Pizza for lunch? Sounds delicious but for most consumers, pizza is a dinnertime staple. Unfortunately for consumers, many pizzerias opt out of promoting lunch.
While there are inherent barriers to achieving success both at lunch and dinnertime, many pizzerias have the potential to accomplish it seamlessly.
Speed, value, and convenience help draw people into an establishment for lunch when they are on a midday break, so optimizing those three elements will generate more success. Here are a few areas pizza operators can focus on when trying to capitalize on the lunch rush crowd:
- Stay Small – By offering smaller standard sizes such as an 8” personal pizza or pizza by the slice, diners have options that cater to their afternoon appetite and their time crunch. A slice of pizza on the go is a classic, quick, and undeniably tasty lunch. Of course, those who are not eating alone or in a small group still have the option to purchase a larger pie to satisfy everyone.
- Diligent Delivery – Many people go to lunch close to where they live and work, but sometimes they are simply too preoccupied to make it out of the office or home for lunch. In these cases, it is helpful to have a delivery option. Most pizzerias already offer delivery, which is a competitive advantage over sandwich shops. It is also important to emphasize a speedy delivery, so restaurants should consider reducing the delivery area at lunchtime.
- Marketing Tactics – Marketing is the key to success, so promoting a pizzeria at lunchtime requires an expansive marketing plan to inform potential customers of deals and specials during the midday hours. Lunch specials could be established and advertised as a method of attracting more diners. Customers could also be enticed to visit a restaurant through drink deals such as a glass of wine, beer, or soda with purchase of a personal pizza. Pizzerias should focus on social media to promote their lunch specials, as well as advertising in-store to inform the evening customers.
Increasing lunchtime pizza sales can initially seem daunting to a pizzeria that mainly caters to a dinnertime crowd. However, quality does not have to be limited exclusively to one time or the other.
Differing menus also help spice it up for those loyal customers who may frequent the restaurant at both meal times. For example, personal pizzas and slices don’t have to be offered at dinner. Overall, pizzerias can easily take the necessary steps to optimize sales at lunch while simultaneously maintaining the quality for customers who come in the evening.