Does Your QSR Restaurant Have a Summer Slump in Sales? You Shouldn’t!

Know what your QSR customers want in the summers.

Today’s Kanekt 365 blog shares ways to increase QSR pizza sales in the summer. Surprisingly, some QSR restaurants don’t sell as many meals in the summer. According to Small Business Chronicles, there are many reasons.

• As far back as the early 2000’s public schools began ordering a special lunch treat once a week or more from different QSR restaurants. Unfortunately, those sales dry up when school is closed.
• Many children eat less in the summer since they are busy playing around town and the warmer weather. This is perfectly normal because as the body heats up, it requires fewer calories to sustain body temperature. They may crave cool treats but not necessarily warm meals.
• Vacations increase, so there are fewer people in your hometown. Since it’s primarily residents who purchase from pizza restaurants, you will have fewer orders.

How do you increase your regular sales to offset the possible losses?

Let’s take them one at a time:

1. What other ways can you replace large QSR orders from schools? Contact camps to see if they want a standing order for pizza lunches. What about corporate offices? Many offices closed their cafeterias when COVID hit, and many have not reopened. Local pools all have concession stands but do not often have the space or training to cook hot pizza. All three of these ideas will be ongoing large orders!
2. Parents are busy in the summer and will appreciate the easy access to a quick and carefree pizza lunch for themselves and their children.
3. People tend to eat less when it’s warm, so it is more important than ever to offer deals and quick reminders. This is a perfect place for Twitter, Instagram, and Tik Tok. It doesn’t take long to do a quick post for a pop-up sale on pizza or a BOGO for the next hour. Better yet, have your staff do a quick Tik Tok to get people’s attention. If customers can prove they shared it, offer them a discount if they come in within the hour. It’s all about the right time of day and the speed of interaction. Sometimes, all a QSR restaurant has to do is remind people that it’s lunchtime, and suddenly they want a pizza!
4. Offer staycation deals. Many people are away during certain weeks of the month (IE, Fourth of July); many people are away or have people visiting them. Offer sales for the week. HINT: Go back to your sales stats in 2021 and see which weeks were lower in sales. Choose those weeks to run big sales and incentives.
5. Offer contests. Everyone likes to win things. Do “Flash contests” for those people left in town. Scavenger hunts are a big hit in the summer. Send customers on a scavenger hunt around town that ends at your restaurant. If they track their hunt on social media, offer a discount or free item with their order. Better yet, find partners in town that will provide small token items and advertise the scavenger hunt together. If you have five partners, all five companies are marketing to ALL your followers. That’s a lot of free advertising.

Never admit there is a “slow time” in your business. If there is, be creative and find a way to make it not slow! Stay tuned to Kanekt 365 for more creative marketing ideas to help our QSR partners.

Kanekt 365 is a call center company dedicated to increasing the profits of the QSR industry. Contact Kanekt 365 if you want to take advantage of our services to increase your sales. You can easily see the cost of outsourcing your QSR calls with Kanekt 365 on our website. https://kanekt365.compricing/ Simply add your weekly sales, number of calls, and you’ll see how we can save your restaurant money on staffing costs. These savings cover the costs associated with outsourcing.