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How to increase sales at restaurants With WordPress

Apr 21, 2023

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You're incredible. Your restaurant's business has remained strong after the pandemic. You've proved your worth as well as demonstrated your shrewd thinking in business. This is likely the reason you're here!

The rising costs and the slowing economy could make some entrepreneurs look at their feet into the sand, but you're not like them. You know you need to be proactive and nimble in order to boost sales at your restaurant and continue to grow your business.

We'll show you how to configure your WordPress site to receive orders, without the use of a third party platform. Then, you can take back the full control over your online orders.

We'll help you discover the immense potential your internet presence and the community can bring to your company.

Find out how you can get the most value from your WordPress site, and cash in on the trend of membership that's taking the restaurant business to the streets.

The tools you'll need

If your website is just the place where you can post your menu and provide contact information for bookings, you've got a bit of catching up to do. However, that's fine.

It just takes a few plugins and connections to turn your WordPress website into a powerful selling tool, and to compete against big chains.

Best of all it's super simple with a tiny bit of insider information. You don't need a bunch of skills in the field for this to be done.

WordPress and  and have made it simple to get non-techies to run their business online. No programming necessary.

Here are the tools you will require:

  1. WordPress: The most popular CMS for managing content (CMS) that powers around 810 million sites.
  2. Easy Affiliate Easy Affiliate: The "all-in-one" affiliate-related program software designed for WordPress

How to Increase Restaurant Sales Through WordPress

Step 1: Select the WordPress host and theme.

If you haven't already got a WordPress website (sorry it's a shame that popular builders like Wix and SquareSpace won't have all the necessary features) you first need to pick a host.

Once you've registered your domain you'll be required to choose the WordPress theme to design your restaurant.

Step 2: Install the Plugin

is the most popular WordPress Membership and monetization plugin for a reason. Its ever-growing library of plugins and integrations make it extremely customizable, meaning you can design the perfect subscription program for your clients.

Watch >> for instructions on the steps to install WordPress

By using this software, you are able to:

  • take advantage of the rising trend in the world of restaurant business, which is based on subscription-based services with recurring annual or monthly fees.
  • boost sales at restaurants through loyalty incentives or members-only discounts increase sales at restaurants through loyalty incentives or discounts for members onlyfor regular customers,
  • and build a community of valued customers.

Not just large chains are making use of subscriptions. Later on, we'll go in greater detail about how restaurants across all sizes are using their websites to develop innovative membership programs.

Step 3: Add WPCafe and WooCommerce plugins

You've put in a lot of effort to design a great menu, provide outstanding service and increase your base of customers. What's the reason, then, that the third party platforms charge outrageous fees and commission rates?

DoorDash is charged a whopping 30 percent for its full built-in marketing plan. But even if you choose to not participate in their marketing and pay their 15 percentdelivery charge, your company will still be marketed to your competitors.

So you could refer your customers to these third-party apps. Who's to say that you'll not lose to the competitors paying for prioritized marketing?

Additionally, you're also at the mercy of these platforms' changing policies and terms.

With WPCafe it's simple to upload your menu and define your operating hours as well as the amount of reservations that are available as well as cancellation policy, and many more.

With WPCafe and WooCommerce You can keep your full autonomy and controlover your operations at just half the price of other hosted platforms.

Step 4. Upload Your Menu

It's now time to the menu items you want to add.

In WooCommerce, under Products Upload Descriptions, add categories and tags for example, starter, main, soft drink and cocktail, gluten-free vegetarian, etc.

You also have the option to upload photos of your dishes so people can see what they're ordering.

Step 5: Develop Customer Loyalty with a Membership Program

You now have everything you require to manage your restaurant on the internet without third-party system, it's the time to think outside the box and come up with ways to build trust with your customers.

A happy number: a 5% increment in loyalty to customers generates greater than 25% rise in profits.

It is important to keep existing customers coming back.

 But customer loyalty is in a crisis.

The rising costs are affecting how consumers are feeling about the brands they love.

Here are some not-so-happy stats: Almost a third (30 percent) of people say that price increases affect their trust in brands, while 22% say their loyalty is declining.

The business world needs to figure out ways to provide value (or at least perceived value) for their valued customers. And membership programs are just one way to do it.

With a membership plan, you can incentivize repeat business with exclusive offers as well as online content. It is also possible to use your new platform to cross-sell or upsell products and drink.

Stay tuned for more ideas and examples of how to run profitable membership programs.

This type of arrangement provides an income that is predictable and stable - making budgeting and forecasting a whole lot easier.

Additionally, if you provide different tiers of membership, members can upgrade their membership in the course of becoming more involved to your restaurant.

All of this is possible and is made simple with.

Step 6: Drive the Snowball Effect With Easy Affiliate

In the industry of restaurants, improving customer loyalty has a secondary effect that increases the sales overall: it attracts more customers in!

