5 THINGS WE SAW ON OUR FOODIE’S ROAD TRIP TO HELP LIFT SALES

HOW TO GET BACK TO PRE- COVID SALES LEVELS WHEN YOU’RE AT 85% NOW

Like everyone, we are hanging to travel again, but with #HolidayingAtHome and #RoadTripping becoming the new normal we set off on a driving holiday within our state!

With no plans other than the open road and what restaurants to eat at, we set out to find the top 5 things to help lift sales in businesses that have seen an upturn in diners now regional travel is on the agenda; businesses that have risen to 85% pre-COVID sales but just can’t get back to 100%!

And one thing stood out, it is the finer details that are making the difference. There will be travelers who will still dine in a not so perfect COVID environment, but others may be deterred if your tenancies do not have a fully comprehensive COVID safe plan.

Read more to find out how to get that extra `15% and see growth post COVID!

#1 – SIGN IN TO DINE IN 

Whilst most places we stopped at had some sort of sign in procedure, the rates at which it was implemented varied from place to place.
It doesn’t matter if you have an automated QR code system or the old school sign in with a pen and paper, but the onus is on the operator to check that the diners/visitors have followed this correctly.
Those establishments that were extremely busy had a dedicated staff member check for the “green tick” on the APP or were ensuring that all guests had signed in with a clean, sanitised pen before being seated.

 #2 – CONTROL THE LINE

One of the local coffee haunts we stopped at was about 30m2 in size. With recommended store spacing of 1 person per 4m2 that allows 7 people in the store. There were 3 staff inside along with 3 customers. A “couple” were waiting for their coffee order whilst 3 more customers were waiting outside on the pavement creating havoc for pedestrians trying to walk up and down the street. The coffee shop needed to implement a “waiting area” outside for customers who had placed their orders so that they could let in more customers and take more orders. Waiting to order is the #1 problem for losing sales and creates an air of unsafe COVID practices.

 #3 – TRAIN STAFF UP ON THE RULES 

It is now a fact of life – if we want to enjoy social freedoms and still get about, social distancing is here to stay. Socially distanced seating and adequate room for ordering is something that must be implemented.
Disappointingly, at numerous locations staff didn’t seem to understand or care about social distancing rules, often beckoning patrons into an already overcrowded space to take orders and seat patrons.

We know it has been tough for business’ and you need to “make hay whilst the sun shines” particularly with regional travel booming, however over crowding stores to take more sales will ultimately deter customers from proceeding with their intended purchase. The ripple effects when these customers tell their story through platforms like TripAdvisor could be devastating for the business.

 #4 – INTRODUCE “TEXT AHEAD”

As summer descends and our coastlines get flooded with people looking for their beach fix, a simple “text to order” type of service will stop the footpaths getting clogged up with visitors waiting for their coffee or smoothies. This will speed up service enormously allowing operators to serve more customers across the lunchtime trading period. A pre-ordering system doesn’t need to be a fancy or expensive solution during these CoVID times but it needs to be implemented immediately.

 #5 – SINGLE USE EVERYTHING

It was interesting to still see in numerous tenancies from the local coffee shop to hatted restaurants condiments still on tables, shared pens for signing in, multi-use bound paper menus and inadequate table spacing.
One place we dined at had an exemplary COVID plan with a red sash over the door for the head waiter to ensure diners had signed in correctly, single use food menus and for their wine list that was over 300 pages long they had a QR code to scan so you could look at the menu online. They had thought about every touch point in this COVID world and were reaping the benefits being booked out until February 2021!

STOP THE LOSSES TODAY

B&P’s team of F&B experts is on hand Mon – Sat 7am-7pm to assist retailers.

If the ideas above can make a difference to the tenancies we saw on our road trip, imagine what extra sales your retailers could be achieving if they undertook all 60+ COVID safe strategies we have to share with them! Contact us here for your virtual COVID safe audit or group 1 hour COVID safe on-line webinar.

If you want to get more tenancies trading at over 85% pre COVID sales and percentage rents increasing through F&B sales growing week on week you’d be mad not to click on the link above!

#CovidArticle #F&B #CovidRebound