6 Ways To Save Your F&B Business Sales During GCQ in The Philippines!

Are you an owner or manager of a restaurant, bar or cafe in the Philippines?

Have you been struggling with decreasing F&B sales during the various levels of Community Quarantine?

It was recently announced that some of the major cities were placed under GCQ (Metro Manila, Batangas, Iloilo City, Bacolod City, Tacloban City, Iligan City, Surigao Del Norte, Lanao del Sur) until November 30th 22020 Community Quarantine (GCQ) until November 30th 2020 to help curb the spread of COVID-19.

What does General Community Quarantine (GCQ) mean for your business?
While dine-in is now allowed at limited capacity, people still fear eating out as there is added anxiety in restaurant dining during COVID-19.

With 70% of your F&B revenue depending on dine-in sales, how will your F&B business give customers peace of mind knowing that your restaurant is safe to dine in, but also drive sales at the same time?

1.) Read on as we’ve come up with a checklist of 7 ways to save your F&B business!

Reach out on Facebook Groups

Are you an existing member of any Facebook Groups? If you aren’t, now’s the best time to join one!

Facebook Groups are where like-minded people come together to share a common interest. This could mean a group filled with potential customers or fellow Filipino F&B business owners.

Chances are, tons of other Filipino F&B business owners are going through the same struggles as you, such as:

• Low dine-in foot traffic
• Declining sales
• Loads of extra stock

Facebook Groups are the best place to ask for advice and to learn from what other business owners are doing to survive.

Some businesses get new customers through Facebook Groups by simply posting about their food offerings!

People in these groups tend to be more encouraging and supportive, so leverage it to your advantage!

Here are few Facebook Groups to join:

‘Philippines Retailers Community’
‘Restaurants Owners Group — Philippines’
‘Market Place Philippines’

2.) Offer food delivery

Under the current guidelines, the movement of people across areas placed under GCQ or MGCQ shall be permitted, except for leisure purposes. This combined with an increase in fear of going outside results in a drastic drop in dine-in sales.

So what can you do? Simple! Bring food to your customers if they can’t come to you!

Did you know that the percentage of weekday food delivery went up by 38%? Food delivery is a critical part of doing business during COVID-19. Without it, it’s going to be really hard to survive.

If you’ve never offered food delivery before, it’s understandable that you probably have some genuine concerns. We understand these challenges and Shopsito is here to help!

Shopsito is an affordable platform to replace Whatsapp/Call-in orders that won’t charge up to 35% in transaction fee! Shopsito is a ‘No Contact Delivery’ service.

Both orders and payments are made online, instead of cash on delivery, to ensure end-to-end hygiene and safety.

With a 20km delivery radius, Shopsito also allows you to serve customers without distance limitations! Find Out More About Shopsito Delivery Now!

3.) Contactless Ordering

It’s no surprise that people will be uncomfortable coming into close contact with others. Touching things that other people have touched will also be a big no-no.

This means that having a contactless ordering and payment system is more important now than ever!

Here’s how it works:

By having a digitalised menu, customers are refrained from touching physical menus that go through multiple hand exchanges. Not only does it give customers peace of mind knowing that your restaurant is safe to dine in, but it also drives sales at the same time!

With Shopsito you can:

• Minimise human error from taking wrong orders
• Accept cashless payments like debit/credit card, online banking, and ewallet
• Go contactless to reduce touching between menu, staff, and customers
• Increase table turnover and get more sales

Contactless systems are now the way forward in the F&B industry.

Prepare for the future of dining and get started with Beep QR Order now!

4.) Promote on social media

Use your social media accounts to promote your restaurant/cafe and stay top-of-mind for your customers.

Make sure that your most loyal customers know that you’re still open for dine-in or delivery and can see your sanitisation efforts.

It’s super important to get the word out so people know you’re still open for business!

If you own any customer data, such as their:

• phone number
• email address

Send them SMS messages or emails to update them on your restaurant’s or store status and promotions.

Keep these messages personal! The more personalised the message, the better!

It’s a guaranteed way to reach people stuck inside and there’s a good chance that they’ll want to come out of their house for a safe experience when they’re ready to.

5.) Be creative with your F&B promotions

What’s one thing Filipinos love more than food?

Value for money!

It’s time to look at GCQ as an opportunity to create new promotional strategies that not only provide value for money to your customers but also draw attention towards your brand!

Here are a few unique F&B promotion strategies to try out!

• Quarantine ‘Cook-At-Home’ packs — to cater for those who are a little bit more afraid of “food delivery” food, you could provide a pack filled with ingredients for customers to cook themselves at home.
• Bundle meals — since people are most likely at home with family or friends, they’ll be ordering for a bunch of people. This is the perfect opportunity to provide a set meal that’ll cater for group meals!
• Work-from-home lunch specials — since most companies are encouraged to allow their employees to work-from-home, it’s an opportunity to provide set lunch deals catered to this group of consumers.
• Groceries — If you have leftover stock, why not sell these to customers as well? Customers will then be able to get an online grocery alternative and you’ll get rid of stock! Win-win right?
• Re-create the dine-in experience at home — create versions of your food for families to enjoy at home e.g. takeaway hot pot
• Gift cards for future dining experiences — this will help customers start to make plans for a return and help your restaurant survive with a bit of extra cash flow.

6.) Create a specialised online menu

Consider changing your menu for online and delivery.

Think about reducing the size of your menu offerings and removing food items that won’t last through the delivery process.

You could even add extra sections onto your online menu to cater for families e.g. a children’s section, family set meals.

Some businesses even develop new food items specifically for takeaway or delivery.

This could be a great opportunity to test out new products in the market before putting it in the menu permanently.

Are you looking for a delivery platform that :

• Is affordable and doesn’t charge up to 35% in commission fee?
• Replaces Whatsapp/FB Messenger/Call-in orders?
• Delivers to customers without distance limitations?
• Allows your loyal customers to order from you no matter where they’re located?

Then Shopsito Delivery is THE platform for YOU!

How can your F&B business get on Shopsito Delivery?

Click Here To Enable Shopsito Delivery For Your F&B Business

Stay safe and stay strong!

In all of this, it’s important that we adhere to the regulations set by the government.

By following the safety guidelines and encouraging contactless delivery protocols, we can flatten the curve together!