Eastern City BID’s Post

Bigs new coming out today with McDonald's looking at their costing following on from a drop in sales.... 🍔 It's not often we see a major cooperation like McDonald's seriously consider reducing their prices however I see this as a real reflection of the cost of living crisis. What was once seen as an affordable meal/treat has now become a relatively expensive luxury. This might be a sign of things to come with other major brands in the world looking to reduce their costings to bring back loyal customers. Maybe it's time we saw more this and allow the major cooperations to reduce their annual profits. What do you think? https://lnkd.in/e6m2wRds #mcdonalds #pricedrop

10 Top Tips For Maximising Your Breakfast To-Go Sales In the competitive world of convenience retail, breakfast to-go has become a significant revenue stream for many retailers. Whether you run a community based convenience store or a busy forecourt site, here are our 10 tips to help you maximise your breakfast to-go sales. https://lnkd.in/evNnapxD

💡 Important insight for hospitality businesses. As nearly 90% of transactions are now cashless, the cost of merchant fees is a growing challenge for small businesses. With profit margins as slim as 4-5%, payment surcharges have become a necessary part of maintaining transparency and keeping menu prices competitive. The Australian Restaurant & Café Association (ARCA) is standing by small businesses on this crucial issue. As Wes Lambert points out, if surcharges are removed, businesses may be forced to raise prices, further fuelling inflation. Supporting organisations like ARCA ensures that the hospitality industry has a voice in critical discussions that impact sustainability. With solutions like VenueSmart’s automatic and full compliant surcharge option, businesses can tackle these rising costs head-on. #ARCA #SupportSmallBusiness #MerchantFees #PaymentSurcharge #HospitalityIndustry #Restaurant #Cafe hashtag#Mikesviews ‐------------------   “Hi, I’m Mike! I’m here to help YOUR BUSINESS reduce merchant fees and explore innovative payment solutions.    If you liked 👍 this post and would like to see more...    Ring the bell 🔔 at the top of my profile and stay ahead of the curve with expert insights and solutions tailored to your business

Last year the weather didn’t quite behave as we’d hoped across the first bank holiday weekend in May, but thankfully the trade still saw an uplift in sales across the board. The question is are we going to see a repeat of this in 2024? Our first May bank holiday weekend of 2023 saw drinkers consume 54.1 million pints of draught beer and cider across the UK, which was an increase of +8.5% versus 2022.  In individual pub terms, that equated to an extra +112 pints sold per pub versus the same period in 2022 and, most importantly £504 extra in the till. Even more significantly, the weekend sales were up +4% versus 2019, which demonstrated a strong sign of recovery for the hospitality sector, even with the limitations of the rising bills in the Cost of Living crisis. Saturday was the biggest day of the weekend for sales with each pub selling an average of 449 pints of draught beer and cider. Across the entire weekend, the average pub served 1,430 pints of Draught Beer & Cider, helped by a little bit of sunshine here and there, and these sales equated to a £6,435 income generator. This year, the weather is forecast to be better in places so there is real hope of some pub garden action for the On Trade, particularly with Saturday ending off the championship with the final decider at lunchtime. The media is bombarding us with hope for some decent weather and barbecues are being dusted down across the country in the hope that those pesky April showers are well and truly gone! Still, we can take hope from the On Trade’s performance a year ago when the weather certainly didn’t deliver – but thankfully, sales in the UK hospitality industry still managed to do so! Let’s watch this space….. Sign up to receive our post-bank holiday report: https://bit.ly/3ZQV4QL #ontrade #pub #hospitality #beernews #analysis #bankholiday #marketwatch #draughtbeer #report #oxfordpartnership #teamoxford

