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S$0.13 (vs S$0.042 loss in FY 2021)

Hotel Properties (SGX:H15) Full Year 2022 Results

Key Financial Results

  • Revenue: S$525.5m (up 53% from FY 2021).

  • Net income: S$76.4m (up from S$21.7m loss in FY 2021).

  • Profit margin: 14% (up from net loss in FY 2021).

  • EPS: S$0.13 (up from S$0.042 loss in FY 2021).

earnings-and-revenue-growth

earnings-and-revenue-growth

All figures shown in the chart above are for the trailing 12 month (TTM) period

Hotel Properties Earnings Insights

Looking ahead, revenue is forecast to grow 10% pa on average over the next 2 years, compared to a 12% growth forecast for the Hospitality industry in Singapore.

Performance of the Singaporean Hospitality industry.

The company’s share price is broadly unchanged from a week ago.

Risk Analysis

Before we wrap up, we’ve discovered 2 warning signs for Hotel Properties (1 is a bit concerning!) that you should be aware of.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.

This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.

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Improving Online Ordering With Images
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Improving Online Ordering With Images

Looking for a sure-fire way to win the attention of Grubhub customers and improve their online ordering experience? Try adding a few images to your restaurant’s menu through the Grubhub for Restaurants platform. Including photos can increase sales of menu items by up to 30 percent – ​​and it’s easy to see why.

From improving order accuracy to giving customers a better idea of ​​what to expect, images can help deliver an online ordering experience that customers are hungry for.

Why great restaurant photography improves diners’ online ordering experience

Integrating images into your restaurant’s online presence greatly improves customer satisfaction.

Take a look at the three pain points that strong restaurant photography has helped resolve:

Greater menu familiarity

While new and exotic dishes are guaranteed to spark curiosity, they likely won’t be a top choice among customers who don’t know what’s in them. Eating is a full sensory experience, and photos can help give diners visual cues that can get their mouths watering. Clear up any confusion about dishes on your restaurant’s menu by including images wherever possible.

Quicker online ordering

Use images to show, not just tell, customers about your restaurant’s offering. Supplementing menu descriptions with appetizing images that can capture the hearts – and stomachs – of customers in just seconds will reduce the time it takes them to place an online order. The faster a customer adds meals to their cart, the less chance that they will change their minds and not place an order.

Higher order accuracy

In addition to providing customers a snapshot of what a dish might look like once it finally arrives, images also give back-of-house staff members a visual guide for putting orders together. By taking a few seconds to compare the image on your restaurant’s menu with the finished product, your staff can ensure no detail – big or small – is overlooked.

Where to feature your restaurant photos

There are many places where your restaurant’s brand will pop up online, and it’s important that strong photos are included in your digital presence. Brush up on our restaurant photography tips if you want to learn more about how to snap professional-grade photos. Take a look at where you can add photos to get more traction online:

Feature your dishes on your restaurant’s menu

Your restaurant’s online menu is the most important place to feature images of your food. When diners are scrolling through a list of dishes, a jumble of dish descriptions makes it hard for them to navigate your restaurant’s offerings. Restaurants that have already made the switch from fully text menus to photos on their online ordering platforms have seen their conversion rates increase by about 25% on average.

Your menu photos should showcase your food – capturing each dish at its prime. Close up photos of your dishes help capture your creation’s details, giving diners a look into what ingredients are cooked in. Plating is especially important when it comes to menu photos. Take your time arranging each dish and make sure the plate and background are clean. You want your diners’ focus to go straight toward the food.

Nando’s Peri-Peri has perfected their menu photos on Grubhub Marketplace. Highlighting their main dishes along with recommended side pairings helps diners envision what their order will look like.

Nando's Peri-Peri's Grubhub menu has photos of each dish.

When you partner with Grubhub, your restaurant can schedule a free photoshoot so you can get professional photos of your cuisine to feature in your digital presence. Already a Grubhub Marketplace partner? Schedule your free photoshoot today or reach out to your Account Advisor to learn more.

Highlight your offerings on your restaurant’s website

90% of customers research a restaurant online before visiting – that’s more than any other type of business. Your website serves as a virtual home base for your restaurant’s brand. It’s often the first place you can make a memorable impression on customers, so featuring irresistible images of your cuisine can motivate diners to place an order.

Your restaurant’s brand begins to form online as soon as a customer search for your cuisine. When a customer searches for your restaurant on Google, your restaurant’s Google Business profile will appear. This profile features basic information about your restaurant including its address, hours, website and ordering platform. Make sure you update your Google Business profile so that customers can easily find out more info about your restaurant.

What types of images should you include on your restaurant’s website? Photos of your food are great to place on your homepage and menu. Crisp images of your cuisine on top of white plates that will showcase the natural colors of your ingredients stand out. Since natural light can help do the same, consider conducting each of your photoshoots near windows. Take a look around your restaurant and snap some photos of your staff in action. It’s also important to include photos of your ambiance so that diners can get a feel of your overall dining experience.