Dining out can be a social activity. That's what makes restaurants different to, say, retail shops. Customers seek out a top place to eat and then enjoy the experience with families, friends, or spouse.

This is why customer loyalty is particularly importantin the industry of restaurants. Keep your customers coming back and you'll see them bring many more guests with them. Make sure that their customers come back and bring even many more guests along with them.

Take a look it's what's known as an snowball effect!

Membership programs can increase the impact of snowballs. Offer rewards for bringing relatives or friends to your restaurants and make them enroll in the membership program, too.

That way, you're not only making sure your customers are returning, but you're also driving new clients to the doors.

 Affili-what?

An affiliate program is where you can earn a reward by sharing their business's information with other people. Each "affiliate" will be given a unique link to your website. If someone makes a purchase or signs up for membership by using your hyperlink, you may reward them!

With Easy Affiliate, you'll be able to give your members a reward for successfully inviting their friends and family to join. Here's how you do it.

  1. Install Easy Affiliate's plug-in on your WordPress dashboard
  2. In on the WordPress dashboard, go to Simple Affiliate and then Settings..
  3. Choose the Affiliates tab.
  4. Where it states "Registration Type"at the top, select private.
  5. You can turn On Automatically Add Affiliates which means that any new visitors will be automatically sent an affiliate link to your site.
  6. Click on the Advanced tab.
  7. Make edits to the Welcome Emailto explain how everything is working to members of your organization.
  8. It is also possible to select and edit the Create Affiliate Sale Emailto automatically send an email with such the chance to win a gift card every time someone registers by using the coupon.

NOTE: Easy Affiliate is designed to reward affiliates with a monetary commission on each sale from their unique link. If you'd like to provide vouchers to customers who can be used in the restaurant, be sure you amend the settings and Ts and Cs to reflect this.

Tips to Reward Members and Increase Restaurant Sales

Incentivize Frequent Diners With Special Offers

Remember, by keeping loyal customers sweet and loyal, you'll save cash in the end.

Discount high markup menu items

If you're concerned about squeezeing the margins of your business already strained Offer discount on food items that carry high markups such as drinks and appetizers.

Set minimum orders

There is the option of setting an order minimum (e.g. no drinks when you pay $X for your main) to ensure you're not missing out on the offer.

Have a happy hour for members only

Or you could run members-only happy hour specials to boost sales during slower periods. Whatever makes sense for your company while increasing the perceived value of your customers.

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Always ensure that the house prevails!

Get Strategic to Increase Order Size

Having a restaurant membership program offers numerous opportunities for increasing sales and up-sell or cross-sell things.

 It's the time to be strategic.

Explore ways you could make use of promotions in your membership programs to encourage patrons to boost their spending.

A common method is the utilize combos or packages offers. Someone who normally has a main meal and a soft drink worth $20 might be tempted by a combo deal with wine and dessert worth $28.

You can make use of data from previous customers' purchases to target promotions based on the items they've already bought.

In this case, for example, if your client is likely to order the same meal every time they visit you, offer discounts on wine that goes well with the meal. Or offer a deal on a higher-priced meal with an identical taste.

It's possible that you'll discover an entirely new favourite, costlier order, that customers will continue to return to.

Create a unique online hub

A membership program isn't just about deals and discounts. It's also a place where your customers feel respected and part of an exclusive community.

The installation setup process is easy and fast, and bbPress provides you with uni-directional admin areas that allows you to easily handle and manage forums.

The more value your patrons get out of their membership, the longer they'll stick in your restaurant. It's a win-win for both parties.

Five examples of membership programs to boost restaurant sales

1. Drink Clubs

Due to their higher markups, relatively low cost, as well as their high perceived value drinks are a great option to take advantage of membership offers and discounts.

Provide them with discounted drinks and guess which place they'll choose to dine out? At your joint obviously.

Below are three examples of companies that center their membership programs around drinks:

 Cooper's Hawk Wine Club

Cooper's Hawk restaurant offers monthly membership to their wine club.

The members can take home 3 bottles of the restaurant's "wine that month" with tasting notes as well as pairing recipe.

They can choose between the red, white, sweet, or the variety of wine clubs based on the style they prefer. The members can enjoy wine in-house with their meals or get them delivered.

Members also get access to various other benefits including a $15 birthday gift and 10% discount on carryout and catering, and discounts on wine tastings.

Cooper's Hawk also offers gift membership! It's a great choice for wine lovers and corporate gift ideas. It's a great avenue to boost sales at restaurants and to introduce new customers to their business.

Boris and Horton Coffee Club

East Village's first dog-friendly cafe offers a monthly coffee subscription.

Members can enjoy 8 drinks per month (which would normally cost between $40 and $45) at a cost of $25.

The membership plan works especially ideal for independent, small firms that are part of a community. This is the case with B&H's dog-loving patrons.

