The pandemic has changed how people engage with the service sector, especially restaurants, and it’s important to keep in mind new shopping habits and preferences as you plan for upcoming holidays. Here are 8 suggestions for ways to engage with your customers to drive sales and improve customer loyalty.

Festive Feel

Set the mood in your restaurant with seasonal decor. Take time before the restaurant is open to the public to clean and give the dining room a holiday refresh. Use your brand guidelines as a reference when choosing new seasonal decorations to make sure your decor doesn’t clash with your vibe. You’ll also want to develop seasonal menus for each meal as well as for the bar. Work with your BOH and bar staff to identify ingredients that are high in profit margin and consistently available this time of year to include in your seasonal menu, and be sure to share your new menu items through your marketing channels (email, social, in-house signage).

Make sure your staff are ready for the holiday rush. Provide a tasting of new menu items and any education that will help servers sell those items. Training your FOH staff to mention gift certificates, for example, can be an effective way to drive sales in that category.

Finally, make sure your website includes all of your seasonal menus and up-to-date photography that helps set the stage for holiday celebrations. You may want to set up a pop-up window to direct online visitors to a specific offering or page on your website during the holiday season. Because so many people are shopping online, it’s important to streamline your website to be user-friendly, mobile-friendly, and responsive. Get a few friends and frequent customers to test out your website to make sure it’s intuitive and attractive.

Reward Loyalty

If you have a loyalty program, those guests are your most valuable customers because they are the ones that spend the most money in your restaurant, so recognize them with special holiday perks, like discounts, freebies, and exclusive swag. A little goes a long way in making customers feel special, and that’s what a loyalty program is all about. Show your commitment to your customers by sharing loyalty program perks online and encourage new customers to sign up in time for great holiday rewards.

Special Events

The holidays also provide a great opportunity to introduce online cooking classes, cocktail-making classes, or virtual beverage tasting and pairing events. Include a link or QR code with each kit so that guests can join you online to delve deeper into how to prepare the items and always offer a call to action or next step at the end of your video to keep the conversation going. Encourage guests to share their creations online, tagging your business and using a specific hashtag.

And including opportunities for the whole family, including kids (and pets!), is a great way to bring customers into your dining room during the holiday season. Look for slower hours when you can drive traffic by hosting something like a Santa Experience where kids can meet Santa Claus, reindeer, or other festive characters and have their picture taken. Or think about ways to maximize traffic with a ‘12 Days of Christmas’ promotion. It could be special discounts and LTOs, secret menu items, or a new cocktail each day. Get creative and have fun with it!

Party Central

Make sure your customers think of your restaurant first when planning their holiday celebrations, whether they book a private party or bring in a big group for happy hour. Add your holiday menus, including catering, to your website to plant the idea, and use your marketing channels to remind everyone about your offerings and availability. You may want to incentivize businesses to book private parties at your restaurant by providing additional perks, like savings on bulk gift certificates for employees or discounts on menu items to be served during the festivities.

Gift Certificates and Charity Drives

Gift certificates are a huge category for sales around the holidays, so make sure you are equipped to sell a ton of them, and then market accordingly. Make sure servers are mentioning gift certificates in their server script and spread the word about gift certificates to your followers.

The holiday season is also a great time to practice gratitude while helping those in need, so holding a food, toy, or coat drive makes a lot of sense and can be a good way to encourage guests to come in for an extra visit. You may want to tie in donations to discounts to further encourage people to come in. Partner with a local nonprofit to identify their needs, and then work together with them to market the drive among your network and theirs. At the end of the drive, be sure to share the impact with your followers so that they can be inspired and proud of their contributions.