Be selective about what photos you choose to feature. Too many photos can bog down a website’s load time and make it more difficult to navigate. Check out more tips on how to design a successful restaurant website.

A strong restaurant website won’t do much for your bottom line unless you have a clear avenue for diners to place an order. Elements of how to create a seamless online ordering system? Look no further than Direct.

Direct is a commission-free online ordering platform that allows customers to place orders right from your website. Direct makes menu management simple. When you update menu items or add photos on your Marketplace menu, your Direct menu will automatically update to reflect changes. You can bring your restaurant’s brand to life with Direct by easily customizing your site to match your brick and mortar location.
Check out how Naan N Curry used their Direct site to feature their food photography:

Naan N Curry has clear photos of their dishes on their Direct site.

Connect with your diners on social media

Social media is a gold mine for foodies these days. Social media offers the perfect format to tell your restaurant’s story through images – putting your mouth watering food photography center stage. Creating a social media profile for your restaurant can get your food into the digital conversation, and strong food photography can help bring your account to the top.

When it comes to social media, strong photography is key. There’s no one size fits all for social media composition, and cookie cutter posts can blend into customers’ feeds. Mix up the recipe by trying out one of these formats:

  • Food features are high resolution, close up images of your dishes. These posts are great for featuring a specific menu item.
  • Food films are videos that feature your dishes. Videos tend to perform better on social media apps like Instagram and TikTok, so taking advantage of this feature to show your food in action can draw extra attention from diners.
  • Interactive stories is the best way to directly prompt an action from a customer. On apps like Instagram and Facebook, you can post images to your story that will appear at the top of diners’ feeds. With this feature you can directly link to your online ordering website, ask interactive questions or run a contest.
  • Behind the scenes photos and videos help your restaurant come to life. You can make a short video showing how your chef whips up a recipe or use a photo slideshow to showcase what your employees like to order.
  • Reposts of your followers’ photos of your food can not only connect you with your customers, but also give you more unique content to work with, turning your diners into your PR team. Make sure you get permission from the original creator before you repost any content. You can also collaborate with local micro influencers to expand your reach.

Hashtags are key when it comes to getting your account more exposure. #Foodie has over 200 million posts on Instagram, and #LocalRestaurant has racked up over 300,0000 posts. You can also get in on the local conversation by using hashtags like #AustinFoodie or #NYCeats. Adding trending hashtags to your post allows them to enter different categories online, bringing your restaurant into people’s social media feeds.

Make your restaurant picture perfect with Grubhub by your side

Embellishing your restaurant’s online presence with eye-catching photography can greatly improve your digital brand. Adding them to your website, online menu and social media accounts get customers’ mouths watering, prompting them to place an order.
A picture is worth a thousand words, and a picture of your delectable food is worth the delivery fee for Grubhub’s over 30 million customers. That’s why Grubhub offers a free photoshoot for restaurant partners. Ready to get your mouth watering food in front of hungry diners? Partner with Grubhub today to start taking more orders now.

The 9 most popular restaurant delivery days
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The 9 most popular restaurant delivery days

Marketing for restaurant delivery is a tricky mix of strategy and timing. Throw in a need for creativity (who’s going to come up with weekly topics and track what’s relevant) and it can be tough for restaurant owners and operators to find time in their busy schedules to find ways to promote their eatery.

But the fact is, marketing remains one of the most important tasks on your to-do list because it’s the easiest way to keep your diners engaged and your restaurant top of mind.

For example, pairing promotions with a boosted social media presence can help generate business and put guests in seats. Or, as this case may be in modern times, directing them towards your online ordering platform so they can score some delivery.

Restaurant delivery is on the rise. More than 18 million orders were placed on Grubhub in 2022, and online ordering is growing 300% faster than in-house dining. By 2024, online food delivery services are projected to become a $32 billion industry. It pays to master your digital ordering strategy now.

Capitalizing on consumer trends can help drive diners to your restaurant.

National holidays with the most orders

It’s all about national holidays – and we don’t just mean Christmas and Fourth of July. National food holidays and unofficial top restaurant delivery days like mega sporting events and primetime for restaurants looking to amplify off-premise orders.

Take a look at the national holidays that bring the most orders to restaurants and learn how you can promote them to capture more hungry diners.

1. New Year’s Day

Nothing lulls regrets from the previous year more than a good hearty meal, according to Grubhub diners. Over 660,000 orders were placed on Grubhub on New Year’s Day in 2022. It can pay to double down on delivery in the new year as many customers don’t want to leave their house on the day off to get a meal. And having a delivery partner like Grubhub can help take the stress of coordinating deliveries off your plate.

The holiday season is a great time to roll out a seasonal menu that incorporates festive favorites. Perfecting a seasonal menu can help make your restaurant stand out as customers tend to appreciate flavors that correspond to the time of year. Consider creating a New Year’s Day brunch menu that can cure any hangover – incorporating comforting favorites like french toast, pancakes, fresh fruit and home fries.

