Breakfast sales have plummeted since the pandemic began — an unfortunate side effect as most people aren’t commuting to an office right now.
If you’re a local bakery, donut shop or breakfast spot, here are 6 ways to capture back the morning rush.
1) Can you create a drive-thru? PA-based convenience chain Wawa is designing their first drive-thru lane for a December debut. Even Shake Shack is proposing pickup lanes, à la Chipotle’s mobile-friendly Chitpotlanes. Good news is that yours doesn’t have to be fancy. Stand up a makeshift drive-thru lane with tents, create a walk-up window, or even sell your menu items to a popular restaurant who has an established setup.
2) Can you switch your hours? Many daytime restaurants have shifted to limited hours or even weekend-only hours. But how about transforming your donut and breakfast taco menu into a late-night cravings spot?
3) Can you launch non-traditional breakfast items? Wendy’s morning menu is getting tons of buzz with items like the Breakfast Baconator and Frosty-ccino. Show us your crazy creations!
4) Can you rethink where and how your food is being sold? Consider the fact that cereal sales are booming as more people are eating breakfast at home (+11.8% YoY, according to Nielsen). With that in mind, Dunkin’ is collaborating with Post Cereals to create coffee inspired cereals in the grocery store. You don’t need a huge ad budget or ability to manufacture cereal to pull this off; start by selling your pastries or bagels to a local grocery chain.
5) Can you bring breakfast straight to the consumer? If you don’t have an efficient delivery system in place, you’re leaving money on the table right now. I’m talking in-house delivery, folks. And guess what? This applies to traditional 1:1 delivery or even catered orders to boost the morale of remote workers and family celebrations. More on catering during COVID here.
6) Can you create a subscription plan? Panera Bread launched an unlimited coffee subscription plan for $9/month in February 2020. Not only does it encourage customers to register for the MyPanera loyalty program and download the mobile app, it acts as a source of recurring revenue for Panera. You don’t need a fancy budget to run this type of program for your local restaurant. See Tartalicious Bakery’s BreadEx home delivery for a scrappy, yet effective program.
The takeaway with breakfast? Get inspired by fast food chains, then make it yours. Now is the time to experiment with your business model and offerings.
