Making restaurant seasonality work for you (and customers)

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Any veteran of the restaurant industry knows that seasonal changes can profoundly impact all aspects of the restaurant business. Newbies to the industry will quickly figure this out if they haven’t already: After a year or two in the business, restaurant owners will pick up on the fluctuations that naturally occur with the ebb and flow of the seasons. While there’s a certain intuition to restaurant seasonality, there’s a logic to it as well—and there are ways to mitigate the worst effects of a slowdown and reap the rewards during the rich times of the year.

So, here we’ll explain ways restaurant owners can make their business steady year-round, how to tailor restaurant operations to specific times of year, seasonal factors to tap into, and—crucially—why this all matters.

Why restaurant seasonality matters

The ebbs and flows of the seasons can have a profound impact on every aspect of the restaurant business. Perhaps chief among these is that, especially in areas that experience cold weather, there’s a far more pronounced peak season in dining out—specifically, during the summer months. It doesn’t take a genius to see that it’s more difficult to encourage people to go out to eat when it’s literally freezing outside than when it’s sunny.

So, restaurants often see fewer customers in the winter months, impacting a restaurant’s bottom line. This can be mitigated with specials, holiday events, and marketing, which we’ll get to later. Just bear in mind that fluctuations in sales go along with the seasons.

In addition to customer numbers representing certain seasons, so too will some fresh produce be unique to certain parts of the year. Far from being a drawback, this can be turned into a highlight of your menu. Seasonal ingredients can make for exciting dishes, whether new or classic, that can keep your menu literally and metaphorically fresh and maintain customers’ interest. Mixing up your menu to keep up with the seasons can also keep your staff’s interest, especially since most chefs are happy to explore their creative side.

“Seasonality” also means different things in different places. Some touristy areas—beach towns, for example, see restaurants get most of their business during only a few months of the year. In places with extreme winters like Montana, business can take a nose dive during the cold months. In warmer places like California, Arizona, Texas, or Florida, there is less seasonal variation in restaurant sales since the weather doesn’t change nearly as drastically as it does further north.

To sum up, restaurant seasonality matters because it offers unique challenges and opportunities that change throughout the year, and you’ll need to take into account the significance of your location. Making the most of these opportunities can help your restaurant’s sales during the slower months as well as the busy season.

A seasonal menu for each season

We’ve discussed seasonal menus before, but having a menu to match each season makes a lot of sense. Offering limited-time menu items using local produce can generate buzz around your biz, and can also create a sense of urgency in customers. Additionally, since in-season produce is often cheaper than imported produce, you can boost profit margins by keeping your food cost down.

A seasonal restaurant menu can apply to any kind of establishment—even a fast food restaurant. Simply tap into the flavors that customers expect and what’s local to your area, let your chefs loose in the kitchen, and market the heck out of it.

There is one major question restaurants need to answer when creating a seasonal menu: Should the seasonal menu be in addition to the standard menu or should it be the entire menu itself? This question largely depends on the type of restaurant you’re running, but for most restaurants the best answer will be to swap out or add new menu items and keep menu workhorses rather than throw the whole thing out.

How to boost sales in slow seasons

If you find yourself facing the slowest months coming up—especially if that’s a long-term trend you’ve extrapolated via restaurant forecasting—then there is plenty you can do to help increase sales during this time.

Hosting a happy hour is a time-tested way to get customers in the door during any slow period, and that includes an entire slow season. You may want to consider extending happy hour hours from the typical 4-6 p.m., for example, to 4-7 p.m. or even later. Consider also picking a day that’s unusually slow for all-day happy hour specials, including appetizers, drink combos, and more. Loyal customers who end up spending time in your establishment will get used to it and hopefully tell their friends, and you may become the cozy winter den they’ve been looking for. If you’re in a warmer area that keeps its outdoor seating open even through winter months, keep portable heat lamps available to keep customers warm.

There will of course be highlights during the typical slow months of the winter season. Try to maximize your return on holidays like Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year’s Eve, and Valentine’s Day, including hosting holiday parties, catering events, and creating special menus for the days. These days can be some of the most profitable of the year if done right and can make up for a lot of lost time.

During bouts of particularly nasty weather, plenty of people turn to online ordering to get their food fix. If your back-of-house (BOH) can handle the added orders, lean into this option as a way both to boost sales and to passively market your business to those who might otherwise not be aware of you. Third-party delivery services can help spread your name without you even trying. If your food travels well and is well-packaged, that’s a significant bonus. Some of your most loyal new customers might be ones you never see in person.

Preparing for busy seasons

Since the busy season usually coincides with the warmer months, you’ll want to tap into the warmth and vitality of that time of the year. Got a patio, rooftop, or other outdoor area? Make sure that it’s as charming as possible. This is doubly true if it’s visible from the street level. Do a deep clean both inside and out—perhaps pick a usually quiet day and close for this—and consider readjusting your restaurant décor to stay current.

A lot of what you do depends on the particular space you have. If you have an outdoor area or another area for performances, you may want to double down on live music or other restaurant entertainment. If that’s not your thing, that’s cool—focus instead on your restaurant marketing and on (re)training your front-of-house (FOH) staff to provide exceptional customer service.

You may require more restaurant staff for the busy season. If so, give your restaurant manager the green light to hire what they need to get the job done. It’s quite common for college students to work summer jobs waiting tables, so if you’re in a college area, tap into that market.

Marketing strategies for different seasons and areas

Your marketing strategy will need to be as unique as you are—including your location, tourism appeal, type of restaurant, and more.

But one thing that’s universal is the need for social media marketing. Social media is simply unavoidable in this era and restaurants would be wise to have as large of an online presence as possible. That means frequent posts on all relevant platforms, like Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, Yelp, and anything else you can get your hands on. Use visual and multimedia as much as possible since eyeballs are used to that these days. Short videos are especially popular and can show both your menu items and the overall atmosphere of your establishment.

You’ll need to have your restaurant branding down solid and know your strengths to make the most out of a social media marketing campaign, but if you know yourself, you’ll know what to play up.

The perennial winner: Excellent FOH service

Whether you’re in the off-season or find yourself at the busiest time of the year, one thing never changes: Your FOH service and the customer dining experience need to be excellent. While yes, that absolutely means customers need to have a good time dining at your restaurant, the whole customer experience extends much beyond that. From the moment a customer finds your restaurant online, they’re forming an opinion.

How can a restaurateur influence this? Simple: By making the entire customer journey as positive and seamless as possible, from booking a reservation or hopping on a waitlist online to being seated and served in the restaurant.

There’s a tool that makes that whole experience a breeze for both parties: Yelp Guest Manager. With push-button reservation and waitlists, two-way communication, accurate automated wait times, a fully customizable dining area, customer profiles, and third-party integrations—it does it all. We could go on here but we’d rather show you.

Want to see what all the fuss is about? Curious how it could help you with your bottom line during both slow and busy seasons? Book a demo and we’ll get you started.