Even though 2024 is almost ending, these restaurant trends will help you keep up with the market’s demands.
Food awareness events, special holidays, and other international festivals are just some of the business trends you should follow as a restaurateur. You can do other opportunities for your restaurant to improve and boost your sales in the long run.
One of today’s noteworthy trends is the use of online ordering. Various innovations make the online ordering process an easy one. For instance, restaurant owners can use a QR code menu software to cater to customers through an interactive menu and online ordering page.
Knowing these restaurant trends is critical if you want to keep up with the competition in the market. Hence, let’s get to know some of these marketing trends for your restaurant!
Restaurant trends
As a restaurateur, think of how you can shape the flow of your business. These restaurant trends will help you keep afloat amidst business competition in the restaurant industry.
QR code menu software for online ordering
Online ordering is one of the paradigms shift in the restaurant industry. It has been gaining much attention, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. Now that the pandemic is gone, the online ordering platform is here to stay!
On the other hand, QR code menu software is today’s technological innovation that caters to customers with an online ordering process through QR technology.
The software allows restaurateurs to generate an interactive menu QR code that customers can scan to browse your restaurant’s online menu.
You can easily categorize the menu items and beverages in your online ordering process using the software. Aside from that, you can also include food labels, images, prices, ingredient warnings, and modifiers to serve your customers conveniently.
A QR code menu software’s online ordering process helps your restaurant run a quick-pace service to customers. It makes the ordering process quicker, better, and more convenient for you and your customers.
The software not only allows you to generate an interactive menu for online ordering, but it also has different store features. It allows you to oversee business operations across your restaurant branches using one account. It also lets you perform strategic efforts because of the data analytics feature.
There is more to know about QR code menu software, but the important thing is that it helps you serve customers conveniently and comfortably through online ordering.
Shift to healthier menu choices
The restaurant industry today has also gone trending because of the health consciousness of customers. These customers pay more attention to their well-being and their daily consumption.
This trend is seeing a rise in healthier menu choices that mitigates the use of processed foods on your menu. Hence, you can freely serve your customers some gut-healthy decisions on your menu, like a smoothie bowl filled with chia seeds, fresh fruits, almonds, soy milk or coconut milk, and other healthy ingredients.
You can also serve up some cold kombucha, hot miso soup, and freshly brewed tea on your menu to satisfy your customers’ cravings.
Your restaurant can easily take advantage of this health-conscious trend and modify its menu choices.
Sustainable restaurant experience
Consumers not only look out for healthy menu items but also pay attention to the sustainability measures of your restaurant.
According to statistics, 20% of customers are aware of sustainable food production, and 41% of consumers are interested in savoring sustainable meat.
This highly recommends that consumers scout out some restaurants that are also focused on sustainability. Aside from the excellent food and better services, consider using sustainable kitchenware, utensils, and other sustainability practices inside your restaurant.
For instance, you can switch some of your meat ingredients into sustainable meat and seafood. You can also source some local fruits and vegetables. Recycle and reuse some packages in your restaurant to save money and reduce carbon footprints in your restaurant.
Learn to Upsell
One of the best ways to increase profits in a restaurant is to learn how to upsell. This involves convincing customers to buy more expensive items, either by suggesting upgrades or adding on additional items. For example, if a customer is ordering a burger, you could suggest they add on fries or a drink. Or, if they’re ordering a steak, you could suggest they upgrade to a higher-quality cut of meat.
Upselling can be difficult, but it’s important to remember that most customers are willing to spend more if they feel like they’re getting value for their money. The key is to be subtle and not pushy – no one likes to be pressured into buying something they don’t want. If you can master the art of upselling, you’ll see a significant boost in your restaurant’s profits.
Offering unique menu items
One way to stand out from the competition is to offer unique menu items that you can’t find anywhere else. This could be something as simple as a signature dish that’s only available at your restaurant, or a specialty item that’s not commonly found on menus. Offering unique menu items is a great way to attract new customers and keep them coming back for more.
If you’re not sure what kind of unique dishes to offer, take some inspiration from popular trends. For example, many restaurants are now offering plant-based options for diners who are looking for healthier choices. You could also try incorporating global flavours into your menu to give diners a taste of something different. Whatever you do, make sure your unique dishes are tasty and appealing so that customers keep coming back for more.
Offer Takeout and Delivery
Offering takeout and delivery services is one of the best restaurant trends to improve sales and profit. Customers today are busy and often don’t have time to sit down for a meal, so being able to offer them the option to take their food to go or have it delivered right to their doorstep is a huge selling point.
Not only does this provide convenience for your customers, but it can also help increase your profits. Takeout and delivery orders tend to be larger than dine-in orders, so you can make more money per order. And since customers are often willing to pay a premium for the convenience of takeout and delivery, you can also charge slightly higher prices for these services.
If you’re not already offering takeout and delivery, now is the time to start!
Final thoughts
These concepts are just some of the restaurant trends in the market today. You can also include the help of menu engineering in curating a good menu, zero-waste cooking, globally inspired food choices, and ghost kitchens.
Always remember that keeping up with the restaurant and food trends will give you an upper hand over your competitors in the industry.
