Kounta POS Making it Big in Hospitality: Strategies for Growi | Page 11

Combo meals didn’t become the norm because those nice mega-chains want
you to save money; it’s because they boost revenue like mad. And fountain drinks,
as you probably know, carry huge profit margins—leaving you lots of wiggle room
to knock down the price as part of a combination. If your customers have
incentive to spend a little more money, they will.
Offer coupons to your regulars.
Sounds counterintuitive to expect more money per check if you’re offering
coupons; if you’re just sending blanket offers out to everyone through an ad or
storewide promotion, this strategy isn’t going to work. But you’ve been entering
your regular customers into your POS’s database right? If you have, then you can
target offers to specific people. Find all the people who, on average, don’t spend
more than $20 per meal and give them a 10% discount if they spend $25. Do the
same for people who generally spend no more than $30 by giving incentive for
them spend $40—and so on. These are your regulars: they were going to come
back, anyway, and now you’ve given them a reason to spend more than they
normally do.
Integrate an online ordering app with your POS.
When people order online or through an app, the data shows that they tend to
spend about 10% - 20% more on each meal. This goes back to the human
psych element I mentioned above: without the public pressure of being on a line
and staring at a menu trying to figure their order out, people buy more food. When
they can order at their own, relaxed pace, people can really absorb the menu and
not feel rushed into the decision. And when no one’s looking over their shoulder,
they’re more inclined order more than they would otherwise.