The 14th of February – Valentine’s Day. That one day a year when lovers and sweethearts give each other extra attention by gifts, flowers or cards. Perfume shops, flower shops and webshops therefore see a steady increase in sales of these types of products during this time of year. Going out for dinner is also popular during Valentine’s Day. Research has shown that annually most people celebrate Valentine’s Day by going out for dinner in a restaurant. This makes Valentines Day one of the most profitable days of the year for hospitality entrepreneurs. SMS can be used ensure that reservations are met and people show up on the correct day and time of the reservation. This simple yet effective way of communicating can also be used by restaurants and retailers to increase profits.
Restaurant reservations
Valentine’s Day is the perfect opportunity to go out for dinner. A survey of the restaurant reservation site IENS has shown that the number of reservations in restaurants for Valentine’s Day annually increases by an average of 20% compared to the previous year. In 2016, the number of reservations even increased by 53%, with 13thof February being themost booked day of the year. This means that this is the ideal time to pull all tricks out of the hat to increase the turnover and thus the profit of your restaurant. Seeing as February is usually a quiet month, this is the perfect opportunity to make a profit and attract new guests. Valentine’s Day is not only celebrated by couples, but groups of friends and families also go out for dinner, making it the perfect opportunity to promote your restaurant.
Reducing No Shows
As a restaurant, you obviously don’t want to be faced with the dilemma that people don’t show up on the busiest day of the year. Unfortunately, many restaurants are struggling with no-show problems. A hot topic in hospitality is therefore to reduce no shows, the simple reason being that empty tables cost money. A recent poll from KHN among its members shows that 62% of the hospitality entrepreneurs have seen the number of no shows increase in the past year. According to hospitality magazine Misset, an average top restaurant would lose thousands of euros every year due to this. SMS is the solution for this. Make sure that the guest leaves his or her telephone number when making a reservation and send an SMS to confirm the reservation. In the same manner, send an appointment reminder one day before or the day of the reservation, with the option to cancel in time.
Sending such SMS notifications is seen as a friendly reminder. It is experienced as pleasant for the guest and ensures that people appear at the correctly reserved time. Or, thanks to the simple reply option, cancel in time allowing the table to be free for new reservations. Where there is often a barrier to call and cancel, sending an SMS to cancel appeals more and is a lot quicker and easier. Another way of preventing no-shows is to fill in credit card details in advance, but this scares a lot of people off. The friendlier and at least as effective solution is to remind customers in time via the SMS Gateway of Spryng of their reservation and offer them the possibility to cancel in time if unable to show up.
Gifts
Giving gifts to your loved ones, friends or family is also very popular on Valentine’s Day. As you can imagine, on days like Valentine’s Day extra gifts – including flowers – are ordered and delivered. The person who has sent the gift will eagerly be waiting to find out whether the gifts have been delivered. SMS can be used to proactively inform your customers about their orders. Retailers can send a message when the flowers or other gifts have been delivered to the desired person.
Spryng
Do you want discover the benefits SMS can offer your (hospitality) business this Valentine’s Day? Do not wait any longer and contact Spryng today via +31 (0) 20 770 3005 or info@spryng.nl. We specialise in providing SMS services for the business market and have a professional and experienced team that is available 24/7 to assist you!
