With one of the biggest coffee cultures in the world, Australia is home to over 54 thousand cafes and restaurants. But with thousands of cafe’s competing to attract customers, it can be difficult to stand out in the crowd.
So if your café’s sales are declining, it’s time to rethink your business strategy.
In this blog, we’ll look at six tried-and-true ways to increase your café’s productivity and turn slow days into busy seasons.
1. Create an Inviting Atmosphere
With social media platforms such as Instagram and TikTok gaining popularity, people now visit cafes primarily for their aesthetics. Mostly to take photos or videos for social media.
As a result, the interior and atmosphere of your café serves as a silent ambassador for your brand. It’s no longer just about the smell of fresh coffee or the taste of your pastries; it’s about the overall experience.
Make sure to consider both comfort and aesthetics when designing your cafe. Based on cafe’s that have been doing exceptionally well, adding comfortable seats, captivating lighting, and a distinctive theme will significantly enhance the experience for your customers.
Similarly, ensure you have always have good music playing in the background, along with captivating art on the walls, with aesthetically pleasing tableware and silverware. All in all, every element in your cafe should be aesthetically pleasing and welcoming.
2. Expand Your Menu
As humans, we all have a varying taste palette. Moreover, today’s customers are very much into global flavours and like trying dishes and drinks from all over the world. The variety in your menu can appeal to a wide range of customers, encouraging them to try something new on each visit.
But how can you expand your menu to appeal to your diverse customer base?
Well, introduce seasonal items to keep the menu fresh and interesting. Similarly, make sure you cater to various dietary preferences. Offer options such as vegan, gluten-free, and keto-friendly options to attract health-conscious customers.
3. Implement a Loyalty Program
Who doesn’t love freebies? This is where loyalty programs come into play. They are a fantastic way to keep customers coming back for more. A well-planned loyalty program is a sure-shot way to increase the frequency of visits of your valuable customer.
To do so, you can use a points system or punch card to offer discounts, freebies, or exclusive access to special events. Implement a restaurant POS to make things easier and streamline your loyalty program set-up.
4. Engage with Customers on Social Media
Based on recent statistics, 20.80 million Australians are regular social media users. That’s a whopping 78.3% of the entire population! Therefore, it is safe to say that social media is a powerful tool to build relationships with your existing customers and attract new ones.
To make the most out of social media, showcase your café’s personality on various platforms. Post engaging content highlighting your café culture, special events as well as community involvement. Additionally, you can also run targeted ads to promote your cafe, a specific menu item or a special offer to create excitement among customers. Using social media advertising is an extremely effective way to accurately reach potential customers in your area.
5. Enhance Customer Service
We all know that exceptional service can turn a first-time visitor into a lifelong customer. This can be done by investing in training your staff to provide friendly and effective service.
Likewise, encourage employees to go above and beyond for customers, and make every interaction memorable. And lastly, actively seek customer feedback and use it for continuous improvement.
6. Optimise for Local SEO
We have already covered how customers today seek the Internet for cafe recommendations. And local SEO is critical for ensuring that you always appear at the top of search queries because it allows customers to find you when looking for a nearby cafe.
To do so, ensure your café is listed in all relevant online sites and that its information is up to date. Furthermore, good reviews can increase your visibility in search results and help build trust with potential customers.
7. Make Your Cafe Profile in Different Websites
There are a lot of websites in which you can list your cafe and get a lot of traffic. Most restaurant listing sites in Australia are Food and Wine with Love, OpenTable, Yelp, Tripadvisor, etc. List your cafe on these platforms and ask your customers to provide reviews on these platforms as well.
As most of these platforms have traffic of thousands, your cafe will be found by nearby citizens and will visit your website. Not only that, these platforms also provide online ordering capabilities. This means, your customers can order food online through these platforms bringing you more sales.
Conclusion
In conclusion, improving your café sales is a multi-pronged effort that requires attention to detail, creativity, and a willingness to adapt to changing customer preferences With the recommendations above, you can rest assure to create a thriving café that customers love to visit again and again.