LOYALTY STRATEGIES 

In this post we are going to talk about different strategies that some Restaurants are using to maintain the loyalty of their clients, and also to attract new ones. 
The vast majority of the strategies are focused on the final customer. Some of them are:

Loyatly cards: Restaurants that belong to Vips's Club (Ginos, Vips...)  offered you the possibility to have a free card that every time that you go to the Restautant and spend a specific quantity of money, instantly you earn some points in the card.  For example, if you spend 100 € in the Restaurant you will receive 3 Eurovips, that you can use them the next time that you go to one of the establishments of this group. 
Some advantages are that you can have a free dessert, or a free pasta dish...
 

 Social networks : as you know many companies are using this kind of technology as an strategy to promote their services or products. The most famous social network, as you know, is Facebook, but there are also Twitter, WhatsApp or their web pages.
Many Restaurants uses them to advertise different discounts or promotions or even their menu. 
This is a strategy used by restaurant chains and fast-food establishments...
WhatsApp is the less common, but some Restaurants have their telephone number outside the establishment, and give you the chance to make your book by WhatsApp, and sometimes with a little discount if you do it trought it.



Web Page: nowadays almost all the restaurants have Web Page, not only to explain their services, the location or when was founded, but also in some cases they use this tool to anounce also their promotions. They also have the link to follow them in the social networks.



 

TV and Radio: we have to say that this is not an strategy at all. They use Tv  to make different advertisements to attract more clients using catchy songs and images of the dishes that they offer. And in the Radio the radio speaker interrupt the program to announc a discount of a restaurant or any other type of advertisements.

 


We think that these different strategies are becoming famous in this sector because of the crisis situation and also because people are always in contact with this technologies and it's easier arrive to them and be informed.

STEPS FOR THE SUCCEED. 

In this post, we are going to explain from our own point of view, some advices or strategies that restaurants should take into account to succeed.

Points to succeed.

LOCATION: where they are going to establish the restaurant. Restaurants that are in main streets or crowded places will have more succes that those ones that maybe are in unknown streets. 

It's not the same a restaurant located in the centre of Barcelona, that another located in a street where nobody cross it.

PRICE- DEMAND: they have to study the people that are in the area, to establish their prices. Depending on the location of the restaurant, the prices will be lower or expensive. 

This step is very important because if your prices are very high, the customers won't enter to your restaurant, and they will prefer to stay at home, or go to a cheapest one. 

And the same happen if the people has a high level, if you open a restaurant in a high neigbourhood or in an important street, you have to adapt your prices. Because if the price is very low, maybe people could think that this restaurant have not quality enough. 

PROMOTION AND GOOD PROFESSIONALS: there are cases of good restaurants that had to close because of the low promotion, or maybe they didn't invest in promotion. For that reason, promote well your restaurant will help your business to be successful. 

You have to have also, good and polite employees. And this is very important because they are the image of the restaurant, and if only one employee is unpolite or rude, the whole restaurant will have a negative image. 

ESPECIAL OFFERS/ DISCOUNTS: To attract the people to your restaurant you have to do some especial offers or discounts. You have to ask yourself : Why clients will choose my restaurant?, and think of new ideas or offers to be different from the other ones. 

ADAPT TO THE CURRENT SITUATION: With the crisis that we have here in Spain, many restaurants had to adapt their prices to the current situation maybe reducing the prices and their costs to survive. This is also important because if your prices are very high and you don't have enough customers you won't take enough money to pay your bills and your employees and this mean, that you will have problems and maybe you have to close the  restaurant because of the lack of clients and money.  

ATTRACTIVE MENU: Although you decide to create your restaurant with a daily menu, this menu has to be attractive because people feel attracted with what they see. If the dishes that you offer are written very simply this don't attract but if you put the same dish in other words or more elaborated this change and the people wants to know what is it. 

This are some strategies that before looking for some information we decided that are quite important when you decided to open a new restaurant, and also for those people that already have their own restaurant and want to be more successful. 

Do you think that nowadays restaurants are following these different steps ?

FORUM GASTRONOMIC'13

From  24th of February to the 26th of February, you will have the opportunity to visit the " Forum Gastronomic '13 in Girona. . It's the first gastronomic congress. 

In 1999 it was created in Vic, and then they decided to move the congress to Girona. 

From 2008, this congress also is celebrated in Santiago de Compostela. 

The Congress is a way of knowing new thecnics of cooking, enjoy the ways of cooking of different chefs, sommeliers, wine experts... 

A hudge variety of chefs, experts, wine experts, patries chefs ( Carme Ruscalleda, Isma Prados...) craftmen... will take place in this Congress. 

It's a place where you can interact with different proffesionals of the gastronomic sector, exchange ideas and products, and also do different activities like for example:

• Audience sessions : a place where you can listen to different professionals talk about new ideas and ways of cooking. The entrance is free
• Culinary workshops:  different sessions with demostrations and tastings
• Active Class: especialization sessions with demostrations and tastings too.
• Kids: gastronomic workshops for children. Especially to learn how to manipulate food.
• "Ateneo": tastings, demostrations and presentations about new ideas. The different speakers would present different products and ideas. 
• Cornellà Coffe's: a palce to deliver and opine about different gastronomic topics.

