A Guide to Driving Increased Sales in Your Bar or Restaurant

Gaming can bring a vibrant, diverse, and engaged customer base into locations in Illinois. The value these customers bring to your business, however, can be realized in other areas not related to slots. Whether you are a restaurant, bar, gaming parlor, c-store, or truck stop, your gaming patrons can impact your establishment’s overall profitability - not just your gaming revenue. Here are a few ways you can go about driving revenue to your location beyond your location’s gaming area:

Increasing Beverage Sales - Mocktails

Patrons will enter your establishment for one reason or another; one way you can go about meeting the expectation of as many people as possible is by introducing mocktails and other non-alcoholic options to your menu. Mocktails can make designated drivers and those choosing to abstain from alcohol feel welcome in the environment, while also serving as an additional source of revenue for your venue.

Engage Your Patrons - Bar Games

When it comes to the overall customer experience, engagement is the name of the game. Your goal should be to engage your patrons as much as you can when they’re in your venue. This can lead to them staying longer and, as a result, spending more. One way you can accomplish this is through the introduction of weekly or monthly game nights in your establishment. People are always searching for something to do or entertain themselves - why shouldn’t your location be the ones to give it to them? Games like trivia and bingo can lead to people frequenting your venue on your less busy nights and cause them to stay in your location longer. This in turn will help drive profitability in your establishment in the right direction.

Boosting Gift Card Sales - Awareness

If your location offers gift cards or certificates to your establishment, the first and most important step is to make your patrons aware of them. Many locations will hide their gift certificates at the front or barely mention them to patrons, the most important step in increasing gift card sales in your venue is to make your customers aware that you offer them. Consider also pushing them the most during the different holidays as they can make amazing gifts for your most loyal patrons.

Try also making your gift cards or certificates as visually appealing as possible. The reason you may spontaneously buy an enticing candy bar in the checkout aisle in the grocery store can be the same reason your customer chooses to purchase a gift card from your location.

Expand Your Food Menu - Variety

Everyone has different tastes; try expanding your food options to cater to the taste buds of as many people as possible. This will organically increase your overall reach by appealing to the unique tastes of as many people as you can.

Consider also updating your menu seasonally to capitalize on the feelings of merriment that different holidays can bring. Seek to cater to as many of your customers as you can with your food to really make your location your own.

TouchTunes - Addition

Found in over 65,000 bars and restaurants throughout the world, TouchTunes is a great addition for any small business looking to generate revenue, boost customer engagement, and/or create new opportunities for growth. With innovative music visualizations, advanced LED lighting, intuitive music profiles, and dynamic learning to go along with a fully licensed music catalog, these jukeboxes will be extremely popular with your patrons and staff alike.

Did You Know?: Accel locations, on average, experienced an increase of over $7,000 in gross revenue per year after adding TouchTunes.

Gaming is a major part of your business. However, it is important to not let it be the only part. Consider the above changes to further drive your overall profitability in the right direction in your establishment.