2. Mother’s Day

For decades, Mother’s Day has been the most popular day for people to dine out. The holiday gives a perfect excuse to ditch the home cooking and take mom out for a nice meal. However, in recent years families don’t need to leave their house in order to get a five-star meal for the guest of honor.

Over 616,000 diners decided to get a restaurant meal for mom in 2022. Families are eager to celebrate the ladies in their lives with delicious food that nobody in the house has to cook themselves.

Read our Mother’s Day guide to see the plethora of ways to play into that excitement, including Mother’s Day restaurant specials and promo ideas like tucking kid-friendly extras such as stickers and coloring sheets into delivery bags. Don’t forget to use social media and your email list to let people know what you’ve got planned for the holiday.

3. Martin Luther King Jr. day

Martin Luther King Jr. Day falls on the third Monday of January. This federal holiday honors Dr. King’s legacy of social justice and equity. MLK Day is also a National Day of Service that encourages Americans to volunteer to improve their communities in honor of Dr. King.

While this holiday brings thousands of orders to restaurants, it’s also a time for restaurants to show they care for their communities. Restaurants can take part in the MLK Day of Service by giving back. Patrons tend to support businesses that align with their values, and this National Day of Service is a great opportunity to show what your restaurant stands for.

Consider hosting a food drive by highlighting that your restaurant is a place where people can drop off their food items. Take lead by donating restaurant meals to local food banks. There are many creative ways to give back to your community, and taking initiatives on this National Day of Service can make your restaurant stand out.

4. Presidents Day

Every third Monday in February Americans celebrate Presidents Day to honor those who have served as president in our 246-year history. Whether diners get the day off or not, many spend the day ordering from their favorite restaurants. In fact, over 550,000 customers placed orders on Grubhub last Presidents Day.

Looking for a unique promotion to run on Presidents Day? Try giving a percentage off different president’s favorite foods on your menu. Did you know John Adams started his mornings with hard cider? Or that Thomas Jefferson’s favorite food was mac and cheese? While you may not serve James Garfield’s favorite squirrel stew dish, you can highlight the dishes you do have that past presidents have enjoyed.

5. Labor Day

Labor Day is when we all say goodbye to summer and start looking forward to the crisp breath of fall. Many people are taking a minute to indulge in a last-minute burst of warm weather by barbecuing poolside or taking a picnic to the park or the beach.

Tailor your Labor Day promotions to what customers are already feeling. A farewell to summer celebration allows for tons of great prompt ideas on social media. Imagine brightly colored graphics, snapshots from the restaurant’s summer events, and a few strategic mentions of your Labor Day delivery deals like offering 15% off with a themed code like BYESUMMER.

Make the most of the biggest restaurant delivery days with Grubhub

Partnering with Grubhub gives restaurant owners and operators just like you access to a wide array of tools and educational resources designed to help you maximize engagement, traction and profits.

Grubhub’s promotion and loyalty tools guide you through the process of targeting your ideal customer, using smart marketing and plug-and-play promotions that have seen other Grubhub partners generate an average of 72% more new customers.

With Grubhub Marketplace, your restaurant gets in front of local diners who otherwise may have never heard of your food or who may have forgotten how delicious your menu truly is. Seasonal promotions are an excuse to remind everyone that you’re there, you have something incredible to offer and that they can sample it again at a discount.

Download Grubhub's food delivery calendar.

What’s the best food delivery service for your restaurant?

Curious which food delivery service is the best? With so many food delivery apps on the market, there are endless potential partners for you to consider. But not all restaurant delivery services offer the same access to potential diners or the same tools to help you scale your business and achieve your goals.

Using the best food delivery service available can help you tap into promotional opportunities such as major holidays.

Here are a few things to consider as you decide which food delivery platform is right for you.

Brand name and customer reach in your area

It’s no use joining a third-party delivery service if it won’t get you in front of the diners that truly matter. With nearly 163 million Americans eating out each week – 64% of the country’s adults – it’s crucial to reach as many potential guests as possible.

Grubhub Marketplace is the largest marketplace of its kind, connecting restaurants with more than 33 million diners eager to find the source of their next delivery order. In fact, 9 out of 10 independent restaurant operators surveyed who use Grubhub agree Grubhub increases the volume of takeout and delivery orders – higher than the competitor average.

To gauge how Grubhub is doing in your area, visit Marketplace and check out nearby restaurants already using Grubhub to see their success for yourself.

Restaurant fees and profit margins

You’re joining a third-party food delivery service to help bolster your profits, don’t hurt them. Some delivery partners are primarily interested in their own bottom line, but Grubhub is invested in joint success, empowering restaurants so we can all share in a more bountiful future.

Grubhub Marketplace offers restaurants three different levels of membership, ranging from Basic to Premium. You control what you pay and which marketing tools you access so you can tailor your investment to the needs of your restaurant.

In addition to reaching your share of those 33+ million diners on Grubhub, you also get a dedicated Account Advisor and access to delivery services so you’re not navigating success on your own.

