How to increase average spend per person on Mother's Day

Last year we gained access to Sevenrooms' Industry Trends Report which revealed some powerful insights on customer spend behaviour. One of those insights, which is really interesting, was that diners who pre-paid for a menu, ended up spending way more overall, because they would then buy even more on the day.

Apparently, and I'm quoting my female team members here, this is obvious girl math. Because when you pre-pay for something, it doesn't count. It gets forgotten. On the day of the event, you have fresh budget to spend again - even though it's for the same event.

It's almost as if customers have 2 budgets. Having booked and paid for a $75pp set menu 4 weeks ago, now means they have this week's budget to splurge on Champagne. Girl math. 

How does this translate to Mother's Day?

Option 1 - Traditional model example

$100pp for 3 course set menu includes:

Upsells (snacks, oysters etc)

Drink on arrival (you know, for "value")

Dessert

Pay on the day

No room for further upsells because everything's already included.

Option 2 - Split payment example

$75pp for 2 course set menu - paid in advance

Then, on the day:

+ $8 oysters

+ $9 snacks

+ $14 menu item upgrade

+ $18 desserts

+ $22 drinks

Restaurants can drive much higher average spends by splitting out the offer to an upfront component, then upsells and more options to be sold on the day.

And, from a marketing perspective, it's also much easier to get bookings at $75pp rather than $100pp, even though the more expensive menu is better 'value for money'.