is to listen to those who matter most at this moment: your customers. Encourage feedback sharing from your clientele to understand what succeeds, what can be improved, and what other attractions, beverages, and foods can be added to happy hour.
There you go, now you know how to create a perfect happy hour menu and, moreover, present something new and surprising to your customers. This way, you guarantee fun for your clientele and more sales for your establishment!