Your customers, your data

It’s hard to take your online delivery and takeout services up a notch unless you have access to key data points used in strategic decision making.

Direct not only helps you launch your own online ordering site, it also helps generate diner data you can use to fuel your marketing efforts. And it’s all free, with no commissions ever. Just promote your unique food service delivery link and watch as the customer and data roll in.

Delivery boundaries

One way to save on delivery fees is to use your own in-house team. Although this approach won’t work for everyone, restaurants that do have the bandwidth to oversee self-delivery can add that to other delivery service options including Grubhub delivery, supplemental delivery and pickup.

Grubhub delivery is a proven system, too. Nearly 9 out of 10 independent restaurant owners who use Grubhub agree that Grubhub streamlines takeout and delivery order processing, and 77% of consumers surveyed who use Grubhub highly rate Grubhub’s delivery speed.

Make the most of major delivery days with Grubhub

Top restaurant delivery days hold a major promise for restaurants looking for ways to broaden their customer base and increase revenue, but sometimes it takes a strong partner to make those goals a reality.

Partnering with a third-party delivery app gives you access to tools, knowledge and a built-in audience. At Grubhub, that means joining a platform that’s already a proven success. Now it’s your turn.
To experience the power of Grubhub firsthand, sign up today and get ready for your next round of holiday delivery promotions.

19 March food holidays for your restaurant to celebrate
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19 March food holidays for your restaurant to celebrate

Did you know 45% of US customers say they’ve tried a new restaurant after seeing a restaurant’s post on social media? That’s why it’s more important than ever to make sure your restaurant is establishing an effective social media strategy to grab customers’ attention. One great way to make your restaurant stand out online is to celebrate national food holidays on social media.

Take a look at these tips on how you can take advantage of food holidays this month and keep scrolling to get the full March calendar.

What are national food holidays?

National food holidays are micro holidays that center around a certain cuisine. They are often celebrated on social media and encourage diners to band together to show appreciation for everything from Oreos (March 6) to hot chicken (March 30). While these holidays don’t warrant a day off, they can still be fun to observe and celebrate. As a restaurant owner, a food holiday is the perfect excuse to offer an irresistible promotion that will encourage diners to place an order.

Why your restaurant should celebrate national food holidays

Everyone loves having something to celebrate, and restaurants can use food holidays to build excitement around their dishes. Food holidays are particularly popular on social media as diners go online to share what cuisine they’re celebrating. Acknowledging a food holiday on social media by using the holiday’s hashtag can instantly make your restaurant relevant to a wider audience.

Food holidays put specific dishes top of mind. When diners are craving waffles on International Waffle Day (March 25), you want them to turn to your breakfast menu to get their fix. Posting about your food can motivate diners to order from your restaurant. In fact, 53% of millennial TikTok users visited a restaurant after seeing it on the app. Incorporating food holidays in your social media strategy incentivizes hungry diners to check out your cuisine.

3 tips for marketing national food holidays

A successful food holiday marketing strategy begins with a strong digital presence. Modern diners flock online to discover new restaurants and place orders. Digital tactics are important for your restaurant marketing strategy.

To make your national food holiday celebrations as effective as possible, tie them into a larger restaurant marketing strategy that looks at the big picture, not just a single opportunity. A restaurant marketing strategy is a formal plan that documents, tracks and analyzes all your marketing efforts and activities.

1. Pile on promotions

Nothing motivates a diner to press ‘order now’ more than a discount. Rolling out promotions not only attracts more customers to your menu, but also encourages loyalty. Diners are more likely to place repeat orders if they think a restaurant has a good deal. In fact, 81% of consumers would switch restaurants if they saw a good deal. Your food holiday promotions can be the first thing that catches a potential customer’s eye.

Here are some promotion ideas that can get diners drooling for your dishes:

  • Discount dollar amounts: On National Sloppy Joe Day (March 18), offer $1 off your sloppy sandwiches.
  • Discounted items: Celebrate National Pound Cake Day (March 4) by offering 50% off a slice of pound cake when a customer purchases a coffee.
  • Discount-themed ingredients: Celebrate National Oreo Day (March 6) by offering 20% ​​off all Oreo flavored menu items.
  • Free items with purchase: On National Banana Cream Pie Day (March 2) spread the sweetness by offering a free slice of banana cream pie with every entree.

When you partner with Grubhub, launching promotions is as easy as pie. Restaurants that partner with Grubhub gain access to free-to-use promotional and marketing tools that are proven to increase orders and customers.

With Grubhub’s Promotions and Loyalty Tools, you can:

  • Run seasonal promotions to make the most of national food holidays
  • Offer your customer the right discount at the right time
  • Increase your ROI with our advanced technology and huge volumes of restaurant and customer data

2. Highlight online ordering

Getting customers excited about a food holiday is great, but unless you give them an easy avenue to place an order, all that momentum around your dishes will be lost.

