[Live Panel Recap] New Ways to Make Money at Your Restaurant

The restaurant industry has irreversibly changed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Traditional strategies for driving additional revenue in your restaurant such as new menus items, events, catering, or pop-ups have been displaced by changed consumer habits, regulatory guidelines, and dine-in restrictions.

While this rapid change has led to a number of restaurants closing up permanently it has also given rise to a host of new and exciting opportunities for restaurants to make money and grow their business during uncertain times.

To help restaurants thrive and adapt, the 7shifts team brought together a number of industry thought-leaders to share how they have adapted their operations to capitalize on the new opportunities in the market. Panelists included:

– Jordan Boesch, 7shifts CEO
– Hayley Thayer, Growth Marketing Manager at ChowNow
– Amy Nhan, People & Culture Manager at Fresh Restaurants
– Phil Petrilli, CEO at Taïm Falafel

The panel, which you can watch below, touched on a number of important topics for restaurateurs to consider, including:

• The growth and importance of pickup, takeout, and delivery
• The corresponding growth of dedicated delivery roles in restaurant teams
• Leveraging social media for incremental revenue
• The importance of “claiming your online identity” to drive online orders

Watch now 👇

During the panel there were a number of polls shared with the audience to get feedback on how real restaurateurs have adapted their own operations. The results of these polls – based on the feedback of 60+ restaurateurs – are as follows:

What’s the sentiment of your customers about going back to restaurants?

• Most customers are ready to go back and will follow protocols 21%
• Most customers are ready to go back but will NOT follow protocols 76%
• Most customers are still NOT ready to go back to restaurants 3%

What ordering and delivery channels have you implemented in your restaurant?

• Web/app ordering 69%
• Social media ordering 15%
• Phone ordering 41%
• Curb side pickup and takeout 74%
• Contactless dine-in 26%
• Delivery marketplace 15%

I’d be more interested in acquiring technology that helps me with:

• Managing my team 0%
• Streamlining operations and reducing costs 37%
• Promoting my restaurant and boosting sales 33%
• Website/app ordering 26%
• Placing orders through the phone 4%
• Ordering at counter 0%
• Implementing Drive Thru 0%

💡📫  Interested in getting more restaurant industry insights? Check out the 7shifts Restaurant Industry Data Portal, which includes real-time insights on the state of sales and labor across North America. Or, sign up for the 7shifts Food Runner 🛎️ – a bi-weekly email digest of the most important stories affecting restaurateurs right now.