Staying Profitable Through the 2020 Holiday Season

It should come as no surprise that this holiday season will not be like the last one. Holiday parties, catered events and family gatherings are going to look a lot different or be outright canceled due to COVID restrictions, putting a strain on your pizzeria business.

But the good news is, consumers are not planning on cutting back their spending this holiday season. According to a 2020 holiday retail survey, 62% of consumers are going to spend either more or the same amount as last year on holiday shopping.¹ This is partly because any dollars that would have been spent on holiday travel are now being reallocated towards celebrating at home.

This is your chance to make sure some of those dollars find their way into your restaurant. After all, if operators have learned one thing over the past year, it’s that by being nimble, patient and adaptive, they can make anything work.

Here are some top tips for making sure your pizzeria business remains active and profitable during the holiday months of 2020.

• Push those gift cards. One huge upside to the holidays? Gift cards. In fact, gift cards / certificates and clothing remain the top items for giving.¹ Click here to learn about Grande’s gift certificate program. Customers are anxious for their favorite restaurants to return to normal operation. When that happens, you can expect an influx of activity, partially due to the gift cards collected over the holidays.
• Create meal kits. Since holiday consumers are planning to stay closer to home while indulging in food and beverage, it makes sense to offer meal kits as an extension of your restaurant. Non-gift spending, for items such as family style meal kits, is expected to go up 30% during the holiday season.¹
• Make up for lost in-restaurant dining. According to Lab42 market research, 56% of consumers surveyed are still planning on cooking Thanksgiving dinner this year.² Because of all the Thanksgiving prep, they will still be looking for an easy meal on Thanksgiving Eve — one of the busiest nights of the year for pizza, along with New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day. This holiday season is your opportunity to remind consumers through social media channels, box toppers and email how easy and convenient ordering pizza is. Find out how to optimize your delivery here.
• Offer a discount on catering. For those still planning on creating a holiday event, though a much smaller one, consider offering a discount on catering or in-house events. This can include a percentage off, a dollar amount discount or an offer for something unique or trendy that’s not normally available to regular customers. Read Grande’s Best Practices for Small Catering Events here.
• Reinforce your takeout /carryout /delivery. It’s one of the busiest times of the year with online and in-store shopping, wrapping gifts and holiday prep. Reassure customers that you’re always ready to help out with meal prep through easy takeout, curbside or delivery using social media or direct mail. Click here to explore the best practices and turnkey tools to implement curbside carryout in your pizzeria today.
• Let them know it’s safe. Ensure patrons who are still hoping to dine-in this holiday season that it’s safe to do so in your restaurant. Display your safety protocols through social media and on your website to boost patron confidence. Once inside your restaurant, continue to show your safe practices through signage, social distancing adherence and staff behaviors. Want more tools to build patron safety confidence? Click here.

End 2020 on a high note

Sixty-five percent of consumers plan to gather with immediate family or members of their household for holiday celebrations.³ This is the time to ramp up your social media and customer communication. As a restaurant or pizzeria, you can offer families a source of joy through great tasting food while staying profitable throughout the rest of the year.