Get Ready for Mother’s Day

Mother’s Day is the usually the biggest dining-out day of the year. It’s a day when families pamper moms and restaurants ramp up indulgence. This year things will look a bit different, but that doesn’t mean we can’t still indulge mom and have a profitable day.

Of course, what constitutes pampering and indulgence is a highly individual thing. With that in mind, take your brand and your core customer base into consideration when developing your Mother’s Day promotions.

One way to increase the fun for moms on Mother’s Day is to offer experiences in addition to food. So be creative and innovative to delight moms.

Get an early start on promoting your Mother’s Day to-go menu and specials via social media, email, newsletters, ads and other communication vehicles.

Cut down your menu so that it’s doable with limited supplies and staff. Boost profits by focusing on the Mother’s Day dishes that use ingredients you already have or are low cost. Review your full menu and make a list of dishes with similar ingredients. Decide which items will be your best sellers – and make sure they’ll travel well. Keep just those standout items.

Be an integral part of the Mother’s Day celebrations your customers hold in the comfort of their own homes. Customers placing takeout or delivery orders for this day – especially non-cooks – are looking to you for the food they love and the service they trust to make the day special. Manage back-of-the-house workflow to accommodate extra orders and to ensure consistent quality and timely turnaround. Have dedicated staff for taking, fulfilling and cashing out orders to make sure everything is perfect. Include a card or note with Mother’s Day orders.

Little things mean a lot. Offer moms a free flower, mini box of chocolates, gift card for a free dessert or future meal, free special beverage, etc.

One form of indulgence so many moms crave is a bit of serene time for themselves. Considering partnering up with other local businesses in your area to offer Mother’s Day to-go boxes that include gift cards or coupons (for example – to the masseuse down the road or the boutique across the street) that mom can cash in at a later date.

Provide moms and kids with some small, inexpensive flowers – fresh-cut, paper or silk – and a mini vase for a flower-arranging session at home. The food-and-fun combo creates an unforgettable experience.

Present each mom with a Mother’s Day raffle ticket. Prizes could be a gift card to your restaurant, retail items you sell, items branded with your logo, small cash prizes, a voucher for a complimentary meal, etc.