Your restaurant’s website serves as the backbone of your digital presence. Your website should have all things a diner needs to know about your restaurant – this includes your menu, hours, location, story and an online ordering platform. Finding a platform that converts curious diners into satisfied customers can be difficult. That’s why restaurants are turning to Direct to reach more customers, drive online ordering and establish their advertising efforts with zero commission costs.

88% of restaurant operators stated a branded experience is very important for sales. With Direct, your restaurant can create an online ordering web page that’s designed and branded to match your existing restaurant’s look and feel. It can be easily integrated into your existing website (if you have one) or can act as your main site if need be. Learn more about how Direct can drive online ordering.

The Direct Success Playbook by Grubhub

Once your website is up and running, you want to make sure it’s searchable. When potential diners search your restaurant on Google, your Business Profile is usually the first thing to pop up. Claim your restaurant’s Google Business Profile so that you can make sure it correctly displays your hours, address, pricing and website link. When your Business Profile features the correct info and links, it’s far more likely a customer will place an order or come in to check you out.

3. Get social

Nobody will know your restaurant is celebrating a national food holiday unless you spread the word. That’s where social media comes in. TikTok, Instagram and Facebook are all powerful places to establish a restaurant social media presence.

Looking for some tips to make your restaurant pop on social media? Try these ideas:

  • Showcase your dishes by posting delectable photos and videos of them on national food holidays.
  • Use trending hashtags like #NationalOreoDay or #NationalPotatoChipDay to reach a larger audience beyond your social media followers.
  • Use local hashtags like #BostonFoodie or #NYCeats to connect with customers nearby.
  • create a quiz about your dishes to boost engagement with your national food holiday promotions.
  • Launch a contest with prizes that relate to your restaurant and die in with your national food holiday promotion.

It’s easy for restaurant owners’ plates to pile up, leaving little time to strategize about marketing. That’s why developing a social media calendar is essential for planning out how you will roll out your promotions.

A social media calendar is a way to organize your upcoming social media posts and promotions by date. Planning posts in advance gives you time to lay out promotions, batch content and solidify your menu to align with your offerings.

Check out these tips on how to market national food holidays on social media.

What social media holidays are coming next?

March brings the first tastes of spring, Mardi Gras beads and shamrocks. March also brings 19 food holidays for your restaurant to celebrate. Your restaurant can reserve a day this month to celebrate flapjacks (March 7), Ravioli (March 20) or Spanish paella (March 26). No matter what cuisine you’re celebrating, it pays to run a food holiday promotion.

Download our Guide to National Food Holidays to learn how to spearhead your promotional marketing and elevate your digital presence. Use your new calendar to create a marketing plan or amplify your existing one. National food holidays could be your next step toward increased sales and a wealth of new customers.

March national food holidays

March is National Noodle Month and National Sauce Month.

  • March 1: Mardi Gras
  • March 2: National Banana Cream Pie Day
  • March 3: National Cold Cuts Day
  • March 4: National Pound Cake Day
  • March 6: National Oreo Day
  • March 7: National Flapjack Day
  • March 9: National Meatball Day
  • March 10: National Ranch Dressing Day
  • March 13: National Chicken Noodle Soup Day
  • March 14: National Potato Chip Day
  • March 17: Saint Patrick’s Day
  • March 18: National Sloppy Joe Day
  • March 19: National Corn Dog Day
  • March 20: National Ravioli Day
  • March 21: National Crunchy Taco Day
  • March 23: National Chip and Dip Day
  • March 24: National Cheesesteak Day
  • March 25: International Waffle Day
  • March 26: National Spanish Paella Day
  • March 30: National Hot Chicken Day
How to increase restaurant sales with 2022 National Food Holidays
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How to increase restaurant sales with 2022 National Food Holidays

When it comes to marketing, national food holidays and restaurants are the perfect match. Every year, there are hundreds of national food holidays that encourage people across the country to band together and share affection for everyone from

These famously celebratory days are a fantastic opportunity to reach out to new customers while also re-engaging with the people who may be familiar with your restaurant but haven’t visited or ordered take-out in a while.

Seasonal marketing matters

One thing that’s certain is that our world is constantly changing. People’s lives, technology, food ingredients, trends and diner behaviors are forever evolving. And although a business plan may seem constant, restaurants should never forget about their diners’ current reality when it comes to marketing.
That’s why the best chance restaurants will get to be relevant year-round is to connect with their customers in real-time through real-life happenings – like national food holidays. Use our top marketing tips for restaurants and free calendar downloads to help you create entertaining and eye-catching promotions that build your brand and boost your revenue.

How to use the top National Food Holidays of 2023 for your restaurant marketing strategy

To make your national food holiday promotions as effective as possible, tie them into a larger restaurant marketing strategy that looks at the big picture, not just a single opportunity. A restaurant marketing strategy is a formal plan that documents, tracks and analyzes all your marketing efforts and activities.

Use these simple steps to help you implement national food holidays into your marketing strategy today:

Find the food holidays that fit

Incorporating national food holidays into your marketing strategy is a huge opportunity for growth and engagement, but it can also damage your brand if you aren’t careful about which holidays you choose. Every holiday you choose to promote should fit not only your brand but your menu.

