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The summer season often brings groups of young customers to diners, smoothie shops, and other local restaurants. These types of customers are looking to get out of their house and go to a fun environment where they can eat and spend time with their friends – and get away from the summer heat. Restaurants are making the most of the summer season by incorporating loyalty promotions and creative events that attract hungry customers with great deals, great food, and family-friendly fun.

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Unlike brick-and-mortar stores that are limited to a certain vicinity and customer market, food trucks have the freedom to roam local communities and garner a loyal customer following. While some food trucks may focus solely on one or a few communities, other businesses meet customers at events and gatherings miles away, and others do a bit of both to solidify their brand’s success and establish relationships with seasonal customers.

But a food truck’s mobility also brings great operational and technological challenges, especially when business owners want to provide customer-facing ordering, payment, gift card, or loyalty program solutions to grow their business and reward customers for their loyalty.

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​This year, Father’s Day is on June 19th. Each year, businesses compete to be the go-to restaurant for a Father’s Day meal or dessert. For new or independent businesses, this often makes it difficult for their promotions to stand out from the crowd. But with extended or week-long Father’s Day campaigns, local restaurants improve customer traffic and earn additional revenue while increasing brand exposure to the community.

By promoting Father’s Day reservations, buffets, and specials one to two weeks in advance, restaurants provide a convenient way for customers to plan ahead or find them for last-minute gift decisions.

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​The Aldelo Express Interactive Multimedia Customer Display provides restaurant owners with endless possibilities for improved customer engagements. From order details to video-based marketing displays, this free native software integration from Aldelo Express helps restaurant owners improve checkout processes and order accuracy, especially in noisy environments.

Customer-facing displays at countertop POS terminals provide colorful displays of transaction details and marketing media, complete with text, audio, images, animations, and video.

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​Customers are always looking to celebrate. As a result, restaurants commonly turn to fun and engaging celebratory days that increase customer engagement and orders for their restaurant or bar.

This June, restaurants are preparing to attract customers with Father’s Day specials, attracting customers with limited-time discounts, free menu items, and loyalty/rewards credits. In addition, the National Basketball Association will be hosting the 2022 NBA Finals bracket competition, providing the ideal setting for watch parties and basketball themed promotions.

​Here are other celebratory days for the month of June to use in themed campaigns and promote new menu items.

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​Themed charity events are a very successful method of fundraising for community and non-profit organizations. In-person fundraisers allow organizations to promote their cause in-person, directly engage with benefactors, and increase donations with entertainment, great food, and drinks. This provides the perfect opportunity for local restaurants and caterers to “put their best food forward” and expose their menus to the broader community.

Amidst spring and summer weather, restaurants taking the opportunity to host and/or cater outdoor charity events immediately increase the number of guests experiencing and enjoying their services, inspiring them to visit the business for more.

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​In the world of western cuisine, sandwiches are almost as old as sliced bread … almost. Though an ancient Jewish rabbi called Hillel the Elder ate fruit, nuts, and wine between two pieces of flatbread in the 1st century B.C, the sandwich as we know it today was not popularized until the 18th century when the Earl of Sandwich John Mategeau opted for his lunch to-go between two slices of thick, leavened bread. Today, sandwiches are an easy, packable solution for picnics, sporting events, beach trips, and the office. Served hot or cold, sandwiches remain an irreplaceable part of restaurant menus and homemade meals alike.
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As summer approaches, the peak season for outdoor events and packed lunches, here are some non-traditional ways restaurants can engage customers with improved sandwich menus, using seasonal ingredients, topping combinations, and flavor profiles that customers may not think to make at home.

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Beverages are a restaurant’s most profitable menu item. With virtually endless combinations of flavored syrups, sodas, spirits, juices, and toppings, the possibilities for creating enticing beverages are only limited by the imagination. Like any menu item, drink trends come and go, but these often require purchasing new and/or novelty ingredients. However, a recent social media trend provides business owners an engaging and profitable beverage solution that is easily created with ingredients in every restaurant's kitchen.

“Dirty sodas” are soda-based beverages that feature soda poured over ice with cream, flavored syrups, fruit chunks, and other non-alcoholic add-ins. The combination of bubbly soda and cream is reminiscent of ice cream floats, but is enhanced with additional item mix-ins and flavor combinations. 

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​There are two primary goals of businesses in the hospitality sphere: to make guests feel “at home” while simultaneously providing a VIP-level experience with customer-centric services and amenities. This is especially true for hotels, which often promote a “like home, but better” mentality when welcoming guests and serving them throughout their stay.

To meet this high-level standard of comfort and convenience, many hotels offer room service to guests, providing food and drinks directly from the hotel’s kitchen or from partner restaurants located on or near the business premises. With increased QR code usage for restaurant online ordering, takeout, and delivery services, hotels are also beginning to use QR codes to enhance in-house and third-party food and drink services.

