Early Promotion Can Help Feed Desire For Stuffed Restaurants This Festive Season
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Leading international online booking and table management software provider ResDiary has warned restaurants not to risk missing out on a bumper Christmas by leaving their planning too late .
ResDiary research found venues recorded a marked increase in revenue throughout the festive season , with the figures even higher for restaurants that began their planning before the summer is out .
The figures were revealed in ResDiary ’ s latest industry report : Beyond the Booking : Festive Season Success Unwrapped , which was released this week .
The Glasgow-headquartered company , whose system is used by more than 10,000 venues across the world , said more than a third ( 34 %) of restaurants are never fully booked during the festive period , with that figure almost halving to 18 % when venues began their festive planning before August .
The research also revealed more than 69 % of eateries take significantly more revenue during the festive period , with the figure ramping up to 82 % for those who have planned ahead and taken action before August .
ResDiary CEO Colin Winning said : “ The festive season is a hotly anticipated and instrumental period in the hospitality calendar , so it ’ s important restaurants have these ongoing insights in order to benchmark , evaluate their current position , and steady up their plans for the season ahead . nearly 8 in 10 restaurants said they were busier during the festive season , a similar number were hungry for more customers .
And while implementing plans early can lead to increased revenue , the report found it can also have knock-on benefits .
Colin added : “ Nearly a quarter of survey respondents putting plans in place before August said they were fully booked by September , giving them more time to market their festive offering , reconfigure table plans and implement other seasonal changes to their operations , long before their competitors .
“ Our research also found venues are able to plan ahead and increase inventory and staff levels accordingly , with more than half of restaurants boosting their workforce to manage the festive season , and 54 % adding to their stock levels to meet the spike in demand at this time of year .
“ This not only provides them with certainty going into the stressful festive period , but it also means they are able to focus on providing customers with the best possible experience – hopefully one that will lead to them returning in the new year .”
“ Our findings demonstrate a clear correlation between those putting their festive plans in place before August , in higher booking numbers , and subsequently higher revenue generation .
“ We are therefore encouraging all restaurants who haven ’ t done so already to start promoting their festive offering for 2023 , with our report also highlighting how restaurants should be adapting their operations and marketing strategies for a successful season .”
The report , which surveyed dozens of restaurateurs across the UK and Ireland , also found that while
To read the full research report , visit https :// resdiary . com / industry-insights / beyond-thebooking-festive-season-2023
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