Top 10 Ways to Get Your Restaurant Ready for the Holiday Season

SalesPlay
Oct 08 2024

Holiday seasons are the most unpredictable yet easily the busiest period for restaurants. It is the time of relaxation, exploration and vacation for customers. 

 

Therefore, customers spend more than they usually do. So, with proper planning and implementation, you can establish a good reputation and as an added benefit, rake in a huge profit.  

 

People dining in a beautifully decorated restaurant.

 

This is where restaurant point of sale systems come into play. Here are 10 things you can do to get ready for the holiday season and prepare your restaurant for the upcoming festivities.  

 

Diagram - 10 ways to get your restaurant ready for the holiday season

1. Go for holiday-themed decorations 

The best way to get ready for the holiday season is by setting up a festive atmosphere early in the year.  This can include putting up holiday lights, adding wreaths and other decor, putting out freshly baked cookies and other treats or even having festive music playing in the background. 

 

 

It's all about creating a welcoming atmosphere that will help guests feel at home when they visit during this time of year.  

 

Ready to elevate your restaurant’s holiday ambiance for Christmas?  Let's explore more holiday season decor ideas for restaurants that captivate your guests.

 

 2. Introduce a special holiday-themed menu 

 It is the perfect time to introduce new items to your regular menu and attract new customers.   

 

Include a special menu section on your website that includes items that are available only during certain times of the year.  Customers love fresh seasonal dishes. You can also offer a limited number of restaurant holiday-specific dishes on your regular menu. 

  

Festive Christmas dinner with roasted meat, salad, potatoes, and cranberry sauce.

 

Introduce new seasonally themed crowd-favorite drinks like eggnog lattes or pumpkin spice lattes when applicable. Those are always a huge hit. You’ll be the talk of the town with a few adjustments like these. You can easily manage this variety of new dishes and drinks with SalesPlay POS.  

 

For example, you can create composite products that contain a collection of other products which you can sell as a whole. For this, you can also add ingredient products that are not available for sale, but you can create composite products by using them.  

 

Also, you can easily create combo products for this restaurant holiday season. SalesPlay lets you create combo products by selecting and bundling items based on your customer’s preferences. 

 

Let’s explore create a combo product in SalesPlay and enhance your offerings with seamless product bundling.

 

SalesPlay interface of combo products

 

Let’s discover more on crafting a special holiday menu for your restaurant, that will elevate your restaurant’s festive offerings.

3. Offer special holiday season discounts

People love deals and discounts, making them a great way to entice customers back after their holiday shopping. Giving away freebies such as gift cards or coupons to reward customers who spend more than a particular limit at your business during December is one way of doing that.   

 

If you are curious to know how to keep track of the discounts offered, get a restaurant point of sale system which will do that for you.   

 

Let’s explore more on 10 creative restaurant holiday promotion ideas, to make your restaurant stand out and attract more guests this festive season.

4. Organize holiday-themed nights (Christmas eve, New Years Eve etc) 

Holidays are a time when people gather with friends and family. To boost foot traffic, organize special events like Christmas Eve dinners or open mic nights tailored to the season. Most consumers will consider dining at a restaurant in part because of an event or promotion. 

5. Get additional staff 

Hiring additional help during the busiest season of the year is the sensible thing to do. It will ensure that the demand is met, and operations are running smoothly. Plan your seasonal hiring and get your restaurant ready before your competitors. The holidays will bring larger crowds, so you'll want top-notch staff working for you. 

 

Smiling waiter serving food to happy customers in a relaxed setting 

Think of it as assembling your holiday dream team - a merry band of elves ready to spread cheer and serve up deliciousness! Start scouting for talent early, before other restaurants snatch up all the good ones. Remember, a well-staffed restaurant is like a well-oiled machine. So, put on your Santa hat and get recruiting - your future customers (and your sanity) will thank you! 

 

Let's explore on how to keep your restaurant crew motivated during the holiday season

6. Connect with local Instagram & TikTok influencers 

Social media is a great way to reach out to customers. This type of social media is costless. We have seen many restaurants going viral overnight due to a single tweet from a celebrity. 