For example, it doesn’t make much sense to launch a huge National Hot Dog Day campaign (July 23) if your menu serves classic French cuisine. Start with your own concept and see which food holidays feel like an authentic fit.

Pick your promotions

Food holidays are prime time for freebies and discounts. Nothing motivates a diner to press ‘order now’ more than a discount.

Some offers you may consider running during a national food holiday include:

  • Free menu items: Allow customers to redeem a specific free item with their purchase, such as a free chocolate chip cookie (May 16) with every entree
  • Free menu selection: Highlight a specific area of ​​your menu, perhaps discounting all your salads for National Kale Day (October 5)
  • Dollar-off: Offer a fixed amount of money off for new customers during a national food holiday, giving $1 off everything with fries in honor of National French Fry Day (July 13)
  • Percentage off: Choose a fixed percentage off orders during a national holiday, like advertising 20% ​​off all caffeinated drinks on National Coffee Day (September 29)
  • Free delivery: If your restaurant offers self-delivery, you can food the bill for all delivery fees during a national holiday, like on National Dessert Day (October 14)

Spread the word

It’s important to use all the channels available to share your national food holiday promotions. When your restaurant joins the Grubhub Marketplace, you get immediate access to powerful marketing and promotional tools to help maximize your sharing and build a loyal fan base.

Social media is also a powerful tool for restaurant owners because it’s immediate. It’s direct and it costs as little or as much as you want. Use organic posts like behind-the-scenes photos to gain traction or use some of your marketing budget to take advantage of paid advertising on platforms like Facebook, TikTok and Instagram.

Remember, the goal is to find ways to build brand awareness, attract new customers, expand your market and nurture customer loyalty.

4 social media posts ideas to promote your 2023 national food holiday campaigns

The key to being successful on social media is making sure you have a presence. In fact, 45% of diners have tried a restaurant because of social media. Creating an eye-catching social media presence can turn curious social media scrollers into satisfied customers.

Here are some ideas on how you can start sharing your national food holiday deals in a smart way that boosts engagement and gets your restaurant noticed.

1. Run a social media contest

People love to win stuff. Even if they don’t come out on top, studies show that consumers are more likely to engage with a post if that post is promoting some kind of contest. Contests convert at a rate of 3.7% higher than posts with other non-costed CTAs.

Instagram contests are similarly popular, with contest-related posts getting more than triple the likes and 64 times more comments than other types of posts. That’s a major engagement.

Big Idea: Take advantage by running contests that encourage interaction, such as asking food trivia questions and counting each commented answer as an entry, requiring users to like and share your post to win, or asking followers to tag a friend in your post as part of their entry .

2. Use trending hashtags

Because national food holidays are a coast-to-coast affair, there are often trending hashtags you can use to ride the wave of popularity and get your restaurant into the national spotlight. Hashtags allow your posts to enter different categories online, bringing your restaurant into people’s social media feeds.
Big Idea: Along with using the obvious national food day hashtags like #NationalMargaritaDay, make sure to also incorporate your restaurant’s city-specific hashtags like #EatAustin, #ChicagoFoodAuthority of #NYCEats. Using these will allow you to tap into the already-there audience you’re looking for.

3. Promote your online ordering site

Most promotions work best when you remove any possible hurdles that stand between your customer and the order button. In the world of online ordering, that means making it as easy as possible for diners to find your menu, put their food on their virtual card, and pay up.

When you share your promotional posts on social media, offering customers the ability to order directly from you can help you drive more sales through your national food holiday campaigns.

Don’t have the ability to take online orders? Grubhub can help! Direct is a commission-free platform designed to help you reach loyal diners and build your online brand. With Direct, you can drive customers to your very own online ordering website, customized just for your restaurant. Read all about how Brooklyn-based Broccolini did just this and more.
Big Idea: Include links to your online ordering site on your social media pages so that you can convert curious scrollers into customers. Make sure you highlight your online ordering site in your captions so that it’s clear how diners can place an order.

4. Highlight your dishes

Your food is your pride and joy and what keeps customers coming back for seconds. Making your cuisine the prime feature of your social media profile not only shows off your specialty, but also gets diners’ mouths watering. Nothing gets a diner more motivated to place an order than a juicy photo of a rack of ribs on National Barbecue Day (May 16).
Taking and presenting high quality photos of your food is essential to creating an effective social media presence. When you partner with Grubhub, you can schedule a free photoshoot for your restaurant.

Partnering with micro influencers can help your restaurant gain more exposure. Encourage those who visit your restaurant to post photos of their food online. Delectable food pics can stand out in people’s feeds.
Big ideas: Make sure to feature high quality photos of the dishes you are preparing for national food holidays. You can even give a behind the scenes look into your chef’s meal preparation. Post these photos onto your restaurant’s social media to appeal to diners’ taste buds.

Start your restaurant’s celebration today

The best thing you can do when using national food holidays to promote your restaurant is to create a solid plan. That way, you’re ready and prepared to give your diners the best reason to indulge in your delicious food – daily!

