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How to Open New Revenue Streams for Your Restaurant

Learn how to create new restaurant revenue streams for your restaurant or business, opening up new avenues for customers to order and growing profits.

8/5/20
9 min read
business owner looking at restaurant revenue

If you're wondering how to create extra restaurant revenue streams for your business, we've outlined exactly how food delivery platforms can help — along with a handful of other tried-and-true strategies. Incorporating these tactics is especially crucial when external factors such as nearby competition, bad weather, seasonality, and the like can cause a decrease in foot traffic.

Here's how you can use the DoorDash platform and other marketing tools to increase restaurant revenue with minimal effort and maximum effectiveness:

Improve the customer experience with a top food delivery platform

Any marketing expert will tell you that understanding the customer journey is key to increasing restaurant revenue streams. First of all, it's essential to understand the many different reasons why people may choose to order food delivery from your restaurant. From uncontrollable situations like bad weather to the proverbial longest day at work, your customer needs food delivered to their door, and they need it fast.

When your restaurant offers food delivery platforms such as DoorDash, it gives customers the convenience they need to order quality food without having to go to extra trouble. With the DoorDash delivery app, your restaurant is easily accessible from any smartphone or computer, making lunch or dinner delivery as easy as a few taps on a screen. 

Offering convenient food delivery with DoorDash will also help boost restaurant revenue because food delivery brings in more orders, which can grow your business with incremental orders alongside regular dine-in customers. 

Use DoorDash to reach new customers 

Food delivery service has been a part of restaurant operations for decades, as a way to satisfy loyal customers and to bring in new ones. With DoorDash, we take food delivery to a whole new level. By simply signing up for DoorDash, you can build a strong online presence with minimal effort. What you'll get with DoorDash is an incredible amount of online exposure, allowing your restaurant and menu to be discovered by customers of all ages and demographics, in addition to business-to-business opportunities such as catering.

Develop a creative, all-inclusive menu

As a restaurant owner, you know that making the flavor and presentation of your food a top priority is what will help give you a competitive edge in the industry. Staying on top of industry trends is paramount, but flavor and presentation are still a major factor in staying competitive and boosting restaurant revenue streams. 

Lunch and dinner are more than basic nourishment and satisfaction of hunger cravings. These meals are an experience, a time to enjoy the comfort of delicious food that is made with care, effort, and a passion for culinary delights. Eating a meal is also a wonderful way to spend time with friends, family, and coworkers while making meaningful memories. 

Since eating a meal is such an enjoyable activity — whether in solitude or with others — consider offering healthy menu options that appeal to a wide range of demographics, such as vegans, vegetarians, and those with gluten sensitivities or food allergies. Also, consider including dishes for Paleo and Keto diets. Not only do we recommend including specialty menu items for specific diets, but do it with the same care and attention that you apply to the making of any other dishes. 

As a restaurant owner or manager, you probably already know that the key to creating any type of food with incredible flavor is the quality of sauces and dressings. If you can make food taste amazing, anybody will eat —and savor — vegan or vegetarian meals, which also goes for low-carb dishes. Memorable flavors will be duly noted by diners of all types, who will then tell their friends, post their exceptional experience online, write reviews singing the praises of your restaurant, and so on.

When you feature an extensive menu at your restaurant, people will appreciate that you took the time to create meals that they can eat and enjoy with friends and family or as takeout for a cozy night in the comfort of their homes. After all, when somebody is sticking to a special diet, they shouldn't have to feel left out — just as you shouldn't shut the door on people with particular eating preferences or food sensitivities, which can be additional revenue drivers for restaurants. 

Sell restaurant merchandise

Offering merchandise helps boost brand awareness of your restaurant while also allowing customers to connect with your unique brand identity and values. For instance, if one of your menu items comes with a secret family recipe sauce, you could bottle it and sell it to people; that way, they can enjoy the same flavors they love on all their favorite foods at home. A cookbook featuring step-by-step instructions on how to make the same legendary dishes on your menu is another great way to increase your restaurant's visibility. Even better, it also brings in additional revenue. 

Eating out is a big part of social life, but eating in with friends and family has earned its place as a way to celebrate special occasions as well. With the ever-increasing popularity of cooking shows and celebrity chefs on TV, people want to learn how to cook their favorite dishes at home. Creating a cookbook of different menu items from your restaurant will boost your reputation and consequently bring in more diners and food delivery orders. 

Ready to experience the benefits of food delivery service for your restaurant? Sign up with DoorDash today.

Author

Andrew McCarthy
Andrew McCarthy

Director of Content Marketing

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