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How to Surge Pizza Sales During a COVID Super Bowl

Surge Super Bowl Pizza Sales

There are a few days out of the year when calories shouldn’t be counted, and Super Bowl Sunday is one of those days. It’s the second-largest food consumption holiday in America, exceeded only by Thanksgiving. The estimate for 2020 was that 90 million pounds of snacks would be eaten by enthusiastic football viewers, and the perennial favorites are wings and pizza. Previous Super Bowl Sundays have brought 35-40% increases over typical Sundays in pizza sales.

This year will be a bit different, as it is the first year your pizza shop will be serving customers during a pandemic. But it doesn’t have to be less profitable. Although public health and social distancing guidelines mean there won’t be large gatherings of fans ready to chow down, there will be a more significant number of individual households and small groups still eager to enjoy their favorites. For many, the cherished football tradition brings a sense that things can get back to normal. During Week 1 of the current NFL season, pizza sales topped $61.3 million. Suit up for the big game by considering these operational and marketing adjustments for optimal sales success.

Kick-Off with Creative Menu Options

One strategy for increasing your Super Bowl pizza sales is to offer some limited-time specialty pies that play on team themes. For example, create a “Kansas City Beef” pizza for the Chiefs, highlight ingredients that match Tampa Bay’s team colors, or even do something inspired by halftime performer The Weekend. Or you could create unique combo deals or offers such as a free small drink with any order if Tampa Bay has scored 22 points by halftime. A good restaurant management system (RMS) will enable you to easily modify your menu across all platforms and locations to accommodate these special game-day deals. Use social media to get the word out to fans ahead of the game.

Ordering Options Get the Extra Point

Once you’ve decided on your Super Bowl offerings, you’ll want to make ordering as easy as possible for customers and your staff. Having multiple ordering channels available improves customer convenience. Keep your employees from being overwhelmed with phone orders (and let them make better use of their time in other areas, such as order fulfillment) by providing these options that are guaranteed to boost business:

Online Ordering:

Let customers place their orders on your website or through your branded app. Customers value both the convenience of these options and the confidence that their order will be to their specifications. And online orders tend to be higher than those made in person.

Text Ordering:

Take your ordering capabilities to the next level. Texting is as easy as it gets, even for the non-tech-savvy person. Customer ordering habits aren’t always planned, which can work in your favor: text orders will trigger impulse buys.

The key to the success of these options is whether they can integrate seamlessly with your kitchen. Connecting your ordering channels to your back-of-house operations is essential to streamline processes and get more orders out the door. The most successful pizzerias ensure that all technology components can communicate with each other to avoid unnecessary delays. An integrated RMS can ensure that orders from any platform are put into the prep queue in the order received and are fulfilled on time—a crucial element of the best ordering experiences. Make this experience a positive one, and satisfied customers will become repeat customers.

Huddle Up on Delivery Demands

A December 2020 Forbes article reported that delivery revenue for food businesses surged 103% during the pandemic. Pizza and delivery have always gone together as perfectly as cheese and pepperoni, and providing an outstanding delivery experience is a great way to outshine the competition. For the big game, pizza shop owners will want all hands on deck and ready to fulfill orders quickly and accurately.

Now is the time to have delivery management integration in place. If you need to use a third-party service, you’ll want to make sure your RMS integrates with their platform. But if you can control your own delivery needs, you’ll save money in the long run by not having to pay third-party commission fees—and you’ll retain full custody of your valuable customer data. With the right technology, you can take some of the stress off of your employees and automate systems to work with you rather than against you. With delivery management, you can run an efficient fleet, keep more delivery dollars, and engage directly with customers. Own the customer delivery experience from start to finish — and make it a great one.

Score Big with HungerRush During the Super Bowl

The best solution for surging pizza sales is an efficient restaurant management system — and a provider who’s an asset to your team. HungerRush is no rookie when it comes to fulfilling the needs of pizzerias. Our solutions can easily connect with all of your other restaurant technologies and platforms, saving the most time and money possible while you provide outstanding customer experiences. With visibility into all areas of your restaurant, you have greater control to see what’s working well, and where improvements can be made for future success. With digital ordering, customer data support, and delivery management that allows you to stay on top of the rush of delivery orders, your restaurant will score a touchdown during the COVID Super Bowl. Interested in seeing how our system works? Request a consultation with the experts at HungerRush today to learn more.