It’s one thing to cater to families, and it’s another to make your restaurant a child-friendly space to dine in. This school holiday season, take a proactive step to create an engaging space for children that may in turn lead to a potential increase in traffic.
Menu
For starters, restaurant operators can review their current food offerings and select a number of items that may be of interest to the young ones. Keeping in mind that food quantity should be adapted to kid-friendly portions, you may also include side dishes to further increase the appeal. Sweeten the deal with an optional combo set that includes a drink or dessert of choice.
Consider printing a special menu exclusively for kids that displays these food items in attractive colours and imagery to further push the sale. There’s no need to invest heavily in this aspect; a simple piece of A4 paper will suffice. In terms of pricing, it is appropriate to keep it lower compared to a regular-sized dish as the quantity is significantly less.
Activities
Children in general have a limited attention span and are easily distracted by their surroundings. Capitalise on this aspect by making some changes for children to creatively express themselves. Handing out colouring books and crayons go a long way in occupying their waiting time during the preparation of food. This is an effective two-pronged approach for both the children and parents – the young ones get to exercise their artistic skills while parents can enjoy peace of mind without their children running about the venue.
Promotions
Create attractive promotional deals that will help increase traffic to your restaurant, especially for families. Initiatives such as implementing a “Happy Hour” that includes a free dessert or drink with every purchase of a children’s meal during a specific time of the day will go a long way in creating an overall child-friendly atmosphere. Apart from that, you may also consider giving out complimentary slices of cake to children born within the month. Remember, parents are more inclined to visit and re-visit an establishment with a positive environment that’s great for the entire family.
