Getting ready for Christmas in hospitality

We’ve come to the end of summer in one of the craziest years, and while it feels like we don’t know what’s to come next week - never mind a couple of months, for businesses in the hospitality sector looking to claw back some revenue following the devastating impact of COVID-19, now’s the time to start thinking towards Christmas.

Yep, if you listen hard enough you can hear a muffled ho ho ho through the big man’s face mask. Start planning now and you’ll leave yourself ample time to nail it, bring in as many guests as possible, and see out 2020 with a bang.

We know it’s been a nightmarish year for hospitality businesses and we want to do our bit to help you come out of the other side on top, so we’ve put together seven top tips for preparing for a successful 2020 Christmas.

COVID 

While most of us hoped the C-word would be a flash in the pan for a few months back in March, unfortunately, it’s now clear we won’t see the back of it in the near future so you’ll need to factor COVID into your Christmas prep this year.

As a hospitality business, you’ll have no doubt been getting to grips with the new measures imposed on the sector since July, including:

• Social distancing
• Hand sanitizing
• Table service
• Track and trace
• One way system
• No shared items (e.g. condiments, menus)
• Hygiene and cleanliness
• And so on.

It’s very unlikely any of these measures are going anywhere before 2021, so put some thought into how you can integrate them into your festive efforts - adding a Christmas scent to your hand gel, for example.

Offering a takeaway service is an approach many in the hospitality business have experimented with to overcome the slump in sales due to safety concerns, so to mediate the impact of COVID on your Christmas income consider offering a take-home alternative as well as a dine/drink-in option.

The latest government update (September 21st) stipulates hospitality businesses must close their doors by 10pm, table service only is compulsory, and customers must wear a face covering when on your premises unless they’re seated - there’s no telling whether this will still be the case come December, but it’s worth factoring the possibility into your planning. 

Remember: keep up to date and abreast of the latest guidelines at gov.uk or check out our dedicated guide.

Staff

The combination of an increased footfall over the festive season and the government’s table service only rules mean you’ll likely need additional staff to cover the rush, so start working out:

• How many extra staff you’ll need
• What you’ll pay them
• How you’ll work out rotas
• How you’ll ensure staff safety (think staggered arrival times, social distancing, clear workspaces, etc.)

Once you’ve got that part covered you’ll also need to be super sure everyone on your books is up to speed and trained on your COVID measures, how to use your payment systems, your menu, and so on. 

If you do decide to offer a takeaway or delivery option, you’ll need to source a reliable delivery driver (or two) too. It’s up to you whether you opt to go with one of the big names like JustEat and Deliveroo or hire one of your own drivers. Either way, work out the logistics well ahead of time.

Payments

If you’ve been considering upgrading your payment systems for a while but haven’t gotten round to it yet, it’s a good idea to get this ticked off before the Christmas rush.

The pandemic has left many consumers afraid to handle cash with card and contactless payments rapidly gaining favour. Why? Because cash carries a transmission risk, so businesses need to keep up and be able to offer a combination of payment types.

Portable card machines and digital payment methods (like beeorder) make complying with the table service only rule simple - a portable card machine can be moved anywhere around your premises (ours has a 50-metre range) allowing you to take the payment to the table.

Order and beepaid

Order & beepaid allows hospitality businesses to accept orders for food and/or drink from the table. Here's how it works:

• Your customer enters your premises and is seated
• There’s a QR code on their table which they can scan using their phone
• The code directs them to your menu where they can browse at their leisure
• Once ready, they can order their food and/or drink and pay using the app.

No need for a staff member to bring them a menu, take their order, or come back for payment - game-changing, right?

Plus, the app links up to your kitchen or bar where your workforce can see the incoming orders on their phone, tablet, or laptop.

Decor

Okay, now let’s move on to the less daunting stuff, and what can actually be the fun side of Christmas planning - decorating.

Now’s the time to start thinking about what you’ll do - will it be Christmas lights? Baubles? A tree? Will you put something on every table? Drape tinsel over your bar? The options are endless, but the more effort you put in, and the more festive you encourage your customers to feel, the more spending you can elicit - everyone knows Christmas is a spending frenzy.

You might think it’s too early to be buying these items, or even thinking about them, but remember your competition will be on it too and decorative items are likely to sell out pretty sharp - so plan now and you’ll save yourself a hectic spree down the line.

Offers & promotions

Next up it’s time to think about how you’ll entice your customers in and what you’ll offer them once bums are on seats. It could be:

• Christmas dinner
• Festive themed cocktails (think things like a Rudolph’s nose bloody mary)
• Yule logs
• Special festive beers (most breweries will have these prepared)
• A Christmas pudding

Will you run any special offers? Like a free mince pie with every Christmas pint? Half price Christmas pudding with every dinner? 

Coming up with some killer offers and options is more important than ever this year as some Brits will still be reticent to head out - so the more you can do to entice them to your business the better.

With that in mind, it’s also a good idea to run some offers or promotions on your takeaway offering (if you decide to offer one). The classics like 10% off your first order, free [insert product] when you spend over £X and so on are always big hitters, and if you nail yours you’ll still boost custom even if it’s not face-to-face.

Stock

Once you’ve nailed down what you’ll be selling it’s time to ensure you’ve got enough of it to meet demand.

Do your homework and work out what you expect to sell - using last year’s sales figures is a great way to forecast more accurately (but bear in mind Covid could impact this) - and then hit up your suppliers to find out when you need to order by in order to get your goods on time.

Remember, the items you decide to discount or include in offers are likely to be popular choices (who doesn’t love a bargain?), so be sure to have plenty available - the last thing you want is to have enticed a customer in with a great offer only to not be able to deliver it.

In the hospitality sector, particularly for businesses selling food, it’s all about fresh produce and food safety making it nigh on impossible to order everything you’ll need at once. A good inventory management system can help you overcome this problem - they’ll let you know when you’re running low on items and even order them automatically for you, saving you the headache of running out of your most popular items mid-shift.

Top tip: Our EPOS till system comes with inventory management functionality built-in and you’ve still got time to be up and running way ahead of the rush. Find out how EPOS can benefit your hospitality business here.

Marketing

To reap the rewards of all the effort you put into your staffing, payments, decor, etc. you need to make sure the public hears about it, and that’s where marketing comes into play, think:

• Social media - start drumming up interest across your channels with sneak peeks, enticing imagery, competitions, and so on. 
• Emails - consistently the most effective marketing channel, emails shouldn’t be underestimated. Reach out to your subscriber list and shout about everything you’ve got lined up.
• Website - add a Christmas page to your website outlining everything you’ve got planned, and don’t forget to make it look the part too with festive colours and Christmas touches.
• Blog - if you’ve got one, knock up an article drumming up interest and building excitement for the holidays and how you’re celebrating them. If you haven’t got one consider publishing a guest article on someone else’s.
• Local papers and magazines - consider publishing an ad about your Christmas offers to attract those who might be less tech-savvy, but remember you’ll need to arrange this in plenty of time as editors typically map out their content well in advance. 

Top tip: You’ll find heaps of resources for small business marketing over on our blog.

If you’re looking to upgrade your payment systems ahead of the holidays reach out to one of our dedicated experts today.

Bryony Pearce

Copywriter