 Panera Sip Club

Panera rolled out an $8.99/month unlimited coffee service in February of 2020, to massive success. By July of the same year, customer loyalty had eclipsed 40 million.

Three years on, Panera has extended its offer to include a range of cold and hot beverages.

Interview with Fast Casual, Panera's chief brand and concept officer Eduardo Luz, explains the success of the free-of-cost model:

"Subscription services are table stakes in many different industries. Coffee was one of the products we could see being a good fit for a better and cost-effective solution [...] and providing us an ongoing revenue stream."

2. Frequent Diner Membership

With this membership model, diners purchase carte blanche access to specials and discounts. The more diners eat at your restaurant, the more they can save and the more revenue they bring to you - everyone benefits!

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Everyone gets to win!

 Blood & Sand

At St. Louis restaurant Blood & Sand Members have to pay just $15 to enjoy various discounts including:

  • 20% off their bills
  • 30% off wine on the go
  • Champagne and an appetizer are complimentary.
  • Bonus for new members signing up
  • Tables of preference
  • Midweek reservations with guaranteed reservations
  • Complimentary cocktails at every visit for 10 visits.

3. Exclusive, VIP Experience

With this model it is possible for members to pay more to feel extra special. It's not about creating value for your members, but rather, providing them an extravagant, luxurious, exclusive experience.

 M Den

The M Den is located in London, Gaucho steakhouse and M restaurants in London have joined forces to for the development of M Den, a private membership community with exclusive offers and invitations.

The annual membership for all venues is PS1000 (about 1240 dollars) and comes with VIP benefits such as:

  • An invitation to the "M is for Monaco" Formula 1 Grand Prix weekend race.
  • The bottle is personalized with a top spirit they prefer.
  • Members only Lounge access to events only once each year.
  • Reservations for guaranteed restaurants and VIP line.
  • Unlimited Members Lounge access to up to 5 guests.
  • Four tickets for VIP events with sports celebrities.
  • Monthly gatherings for networking.
  • Full concierge service to help with travel, accommodation as well as events.

Members are also able to access The Portal which is the online portal that provides details of events coming up and other advantages.

4. Community-Supported Restaurant Memberships (CSR)

It is an excellent option for restaurants in need of capital upfront. The concept is on similar lines to GoFundMe or Kickstarter, but for restaurant owners.

Patrons pay an upfront sum to redeem the same amount (or more) for food or services in the future.

Benefit from immediate injection of capital to help fund things like refurbishments or expansions. In addition, your patrons benefit from greater return on investment.

 Lenoir

Austin's Lenoir restaurant gives patrons the opportunity to become part of Lenoir's CSR.

They have 3 tiers of investing:

  • $1000 gets you $1200 on their house account.
  • A $2000 amount will get you a $2500 credit on their house account.
  • A $5,000 investment will get the homeowner a house account of $3,000 for a 5-course, private complete dinner for eight people at your home or in their dining room ($3,000 value) two knife sharpenings for free, priority access to events, and prior reservations.

5. Content Hub Membership

If your restaurant has solid branding and strong, traditional roots for its food, you have the perfect recipe to create an engaging website that provides members with content.

Create behind-the-scenes videos sharing techniques for cooking, recipes as well as food tales and pairing suggestions.

 L'Oca d'Oro

The restaurant is also located in Austin, L'Oca d'Oro is a restaurant that has won awards. significant branding and a strong relationship around its Italian cuisine.

There are two subscription options available through their website. For those who love food, they can choose Fiore's Regional Pasta Club, priced at $90/month, while aspiring Sommeliers can choose The Wine Share Club at $65/month.

Every month, members are able to join The Pasta Club not only receive the ingredients they need and essential pantry items They also have the chance to immerse themselves in Italian tradition.

Participants take part in a cooking class with Chef Fiore Tedesco on a tour of the countries and cities that inspired his cuisine, sharing stories and recipes on the way.

L'Oca d'Oro combines subscription deals and online content for the most exclusive experience available to their members.

We hope that these ideas inspire you to create your own membership program which rewards loyalty, brings you recurring revenue, and ultimately improves sales.

Conclusion

We've demonstrated how it's done, and now it's your turn!

Make sure you set up your site to accept deliveries so that you're not at the mercy of hosted third-party platforms. Take back control of your website through WPCafe.

Now is the time to get inventive! Think strategically about which kind of membership plan works best for your establishment and start getting the revenue going!

Here's a list of actions you must take to improve sales for your restaurant on your website:

  1.   Select the WordPress theme and host.  
  2.   Install the plugin.  
  3.    Include WPCafe and WooCommerce plug-ins.
  4.   Upload your menu.  
  5.   Create customer loyalty through a membership program.  
  6.   Create the snowball effect with Easy Affiliate.  

Have you discovered any interesting restaurant membership programs? Are you able to offer suggestions on how to increase the sales of restaurants using WordPress? Tell us about it in the comments below.

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