Lucky for you, we’ve already done step one for you. We’ve compiled all the national food holidays in one place and created a complete calendar listing and it’s available to you for FREE to download now.

Use your new calendar to create a new marketing plan or amplify your existing one, and national food holidays could be your next step toward increasing sales and a wealth of new customers.

Already eager to get ready for your next national food holiday promotion? Sign up with Grubhub for Restaurant to access powerful promotion and loyalty tools today!

Restaurant Technology Trends for 2022
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Restaurant Technology Trends for 2022

The growing demand for off-premise dining has made it even more attractive for restaurants to expand operations. Investing in the latest restaurant technology and digital innovations can help with everything from streamlining order taking to managing multi-channel marketing. Your ability to incorporate technology into your restaurant can have a huge impact on customer experience. The modern diner is tech savvy, and expects their favorite places to grab a bite to be up to date with the latest tech trends.

The online food delivery industry currently generates more than $26.5 billion a year. By 2024, that number is projected to surpass $32 billion. Technology has changed the way we dine and connect with restaurants. Keeping up with these trends can help you secure a loyal customer base and grow your ROI.

Here are the emerging restaurant technology trends every restaurant owner/operator should be mindful of and a few tips to help you as you leverage technology to take your restaurant to the next level.

1. Branded online ordering sites are now a necessity

The online food delivery industry is booming, with restaurants generating an impressive $26.5 billion annually, and considering that online ordering is growing three times as fast as in-house dining, that number will continue to rise. Even as in-person dining is back in full force, online ordering is growing 300% faster than in-house dining.

In a way, hungry diners searching for their next meal via the internet are a captive audience. Typically, they’ve already decided they want delivery or pickup – they’re just waiting to see which dish, cuisine or restaurant promotion piques their most interest. To stay competitive, it’s crucial that restaurants not only understand the importance of online ordering but also that they have a system in place to accommodate the flood of orders that are just around the corner.

Digital innovations in restaurant technology like digital menus, online ordering and secure mobile payment options appeal to consumers. Best of all, they help your restaurant stand out. But putting all that together on your own can be both daunting, time consuming and expensive.

That’s where Direct comes in. Direct is a commission-free online order platform that can be customized to fit your restaurant’s brand. Our easy-to-use ordering system has all the tools you need to create unparalleled ordering and delivery experiences that will keep consumers coming back for more.

The Direct Success Playbook by Grubhub

2. Digital loyalty programs are evolving

Sometimes having incredible food and top-notch customer service just isn’t enough. Restaurants need an edge in order to outsell the competition. With new restaurant technology, loyalty programs and promotions can be used for just that.

While loyalty programs have been around forever, digitizing these experiences has made it easier for restaurants to reach customers and grow their ROI. 45% of consumers say that mobile ordering or loyalty programs would encourage them to use online ordering services more.

Offering customers an opportunity to turn loyalty into savings forgers a bond between consumers and corporations that’s proven profitable time and time again. Promotions can have the same effect by giving prospective customers a reason to try out a new establishment. It also gives existing customers a reason to come back and try a new dish.

Tie together your loyalty program and food promotions for deals like:

  • Discounts or a dedicated mini menu tied to a national food holiday
  • Deals linked to repeat visits, such as a free appetizer after five takeout orders
  • Dollar deals awarded to customers who refer friends and family that afterward place a successful order
  • Discounts celebrating a loyal customer’s birthday or program anniversary

Restaurants that join Grubhub get access to our Grubhub+ customers, where there is an audience of hungry, order-primed and subscription-paying diners waiting to see what your restaurant has to offer.

Direct users can also use built-in tools like direct-to-customer email lists and data streams to run tailored promotions or build a loyalty program from the ground up. Digital-based rewards programs allow restaurants to track customer data to provide more personalized rewards programs tailored specifically to their customers.

Restaurants that are on Grubhub Marketplace also get access to our powerful promotions and loyalty tools: A few of these tools include:

  • Targeted promotions that offer superior value by targeting the right demographic
  • Increased ROI thanks to smart marketing algorithms and detailed customer data
  • Options for multiple campaign goals including attracting new customers, bringing back previous customers, starting a loyalty program or promoting specific menu items or order types

3. Contactless payments brings a new way to check out

The way diners pay for a meal looks a lot different these days. More and more customers have stopped carrying around cash, opting to pay for their food with cards, smartphones and even smartwatches. Contactless payment allows customers to pay for their meals without physically exchanging money.

While over 80% of US consumers have used contactless payments, only 67% of US retailers offer this payment option. Contactless payments are quick and secure, making the checkout process effortless for your customers. Restaurants who don’t incorporate contactless payment options into their business risk losing out on this large chunk of customers who resort to digital transactions.

How can you incorporate contactless payments into your restaurant? Adopting a digital point-of-sale (POS) system is the best place to start. POS technology allows small businesses to digitally manage transactions.