 

The Fair is a place where different professionals of the sector, would have an specific place to show their products and to show other professionals and visitors new ideas and the products that they have choosen. It is also a good occasion to know new people and to stablish a professional contact. 

Many companies participate every year in this Congress. 

PRICES

* Entry: 10 € without including the different workshops, there is only included the attendance to the different presentations. 

* Culinary workshops: 20 €

* Active Class: 25 €

* Wine Forum: 20 €

* Sweet Forum : 20 €

* Kids session: 6 €

Palau de Fires de Girona

So do you think that it is a good chance for all the people who are interested in Gastronomy, to know more about this topic?

And what do you think about the Barcelona Mobile World Congress? 

We think that, although it's not related with gastronomy, it's related with tourism. Many tourists and professionals are now in Barcelona just to join this experience, and this will help a lot the gastronomic, the tourist and the Hotel sector.

VIENA, A DIFFERENT WAY TO EAT

Have you ever been in the restaurant called "Viena"? It has been created in Vallès Occidental, in 1969. The main objective of its founders was to create an alternative of this sector: quality and worthy.  The main premise was sell a good product in a pleasant and clean place with a fast service.

The slogan from this chain is “To eat well, good and fast”, this slogan identifies the values that characterize the chain since more than 40 years. 

They have a commitment for the quality which is that all of their meat and cold meat are self-produced and also the bread.

His philosophy is the Social Responsibility which is a value and it takes part of his way to do the things and how they are. They want to involve in the social way in all that would be necessary.  Talking about this they had been organized a program called “City and School” in Sabadell since 2003. It consists that the schools can go to visit its facilities. In this visits they can see their fabrication process of meats and cold meat and they explain to them some ideas from what is a quality alimentation and some nutrition bases.

But there aren’t only “sandwiches Viena” there are also two pizzeria restaurant in Sabadell with the traditional table service. 

It menu offers quality products, and their clients go to Viena and they know how to eat. The sandwiches are prepared at the moment in the cuisine of the establishment. Talking about their products, they have created types of sandwiches or innovated other ones. For example in Christmas they sold “Christmas soup”, a new variety of the Coca and more.

Another newness is the Catering Service that they offer the same products but instead of eating at the establishment they eat it with their relatives in a festivity or with your colleagues in an enterprise meetings, and so on.

In Christmas they have also did a type of strategy which was a card that the employees gave to the clients. Every time that the client goes to a Viena restaurant he had to show the card and he worker mark it. If the card was marked six times, the client took part in a raffle. The client had to go to a Viena six times before the 6^th January.

We think that Viena has quality meals and they want to innovate every time to attract more clients although they have a lot of customers those go for their products and also for their prices.

What do you think about Viena? Do you agree with their philosophy and with that they want to innovate their products? Have you been at pizzeria restaurant in Sabadell?

Explain us your experiences  in Viena.

VOSTRA VITE. ( FOOD, DRINK &CLUB)

Do you know this Restaurant? Was open 4 weeks ago more or less. It is located in La Llagosta (Barcelona). 

The founder was a young man that decided to open a restaurant to join with friends and all people that like food.

The restaurant is basically focus on Italian food, like pizzas, pasta... But it also offers a great variety of meals, like the typicall "Bravas" potatoes, Salads, Meat, Fish, and of course desserts.

All the ingredients are fresh, and the founder decided to create a friendly restaurant, thinking in all the details, the decoration, the menu... because although nowadays there are a lot of Italian restaurants, this is different. 

They wanted to create a chic place, the dishes are served with glamour, and with a good and careful presentation. It is all about modern and creative cuisine. 

But it is not only a convencional restaurant where you  go to eat something, as the name said, it is Food, Drink, & Club. The founder says that the main objective of the restaurant is to create three different atmospheres. 

The restaurant, a great variety of beverages, and a place where you can listen to music and be with friends (club). As they say this three factors are some of the pleasures of the life. 

We think that creating three different atmospheres in one single place is a good strategy, because the clients will stay more time in the restaurant maybe to drink something or to listen music, and it is going to increase the benefits. If a couple go to have dinner, and then they want to go to have a drink, in a convencional restaurant they have to go out, and find a club or a disc, but in that case, in Vostra Vite, they can do all the three thing without moving. 

There is not any similar restaurant around the area. For creating and establish a restaurant or any kind of service in a particular place, you have to study the market, and the position of the product. You also have to study the competition, and of course the demand. You have to adapt your products to the clients. 

They think very well in some strategies to maintain the loyalty of their clients, some of them are:

* Tuesdays: all the pizzas at 3 €

* Thursdays: Salsa classes, and mojito night. 

At the webpage and Facebook you will find more information about the prices and how the restaurant looks like. 

We have to say that some of our friend went and said that the food was very good and tasty, the atmosphere is wonderful and the relation price - quality too. They offer modern and tasty dishes in a chic place but with a cheap and affordable price.

Are you thinking about going there?