UNITED STATES PIZZA SALES

Staying Strong In 2021

1. Offer value, but watch your bottom line. Many of your customers will still be hurting for money. Fortunately, as Niko Frangas, president of Rascal House in Cleveland, Ohio, points out, pizza is already a great value in hard times. So don’t panic and start slashing your prices if things get worse again. “If you feel like you need to create value, pushing loyalty and rewards is a must and a great place to start,” Frangas says. “Find a way to reward frequency, whether it’s with punch cards, point systems or a full-on loyalty app. Get creative without discounting or cheapening what you do. There are better ways to draw customers in and increase sales without lowering your profit.”

2. Stay touch-free. Customers will still want contactless delivery in 2021, and demand for touch-free at-the-table ordering will be higher than ever, says Mary Jane Riva, CEO of Pizza Factory, a chain based in Oakhurst, California. “Touch-free is very important and will be around permanently,” she says. “We have table ordering via cell phone, so there is no interaction with the employee working the register.” investment firm UBS predicts the market will expand to a whopping $85 billion by 2030.

So just how meat-like do plant-based proteins need to taste? According to research firm Mintel, more than half of American consumers want meat alternatives to “closely mimic the taste of meat.” Fifty-two percent of diners who eat plant-based proteins choose them because of their taste, outranking concerns about health (39%), the environment (13%) and animal protection (11%).

“Flexitarians and curious consumers represent a sizable opportunity, as they are open to trying more plant-based options on menus,” Mintel noted in a blog post titled “Foodservice: 5 Ways to Stay On Top of the Plant-Based Trend.” Mintel recommends appealing to diners with “familiar and proprietary menu items [they] can’t find anywhere else. While diners are attracted to plant-based items for their perceived health benefits, they also like to indulge while dining out. Balance healthy and indulgent items, as well as manufactured and plant-forward dishes, to appeal to a spectrum of dining occasions.”

3. Use social media chatbots for digital ordering. Chatbots are automated programs that engage customers looking to place an order from a social media platform. They can answer questions, resolve complaints and even set up reservations. For his Stoner’s Pizza Joint stores, John Stetson has been using chatbots to speed up the digital ordering process and assist customers on social media. “We believe this will become the future of online ordering,” he says.

4. Simplify your menu. Many restaurant chains have slimmed down and optimized their menus for delivery and takeout. Take a good, hard look at your menu items, weed out the weaklings and keep your customers’ favorites. Scrutinize your food cost on each item and determine its profitability. Call attention to the high-profit items on your menu with photos or callouts. “Another tip is to make sure you have a good grip on your loss leaders versus valued add-ons,” says Ryan Goldhammer, co-owner of Noble Pie Parlor in Reno, Nevada. “Use this understanding of your business to put together combinations of products and packages that increase your price-per-guest and overall margins.”

5. Take it outdoors. If your city and climate allow it, outdoor dining could give your sales a shot in the arm. If it’s just too cold out, start planning now for al fresco dining in the springtime. “The No. 1 recommendation we give to clients is to add outdoor seating,” says Joshua Zinder, a managing partner at JZA+D, a Princeton, New Jersey-based restaurant design firm. “Most localities will allow pizza restaurants to expand outdoor seating into the curb lane, if requested, or add seating to sidewalks or parking areas. Now is [also] the time to add or improve your drive-through pickup areas [and] improve online ordering.”

Weathering The Storm

As tough as times have been for the restaurant industry in 2020, pizza has been a shining beacon in the darkness. But let’s face it: No one knows what’s coming next year. As this report was being prepared, COVID-19 cases were ticking upward quickly around most of the United States. As of early November, Oregon, Michigan and San Francisco had once again put a pause on indoor dining, while Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker banned dine-in service in many parts of the state, including Chicago. Many states and cities continued to limit indoor capacity and operational hours.

That means off-premise business will remain key to any restaurant’s survival, and if you’re a PMQ reader, you’ve already got that covered. You’re positioned better than your non-pizza competitors to weather the storm. Stay in touch with your customers, offer them value for their money, stick with your marketing, and give back to your community, just like you’ve been doing ever since this whole mess began (and probably long before then).

Matt Vannini, president and CEO of consulting firm Restaurant Solutions in Denver, put things into perspective nicely in a September article he penned for PMQ.com. “The only experience similar to the pandemic that any restaurateurs have ever had is when they were opening for the first time,” he wrote. “That was the last time where the operator had no sales and cost history, no brand awareness and no consumer base. Restaurant operators need to believe that their past experiences and obstacles within the industry have prepared them to overcome whatever the pandemic can throw at them.”

In other words: You’ve got this.