POS integration can also help you aggregate all your restaurant’s digital orders. Your restaurant technology no longer needs to operate on different wavelengths with the latest improvements in POS Integration. Big chain restaurants around the country are getting on board with a new post-pandemic business model that uses emerging restaurant technology to include multiple service channels. When you partner with Grubhub, you can easily integrate your POS system with Grubhub to simplify your order and menu management.

4. QR codes spread the word about your restaurant

Contactless consumer habits have extended beyond just payment with QR codes. A QR code gives consumers the ability to scan a code with their smartphones. Once they scan the code, they will be taken directly to a webpage of your choosing. QR codes allow digital materials to be more accessible – whether that be your restaurant’s menu, website or ordering platform.

QR code menus skyrocketed at restaurants during the COVID-19 pandemic. Diners appreciate the contactless way of placing an order, and the popular technology spread across the restaurant industry. QR codes give you the creative freedom to spread the word about your restaurant. Here are some places you can paste your QR codes to make them pop:

  • windows: For potential customers who are trying to decide whether or not to eat at your restaurant, having access to the menu on the outside of windows can help them easily make their decision.
  • walls: If you happen to have lines fairly often, then having the QR code menu on the wall where people can see it while waiting can speed up the ordering process.
  • Tables: It’s common to see table toppers or small cards attached to tables in restaurants. This can be an easy way to give people more flexibility and time to decide what they want to order.
  • Flyers: Print out the QR code menu and spread them all over town. This is a fun way to draw people’s attention to your restaurant, and you could offer a promotional deal for anyone that brings on the flyer the next time they eat at your establishment.
  • Stickers: To be extra creative and spread the word about your product offering, you can turn your QR code menu into stickers to give to people or to hang around your community.
  • Business cards: Similar to stickers, a business card is an easy item for people to grab and take with them either to their table to order or when they leave the restaurant.

Check out more tips on how you can implement QR codes at your restaurant.

5. Delivery packaging is getting an upgrade

As the channels that customers use are evolving, the way restaurants prepare and send out food has changed as well. Staying up to date on takeout packaging innovations is the key to maintaining customer satisfaction. While food quality has always been top-of-mind for diners, the integrity of the containers that keep their food safe in transit has also become an interest. Sustainability matters when it comes to packaging:

  • 80% of consumers are concerned about how food packaging impacts pollution and animal safety
  • 63% of the solid waste produced in the US is derived from packaging materials
  • Choosing the wrong containers for your food can ruin the appearance, quality and taste of your dishes

No customer wants soggy fries trapped in a sweaty foam container, nor does a hungry family want to open their Mexican takeaway to find their salsa tubs popped open in route, spilling spicy sauce everywhere.

Take advantage of technological advances in container manufacturing by choosing the best to-go food containers that are not only designed for durability, but are also secure, environmentally friendly and crafted with specific types of food in mind.

Sustainability is a hot issue for many diners, and packaging is an area where restaurants can fall short of being eco-friendly. Recyclable containers that use biodegradable plastic, aluminum foil or recycled paperboard are not only good for the environment but can also keep your food safe en route to its destination. Learn more about how you can maintain food quality with sustainable packaging.

6. Third-party delivery is here to stay

Arguably the most significant new technology in restaurants isn’t truly in restaurants, it’s in the hands of customers ready to place an order. Third-party delivery apps have made delivery and takeout trends possible. Over one-third of Americans use a third-party delivery service at least twice a week, proving that third-party partnerships can have a huge impact on a restaurant’s ROI.

These unassuming little apps take care of everything from marketing and promotions to keeping customers up to date on when the order is prepared, packaged and on its way to their front store. But not all delivery apps follow through on their promises.

When you’re looking for a reliable delivery service app, look no further than Grubhub Marketplace. Here you get access to the largest online food delivery marketplace in existence, tied of course to an app that connects you with an audience made up to some 33+ million diners looking for restaurants just like yours.

Here, Grubhub has harnessed the power of restaurant technology to bring together cooks and consumers. Diners get to quiet their hungry bellies, while restaurants get great benefits like:

  • Free merchant welcome kit
  • A free tablet and/or POS integration for managing orders
  • Free photo shoot and expert advice to make your meals look incredible
  • Menu consultation services
  • Access to a branded ordering site
  • Promotional and loyalty tools
  • Ability to respond to ratings and reviews

And that’s just the beginning. Partnering with Grubhub is a fast-ticket to better functionality, on-trend restaurant technology, and stress-free integration that powers more effective and efficient restaurant operations.

Restaurant technology in the bigger picture

The food we eat has always been a reflection of larger cultural trends and current events. With everything from the holistic wellness movement to sustainability affecting what we order, cook and consume.

Now, that same trend continues with restaurant technology shaping how we structure our work-from-home days, what we get hungry for when we’re gaming online, and how we expose our taste buds to exciting new cuisine.
Interested in seeing how Grubhub can help you stay on top of restaurant technology trends and usher your business toward a more successful future? Join Grubhub today and try it out free for 30 days. You’re going to love what you discover.