7 Trends Every Business Should Know in 2017
At the latest count, the restaurant industry gathers over $600 million in revenue every twelve months. In addition to this, it’s still growing despite the rumors that people prefer to stay at home or try other things. With this in mind, now is a great time to enter the restaurant industry and it looks as though it will stay this way for many years to come.
Despite this, there will always be competition which means you need to stay ahead of the game at all times. By reading this guide, you’ve taken the first step and we applaud your will to get to the top of your industry in your area. Today, we’ve got seven trends that will get you where you need to be in the years ahead.
Expanding Palate – For a long time, the aim of restaurants was to offer as much as possible and appeal to the needs of everyone and this actually worked. Sadly, these days are coming to an end and the customer is looking for new experiences. Even with classic dishes, such as the cheeseburger and fries, these are being replaced by foods from other cultures and healthier alternatives. Nowadays, the customer is looking to experiment and try something new.
Rather than adhering to the needs of the masses this year, we recommend choosing a niche and honing in on it for the next few months. Although you’ll appeal to a smaller audience, this audience is more likely to enjoy their experience and return in the near future.
Social Media – In recent years, we’ve seen the rise of social media and it has allowed smaller businesses appeal to a much larger crowd through the use of imagery. As an example, Shake Shack is one of the best because they have just 63 locations around the US. Compared to McDonald’s and their 36,000 locations, this is practically nothing yet Shake Shake is 100 times more successful, according to Goldman Sachs, on Instagram.
Elsewhere on Instagram, there are profiles with hundreds of millions of followers just by posting beautifully-composed photos of dishes. With Shake Shack themselves, they earned a name for good-looking food which suggests a new trend in the market. Not only do we want our food to taste great, we want it to look great too so this should be one of your focuses in 2017. Even if it means investing in higher-quality ingredients and foods that can be used to decorate the plate, this investment could just be what you need.
On your menus and other material the customer receives, make sure you encourage all guests to take pictures of their food and share it online. As their friends’ taste buds get going, they see the location of their friend and make a note to visit in the future. As well as taking pictures, get your visitors to follow your page and remember to post regular updates yourself. Whether you’re trying a new presentation for a dish or introducing a new dish, we make decisions with our eyes on social media platforms so get your delicious food online.
Food Trucks – Although this one might sound strange, the mobile food industry is currently booming and it has been for a number of years. Though, we’re talking about high-quality, healthy options rather than a greasy burger and chip van. As mentioned previously, people are looking to expand their palate and mobile locations could be the way to provide them with more options.
With over $1.2 billion in revenue in 2016, this industry has grown nearly 13% within the past five years so why not add a food truck that’s always on-the-go? In addition to providing the locals with an opportunity to enjoy your food now, you give them a taster of what you have to offer if they want to visit your restaurant later.
Before going ahead with this one, we advise performing some market research because not all cities are seeing this boost in the mobile food industry.
No Reservations – For those who have been in the industry for a number of decades, you might be a little hesitant to even continue reading this trend because reservations have been a staple for many years for restaurants. However, the no-show rate has been steadily increasing in recent years and this means restaurants are closing off sections of their establishment for people who don’t even show and this is inefficient.
As a result, many are changing to a first come, first served policy to fill up the tables and keep business booming. When people walk past and see the tables full, they immediately feel the need to visit in the future because this is social proof working first-hand. When customers walk in and there are no tables free, they’ll at least stay for a drink even if they don’t end up waiting for a table and this is revenue you wouldn’t have had if you’d have rejected their phone call due to being ‘fully-booked’.
Interior Design – Next up, we refer you back to Instagram once again because more people are taking photos on their phones than ever before. In fact, the prediction for 2017 was 1.2 trillion pictures worldwide over the course of 12 months. For two reasons, you should improve the interior design in your restaurant and make sure everything looks fresh;
- You want to create an atmosphere where people want to take photos.
- You want people viewing the photos to wonder where the picture is taken because it looks so amazing.
Rewards – As we all know, repeat business is the key to success as a restauranteur so more establishments are now offering special loyalty schemes for regular customers. According to a recent report, regular customers also spend an average of 67% more per visit so allowing them to earn a free dish or a free glass of wine every now and then is the least you can do to keep hold of their custom. Luckily, technology is making loyalty programs easier and some apps allow everything to be done digitally so you don’t need to worry about stamping cards or any other traditional methods of rewarding loyal customers.
Email List – Over the past few years, you might have heard a good amount regarding email lists and this is for a good reason. By having an email list, you have a list of email addresses belonging to people who have shown some form of interest in your business. With email marketing offering a strong conversion rate, it shouldn’t be long before you see a return on your investment. According to a recent study, nearly two-thirds of us check emails daily so a nice little email (or even a regular newsletter) could attract people to your restaurant.
If you manage to build a list of 1,000 email addresses, you need just 2% to take action after an email and you have 20 extra tables visiting this evening. The more emails you have, the easier it’ll be to fill your restaurant each night.
Conclusion – In the year ahead as we move into 2018, why not utilize these key metrics and marketing trends? Sure, delicious food is important but customers are looking for an experience these days whether that comes from Instagram, loyalty programs, interior design, or even the chance to taste the food of a brand from a food truck. Once you include one or more of these tips into your marketing strategy, there’s no reason why you can’t push a little closer to success.