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After water, tea is the most popular beverage in the world. In 2021, over 150 million Americans drank tea every day. This year, preferences for age-old brews are surfacing in new menu categories and trends that include afternoon “tea time” happy hours and tea-flavored baked goods. * Because teas provide wide profit margins for restaurants, restaurants, bakeries, and coffee shops are embracing the 2022 tea trend and seeing instant improvements to their bottom lines.

Even though per ticket averages may slightly lower during tea time periods, these types of events enable restaurants to draw more customers into the business and serve food and drink items with higher margins, allowing customers to see and experience other menu items and influencing them to make return visits.

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​Many food trucks are a brand in and of themselves, and like their favorite music groups, customers will follow food trucks from one location to the next. This provides a vibrant atmosphere for others to recognize and gravitate towards. Loyalty and rewards programs not only reward that loyalty, but allows these businesses to pick up new fans at every stop.

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​The United States consumes 3 billion pizzas per year, with a total of $38 million spent on one of restaurants’ most popular menu items.*

Pizza is one item that rarely “gets old.” Whether your main customer base is fueled by high schoolers down the street or a mix of all demographics, most guests love a fresh pizza pie.

National Pizza Party Day gives guests a reason to celebrate with family and friends at their favorite local restaurant, or at home with food from their favorite pizza menu. Restaurants celebrating this day easily increase awareness of their venue for summer events and local gatherings by hosting a pizza party that guests can enjoy with their family and friends. Restaurants that don’t have a traditional pizza oven may participate in this specialty event by serving pizza variations including pizza bread, pizza sandwiches, pizza casseroles, and more.

​​Whether your restaurant offers pizza items regularly or are introducing limited-time offers, hosting a pizza party provides a unique and engaging opportunity to attract and retain local customers.

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Spring is in the air! This May, get customers excited to visit your restaurant by hosting limited-time specials and events as part of a festive marketing campaign. The month of May is famous for flowers, end-of-the-school-year parties, and celebrating the women we love on Mother’s Day… as well as our favorite moments from the Star Wars saga on May the Fourth!

In addition to these festive springtime classics, here are some “national days” that restaurants can leverage to drive customer traffic this May.

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​You may have noticed the growing number of restaurants adding gluten-free menu options to their menus. This comes in response to growing customer demand for wheat-free items, usually from health-conscious customers allergic to wheat-based products.

In addition, recently many restaurants have begun moving away from wheat-based items as they face higher costs due to supply chain shortages, caused in part by droughts in U.S. regions where wheat is grown and harvested.

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​​In the last two years, restaurants across the country that did not already offer chicken sandwiches began adding the savory sandwich to their menu. Chicken offers customers a heart-healthy and lean protein option that doesn’t break the bank and can be enjoyed in an infinite number of ways.

Chicken sandwiches are not a new trend, nor a particularly innovative menu idea. But the chicken sandwich craze began in 2019 when Popeye’s, ​Chick-fil-A, and other leading QSR chains re-introduced chicken sandwiches on their menu, competing with unique sauces, crispiness levels, and sandwich toppings.

Fortunately for restaurants, chicken is an affordable ingredient that is simple enough to customize in many unique ways, but delicious enough to make guests' mouths water.

In addition to classic, spicy, and BBQ chicken sandwiches, here are a few ways business owners can revamp chicken-based menu items in their restaurant.

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​QR codes have become the go-to link between our physical and digital worlds. Customers using QR codes quickly launch and self-manage a variety of experiences and services that enhance everyday purchases with paperless menus, online orders, scan-and-pay at the POS, web-based payments, cashless tips, paperless receipts, digital loyalty points, curbside pick-up, and more.

By employing QR codes in checkout flows, business owners help customers make ordering from their restaurant a part of their routine, providing guests the option to self-manage  online ordering and digital payments, thereby streamlining customer-centric online services in-store and remotely on demand.

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​Have you noticed that more U.S. restaurants are adding passion fruit to their menus? This is a response to growing customer demand for creative, exotic, and delicious new flavors. In fact, the fruit’s popularity has grown 20% in the last four years. With a bright gold-yellow interior and an equally bright tropical flavor, passion fruit offers customers a flavor adventure available in both foods and drinks. This year, as customers step into spring with renewed optimism, some suppliers have dubbed passion fruit as 2022’s “flavor of the year.”

Restaurants looking for an easy menu refresh can start by incorporating passion fruit flavorings as digital menu item modifiers. Whether incorporated as a topping for ice cream and cakes or used as a standalone flavor in cocktails and salad dressings, passion fruit provides a unique flavor profile that stands out from the crowd.