 

It's time to turn your restaurant into the next internet sensation! Slide into those DMs and charm local influencers faster than you can say "cheese!" Who knows? Your perfectly plated holiday special might just be the next big thing on TikTok. 

 

Imagine your signature dish doing the latest dance challenge - now that's marketing gold! Create an Insta-worthy corner in your restaurant, complete with twinkling lights and mistletoe (for those daring enough to use it). Remember, in the world of likes and shares, your food isn't just a meal - it's content waiting to happen! 

 

 

Let’s discover on 14 top tips for promoting your restaurant on social media during the festive season

7. Update your restaurant’s technology 

Outdated technology will slow down your operations. Avoid facing the frustration of your customers by opting for better technology.  

 

Your best bet would be to go for a restaurant point-of-sale system. This will streamline all your operations in one device. You can handle everything—from ordering food to applying promotions and discounts—using just one device.  Most significantly, for many restaurants, inventory management is their biggest worry for this restaurant holiday season.  

 

Poor inventory management causes the loss of a large sum of money for many restaurants every year. This is where a restaurant point-of-sale system with inventory management features, like SalesPlay, can greatly help you.   

 

Let’s dive into SalesPlay inventory management capabilities, Let’s explore SalesPlay inventory management capabilities, designed to optimize stock control and streamline your operations.

 

Prepare your restaurant by analyzing past sales reports to understand selling trends from previous holiday seasons. This will help you plan for this year. SalesPlay allows you to retrieve these reports for any date range you want to analyze, so you can identify both past and current trends of the products.   

 

Explore on the SalesPlay sales summary report, which provides an overview of the sales activities and performance of a business over a specific period of time. 

 

Then you can place orders, create GRN (Good Received Notes), and even transfer the goods if you have multiple stores and keep track of all these inventory transactions. Also, you can receive low and negative stock alerts, so you never run out of stock. At the end of the holiday season, you can conduct Inventory counts to reconcile the expected and actual inventory to check the amount of loss or surplus of inventory.  

8. Connect with other local businesses and organizations 

Build your brand by collaborating with other local businesses. Partnering with other local businesses to give combined discounts or vouchers will promote your business. Festive seasons are a good time to be charitable. For example, you can collaborate with a local food bank to donate your unused food or part of your profit that night.  

 

This creates a strong impression among your customers, and you will be directly helping to spread holiday cheer among the less fortunate. 

 

Let’s explore more restaurant collaborations ideas. 

9. Offer additional perks to your loyal customers 

This is also a great time to reward loyal customers. Offering gift hampers to customers with higher loyalty points is a good way to accomplish that. This will keep your existing customers happy and at the same time act as an incentive for new customers.  

 

Happy loyal customers receiving gift boxes from the restaurant

 

Think of it as sprinkling a little extra holiday magic on your VIP diners! Create gift hampers so fabulous, they'll make Santa's gift sack look like amateur hour. Fill them with goodies that'll have your regulars doing happy dances in their seats. 

 

Maybe throw in a coupon for a free "surprise dish" - it's like culinary roulette, but everyone's a winner! And for those newbies? Well, they'll be so green with envy, they'll match your Christmas tree. 

 

Before you know it, you'll have a waitlist longer than Rudolph's flight path. Now that's what we call spreading the holiday cheer! 

10. Run social media paid promotions 

Social media marketing for restaurants works big time. This is a no-brainer. Running paid ads on platforms like Instagram and Facebook reaches a larger audience than conventional marketing methods.  

 

Preparing your restaurant for the bustling holiday season doesn’t have to be overwhelming. By implementing these 10 strategic tips, you’ll not only handle the increased customer flow with ease but also enhance your establishment’s reputation and financial gain. From festive decorations and holiday-themed menus to utilizing advanced restaurant POS systems for efficient inventory management, each step will help create a memorable dining experience.  

 

Customer taking photos of the dishes served at the restaurant

 

Embrace the season with innovative promotions, engage with local influencers, and collaborate with other businesses to maximize your reach. With thoughtful planning and execution, you can turn this holiday season into a successful and joyous period for both your restaurant and your valued customers. 

 

Cheers to a profitable and festive season ahead! 

  

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