3 Tips to Increase Pizza Sales in 2021

2020 brought challenges for most business owners. Restaurants faced immense struggles trying to navigate the confines of a pandemic. And while the business model for pizzerias lends itself fairly well to social distance restrictions, small pizza shop owners face unique challenges as they compete against large national chains.

The best way for small pizzeria owners to increase sales is to establish themselves as a staple within their community, which requires a combination of skill and strategy.

Adapt to Changing Customer Needs

The secret to success isn’t just in your pizza sauce recipes, it’s in your customer data. This data is critical in understanding your customers so that you can establish and nurture customer relationships. And if you don’t own your customer data, you’re missing out on essential insights.

Do you have readily-available data that can tell you which ordering channels are the most successful for your business? Can you determine at a glance whether or not your customers prefer your app over your website? What about which specials perform best during each season?

With critical data like this on hand, you can better understand the inner workings of your business, and learn how your customers respond to each aspect of your business they come into contact with. Armed with this knowledge, you can make adjustments to your business strategy as-needed.

Take customer order history for instance. In the past, orders were often made over the phone. As the internet became more popular, websites were the customer go-to. And now that customers are more tethered to their smartphones, mobile ordering is on the rise. In fact, according to the Pizza Power Report from PMQ, over 88% of respondents said they use a mobile app to order food.

This shift to mobile ordering happened slowly, and many pizzeria owners were slow to adopt mobile ordering because they didn’t have the insight required to get ahead of the curve and cash in on the trend. However, with customer data at your fingertips, even small pizzeria owners can stay relevant and adapt to changing customer needs.

Drive Repeat Business with Delivery Expansion

The one advantage small-scale pizzerias had over many other restaurants was that even before COVID-19 emerged, most of them already had delivery services in-place. When it came to getting orders to customers, pizza operators didn’t have to think too outside the box.

But now that most other restaurants have caught up, it’s time for your small pizza shop to step up its game. You’ll boost business substantially if you elevate your delivery operations to keep up with the growing demand throughout this next year.

Ask yourself the following questions to review your current operations:

• How can we streamline our delivery efforts to boost efficiency?
• What are our team’s weaknesses for delivery operations?
• How can we provide better delivery service to our customers?

You’ll often find that there is a resolution to help overcome operational challenges and boost efficiency. That is where a delivery management solution comes into play.

With this digital solution, you can monitor delivery drivers via Google Maps integration, keep track of delivery times, and funnel all delivery data directly into your restaurant management system. Delivery management can also augment your in-house delivery team to accommodate for peak times and account for an unexpected surge of orders, or orders outside of standard areas.

It’s important, however, to make sure that your delivery management can integrate with your digital ordering channels and kitchen staff to ensure accuracy and maintain visibility across all your operations. With integration, your pizza shop will boost sales with ease.

Stay Competitive in Your Industry

The most successful pizzerias increase revenue because they make an effort to monitor what the competition is doing and work hard to keep up. Restaurant technology software is a major component of that. Examine your software systems to see how they measure up to your competitors. If you are operating with slow, out-of-date, disparate systems, it may be time for a tech upgrade.

By investing in a restaurant management system, even small pizzerias can keep up with the large chains. Instead of getting overwhelmed with several different technology tools and systems, you can streamline your business by utilizing a single comprehensive solution that can do it all, from online ordering to delivery management.

With real-time insights, you learn what’s working for your business and identify bottlenecks within your operation, making immediate adjustments as necessary. Rather than wasting time on manual tasks, you can automate routine processes to boost efficiency. This also frees up time and bandwidth to help you focus on making smarter business decisions that lead to business growth.

HungerRush is Here to Boost Your Sales

A restaurant management system is the ideal way to elevate your customer experience while growing your business. With this digital solution, all your information can be viewed and managed in one space. Our platform can house all the information you need to make more data-backed business decisions that achieve more profitable promotions, maximized productivity, and repeat business.

Contact HungerRush today to schedule a consultation and learn more about how your pizzeria can harness the power of comprehensive, digital solutions hand-tailored to the pizza industry.