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The coming of spring means school proms and end-of-the-year formals. While Junior- and Senior-year high school students prepare with the right clothes, group photos, and transportation, volunteer coordinators are finalizing details for event decor, music, and catering services.
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Restaurants are promoting their brand in the local community by getting involved in school formals and after parties to expand their customer reach. By directly engaging high school students at school-sponsored events, restaurants support their community while motivating new and existing customers to patronize the business in-store or through its online ordering platform.

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​With the massive increase of off-premises dining services, many restaurants have established loyal relationships with customers that order off-site. These customers purchase food and drinks from the restaurant to enjoy throughout the week at their home or office, receiving meals via takeout, pick-up, and delivery services. Customer-centric services that were once “nice to have” are now generating business-sustaining revenue for restaurants year round.

But with more time spent at home, customers are also spending more time cooking their own meals and hosting at-home events for family and friends. At first glance, this may seem to contradict a restaurant’s success since more customers are shopping at grocery stores and nearby markets rather than eating at local restaurants.

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​In the last several years, small breweries have grown in number and popularity, attracting guests with unique flavors of artisan beers. Unlike traditional bars that offer a multitude of alcoholic drinks, mostly from commercial brands, handcrafted breweries feature a limited selection of beers produced from an independent label.

Customers love going to breweries with friends and family because of its relaxed atmosphere and great flavors. Brewery tasting environments will often include sports viewing and live music from local and visiting artists. In fact, many owner-operators are establishing “beer gardens” that invite customers to spend their day in the environment.

​A great addition to any tasting room is food from local restaurants. Restaurants are partnering with local breweries to increase their menu’s exposure and grow their customer base by providing appetizers, entrees, and desserts in their tasting rooms. Restaurants are also attracting more customers with diversified menus that include local brews in their restaurant and bar. These types of mutually beneficial partnerships help establish both businesses in their local community and provide increased brand exposure to customers visiting hotspot businesses from out of town.

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In efforts to save money and reduce waste, restaurant owners are experimenting with creative ways to use and monetize excess food. By distributing ingredients or pre-made menu items to members in their community, restaurants maximize their inventory while encouraging new and existing customers to experience the store’s environment, food, and drinks.

Aldelo Express offers cloud point of sale solutions and features that include natively integrated digital menus and a cloud back-office platform that equips restaurant owners to maximize their profits via inventory oversight, item sales reports, and operational analysis. In addition, Aldelo Express users customize an ecosystem of merchant- and customer-facing solutions to expand their reach and provide customers with increased accessibility to the restaurant’s digital menu and related services.

​Here are some ways restaurant owners are using excess food with their Aldelo Express Cloud POS solution.

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In the last several decades, the majority of high school students have found summer employment at entry-level, minimum wage level jobs. Whether teenagers are working to contribute to their family, gain practical experience, or simply have summer spending money, the food service industry in particular has relied on young employees during busy summer months. In fact, 1 in 3 of Americans’ first job was in a restaurant.*

This number started to change, however, in the mid 2000’s. Since then, only 30% of teens have spent their summers working in restaurants. With increased competition and pressure on college-minded students, young people prefer volunteer and internship opportunities over employment. As a result, restaurants struggle to hire high schoolers willing to commit to serving, dish washing, or hosting over a summer.

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Over the last several years, more customers have begun experimenting with and improving their culinary skills. Whether it’s attending a cooking class for a unique date night, following video tutorials in a home kitchen, or dusting off a family cookbook, customers turn to cooking experiences to enjoy quality time and, ideally, a quality meal.

There is no better way to help customers feel at home than with “comfort foods” that remind them of their favorite homemade food and drinks. In addition to adding classic comfort foods such as stews, ribs, casseroles, baked potatoes, tuna melts, and more, restaurants are implementing their own creative twists on these dishes.

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In the months between winter and summer, it is difficult for many owners and operators to attract new customers to their restaurant. But by promoting their menu with celebratory, new, or limited-time menu items, restaurants attract customers and encourage them to visit again to redeem earned loyalty and rewards.
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Here are a few festive opportunities to promote your restaurant’s Masa+ digital menu in the month of April.

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​Each year, millions of Americans adopt new dogs and cats from animal rescue and adoption shelters. Animal shelters typically host adoption events in their communities to attract potential homeowners, inform adopters, and raise money to support their mission.

Restaurants are participating in adoption events by operating alongside animal shelters, providing food and drinks that draw in guests and passersby. By doing so, restaurants support other local businesses and pets in need while expanding their customer base to a whole new customer demographic, encouraging them to visit the restaurant after trying their food and drinks. These promotional events are typically held at community fairs, festivals, local fundraisers, or even in parks or parking lots adjacent to the restaurant and adoption agencies.