How To Prep Your Business For The Holidays Using GoTab

With the holiday season quickly approaching it’s important to make sure your business is ready for those hungry customers this season. From preparing for an influx of orders, to accommodating staff schedule changes, to adding festive dishes to the menu, there’s a lot to think about as you embrace the spirit of the season.

Employee Scheduling

You’re going to receive a lot of time-off requests from your staff. The best way to strike a balance between accommodating your staff’s holiday plans and ensuring every shift is covered is to be clear about scheduling expectations. The earlier you make the staff holiday schedule, the better.

Creating A Merry Menu

Mobile menus are part of an ongoing global trend to increase efficiency. They provide operators with new ways to engage their guests with interactive branding, marketing, ordering, and payment processing. With GoTab mobile menus, you don't have to spend a lot of time creating a special menu for the holiday’s. Special menus support all the features available with a regular menu, the only difference is the menu items are geared towards the holiday season. 

When creating your holiday menu, consider offering holiday themed drinks, entrees, appetizers, and desserts that help your guests unwind and enjoy the season. Remember to stick with the general theme of your establishment, but don’t be afraid to add a fun holiday twist. 

If you are offering catering or take-out during the holiday season, create a presale menu and let people pre-order their holiday meals. Set up a holiday presale menu using the standard take-out feature or using the pickup time windows. You can control available and number of orders that can be placed, assign a pick up date and time, and add fees or gratuity to be auto-applied. Once orders are placed, you’ll have information to ensure smooth inventory planning.

Collecting Deposits

An event deposit allows you to take advanced payment or a deposit for future services. This deposit can be tendered to the tab on the day of the service to pay down a portion of the check. Event deposits are ideal for larger events, renting out rooms, putting a deposit down on a large reservation, or paying in advance for a fixed menu. The main function is to secure a minimum amount from the guest then allow the guests to redeem it later.

Must Have GoTab Features To Help This Holiday Season

Inventory Management

Once you have your holiday menu uploaded, you are able to set up inventory levels for each item. Simply go under Operate and find “inventory”. Once you are done inputting your stock levels, select the action you would like to happen when the product goes out of stock.

Notices

A notice is mass communication to all of your guests. Once a QR code is scanned, it will pop up for all of your guests. It is completely customizable for whatever you want your guests to see. You’re able to tell your customers your new offerings and pick up hours. Link to presale menu to make it easier for guests to find.

Seamless Tabs & Quick Reordering

While you’re not necessarily looking to quickly flip tables, you don’t want guests to get frustrated waiting for a server's attention. GoTab is the only platform that allows a guest to move from the bar to the table without closing a check. With GoTab’s mobile order capabilities, you can keep the drinks and food flowing. By eliminating the need to wave down a server, guests can order whatever they want whenever they want. This in turn lowers your transaction costs and lets servers focus on the service while increasing the average check size.

Coupons & Discounts

Set up coupons and discounts to get guests excited about doing business with you this holiday season. GoTab coupons give you almost infinite flexibility to customize your offers for new and returning guests. Spread the holiday joy and offer special promotions such as a complimentary item or discount the next visit.

Marketing For The Holiday's

It’s important to incentivize customers to take advantage of all your Holiday offerings before the rush. With the GoTab integration within Klaviyo, operators can use first-part GoTab ordering data (name, email, viewed menus/products, average totals, and more) in your holiday marketing campaigns. 

You can host a specific event like holiday trivia, the New Year’s Eve countdown, or host an ugly christmas sweater party where customers can have a good time. Just be sure to promote your event ahead of time on social media and via email. 

Utilize social media to showcase your special holiday menu. You can advertise your in-house specials, take-out, and catering services and offer completely separate social media deals. For example, create a social media post that says, “show this post to your server for 15% off your bill”.