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New Outlet Mall Restaurant Weak Sales Any Good Promotional Ideas Out There

by BigSnakeSituation
14 replies
I work as a,"liaisons", for the owner of a newly built Japanese Hibachi style restaurant located in a newly built outlet mall. The mall is roughly 6 mo.old and the food court is about 2 1/2 months old. Admittingly, the foot traffic is low at the mall but i was wondering if their any ideas on this fourm to help bolster sales. Or increase foot traffic to the restaurant.
My goal is to prove to my boss that I can also be used on the marketing side of his growing business. As of now, he is solely relying on the mall to his "marketing".
Plus its also an oppourtunity to earn extra money seeing he will be paying me seperate for additional revenues and services the I can provide.
I know for a fact that he is open to any and every idea, only because he told me so. He's no idiot that he'd go for a $1000 month campaign without proven results.But anything associated with give aways and freebies, he's down with it.
Btw, he doesnt have any idea I'm working on this and he doesnt care. I just wanna demonstrate results and get payed.
#good #ideas #mall #outlet #promotional #restaurant #sales #weak
  • Profile picture of the author Rus Sells
    Look into proximity marketing. Just search the phrase on Google, it's an awesome solution for mall stores.
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    • Profile picture of the author BigSnakeSituation
      Ill look it up now.
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      • Profile picture of the author BigSnakeSituation
        cool idea but i'm worried about mall management in this case seeing that they all have cell phones and also would receive the messages. Mall rules are very restrictive when it comes to signage and promotions on the premises. But if I get there attention I should count it as a plus, meaning I must be doing something right.
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    • Profile picture of the author Digital Traffic
      Originally Posted by Rus Sells View Post

      Look into proximity marketing. Just search the phrase on Google, it's an awesome solution for mall stores.

      Russ nailed this one.

      I'm surprised more people don't give this a try.

      Can be up and running very quickly.
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  • Profile picture of the author MichaelWinicki
    I'd be pimping hot & heavy for any contact information I could get. Be it the servers get it or the person taking the check, but someone has to get contact info. Email at least but mailing address along with birthday would be fabulous.

    If you needed simply offer a discount card giving away something for the customers next visit.

    There are so many great things that could be emailed or better yet, snail mailed.

    There's no excuse not to build a mailing list– and milk that cash-cow repeatedly.
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    http://www.BigNoiseMarketing.com
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    • Profile picture of the author BigSnakeSituation
      The email concept is a good start but as of now most of our customers seem to be mall employees. I guess my real dilema is, will people come to the mall just to grab something to eat?
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      • Profile picture of the author MichaelWinicki
        Originally Posted by BigSnakeSituation View Post

        The email concept is a good start but as of now most of our customers seem to be mall employees. I guess my real dilema is, will people come to the mall just to grab something to eat?
        Mall employees or not... A customer on a list is a customer on a list.

        Will someone come to the mall just to grab something to eat?

        Yeah, if someone gives them a reason too.

        Winking at a pretty girl through a locked door isn't going to get you anywhere.


        It's like this there is no quick fix to this unless someone wants to spend $$$ placing newspaper and radio ads along with doing direct mail like Val Pak.

        Create a worthwhile offer, get it out there, get folks to come in, get their contact information and then stay in touch with them.

        Rinse & repeat.
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        • Profile picture of the author Marty S
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          • Profile picture of the author BigSnakeSituation
            Originally Posted by Marty S View Post

            You mentioned food court, but is your restaurant in that food court - as in self service style - or are you separate from the food court and offer full service dining? Also, if you are part of the food court, what other types of food outlets are there, and are there others that are obviously busier than yours?
            You think I can offer a free drink with the meal in trade for their email address or just plain ole ask them for it?
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          • Profile picture of the author BigSnakeSituation
            Originally Posted by Marty S View Post

            You mentioned food court, but is your restaurant in that food court - as in self service style - or are you separate from the food court and offer full service dining? Also, if you are part of the food court, what other types of food outlets are there, and are there others that are obviously busier than yours?
            Yes We are in the food court. Self service style. Ironically he owns all the restaurants in the food court. Japanese , Chinese and Italian pizza places.
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  • Profile picture of the author NewParadigm
    food courts are pretty much dependent on mall traffic. The entire group of mall shops and the mall owner should be doing some co-op advertising to drive traffic.

    Try and do real unique specials of the day for your repeat customers, don't just feature some regular menu item as a special.

    You could do corporate/group lunches and group/corporate catering to drum up some outside business. Have some app/website or even fax form for businesses to place orders to go, or you deliver them.

    Sell area businesses discounted "free lunch" cards for them to give to customers with whatever purchase.
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    In a moment of decision the best thing you can do is the right thing. The worst thing you can do is nothing. ~ Theodore Roosevelt

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    • Profile picture of the author BigSnakeSituation
      In response to new paradigm, Ironically, I was at work today looking up "Japanese Desserts". I think that could be a unique menu item to offer seeing as we don't have any dessert to offer at all.
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  • Profile picture of the author WarBird
    In addition to email contact info. Look into incentives that encourage the customer to opt into an SMS text messaging data base. One simple idea is a Sign at the register or on the menus that present a QR code offering a Free drink with the meal when they join the 'VIP club' - your text messaging 'special offers' alert service. Then anytime business is slow, a text to the database offering 1/2 off your meal when you bring a friend today between 1PM and 5:30 PM - just an example. Good luck.
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    • Profile picture of the author BigSnakeSituation
      I'm just getting home from the mall.WarBird I ran your idea buy a few of the workres to get them all on board. Clearly your 'VIP club' is the way I'm going.
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  • Profile picture of the author KingOfContentMarketing
    Here are many successful promotion ideas:

    Food Court Promotions | Shopping Center Weekly

    Since he owns several of the food court establishments, use his leverage to get the mall to spend more money on promoting the food court. I'm not talking about his promotional cut. The mall has their own budget, and a healthy one, to run promotions. Bring in bands, have an indoor food tasting festival, etc.

    Here's some fuel for his argument: a 2007 Sharma study found shoppers spend 20% more at malls with a good food court. Not only that, "...And good, medium or otherwise, shoppers overall are spending more money on food at the mall, according to the International Council of Shopping Center. Food courts brought in $792 per square foot in 2010, up 5% from the year before; restaurants brought in $459 per square foot, up 4% from 2009."
    10 Things Shopping Malls Won't Tell You - MarketWatch
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    Marketing is not a battle of products. It is a battle of perceptions.
    - Jack Trout
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