🍔 A tale of two burgers? 🍔 -𝗕𝘂𝗿𝗴𝗲𝗿 𝗞𝗶𝗻𝗴, which is in the middle of a turnaround, posted same-store sales that were better than expected. The chain also announced $300 million to accelerate renovations, which are part of a project to win diners back with spruced up restaurants and better customer service (crew has to offer everyone a crown 👑 -- no exceptions!) Read more here: https://lnkd.in/eb5F8X2X -Meanwhile, 𝗠𝗰𝗗𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹𝗱'𝘀 posted results that fell short of analyst expectations. Executives said the war in the Middle East hurt results, and they've previously said that lower-income consumers -- an important consumer base -- are pulling back. To be sure, Burger King is rising from a low base after many quarters of disappointing results, while McDonald's is declining from a high base after outperforming its peers for a while. We'll keep tracking both companies' fortunes. https://lnkd.in/ebqr8jPb

When we ask private clubs about profitability in their F&B operation, we often get a chuckle on the opposite side of the desk. "Sunk cost", "necessary expense", "required amenity" are common replies. Roster your private club with ClubBuy and we can bring your food cost down and balance your P&L.

“40% of the industry-wide transaction loss was recouped by Upside transactions.” It’s getting more expensive to run a restaurant, and many operators raised prices to cover rising operating costs. But there’s a tricky balance between covering those costs and pushing customers away. For full-service restaurants, price increases have led to a 4.3% year-over-year decrease in foot traffic, which translated to about $110 less every day. We’ve helped restaurants drive new business through their doors without touching their operating costs. The average restaurant on the Upside platform sees an additional 30 transactions per month. Those 30 new transactions make up about 40% of the decrease in average monthly transactions — no additional effort from the business owner required. Read more: https://bit.ly/3QYhL3x #restaurant #franchise

Is it dynamic pricing? A Mitchells & Butlers pub has come under scrutiny for its pricing practices after 10pm. While the article associates this as "a form of dynamic pricing," I disagree. Dynamic pricing is a strategy where prices fluctuate in real-time based on factors like demand, supply, competitor pricing, customer behaviour, and market conditions. This approach allows businesses to adjust prices dynamically to optimize revenue, enhance competitiveness, or efficiently balance demand and supply. However, adjusting prices solely based on cost increases is not dynamic pricing. The reality is that restaurants continue to face significant challenges as operational costs rise—challenges that will intensify with upcoming budget measures. Given that many restaurants operate on thin profit margins, they have limited options to stay profitable. Getting the pricing strategy right is crucial for a brand’s survival. This raises a question: would a flat service charge or a late-night surcharge be more transparent and manageable for customers than a +25% increase in item prices? The article underscores the need for restaurant brands to communicate clearly with customers and the media about their pricing practices. Customers should not be misled into thinking that price changes are due to "surge" or "dynamic pricing," especially when these terms carry associations that can confuse the public. While the article does acknowledge that higher costs lead to higher prices, associating this with dynamic pricing misrepresents the issue and could harm industry perceptions #pricing #restaurantpricing #pubs #peasonhamgroup

Easter drove some cheer for the UK hospitality industry, finishing the first quarter of the year on a positive note. For the latest four-week period to 31st March (Week 14), volumes grew +2.4% vs. the same period last year, as consumers celebrated an earlier Easter than 2023 as well as the Six Nations, and a multitude of big Football fixtures. Over the Easter break, Suburban outlets alone saw sales grow by +7.2% in Week 14. And that’s not all the good news! Outlet closures slowed in the 4 weeks to only 0.1% compared to  -2.4% in February. Market Watch Snapshot provides a monthly top-level view of pub, bar and restaurant performance in the UK. The data is drawn from Oxford’s Market Watch, Vianet Group PLC Draught Volume Data Pool, and Barclays UK Debit and Credit Transactional Data. Download the full March report: https://bit.ly/3JuG04B #ontrade #pubs #beernews #hospitalityindustry #hospitality #marketwatch #trends #analysis #vianet #barclaysuk #teamoxford

Premier Inn owner Whitbread PLC (LSE:WTB) said it would be cutting 1,500 jobs and shutting sites as part of an overhaul of its food and drinks business. Sales and profits at the hospitality group jumped by double digits year-on-year in the 2024 financial; however, its pubs and eateries business, which includes chains like Brewers Fayre and Beefeater, has been struggling. Revenues from the group’s UK food and beverage division dropped 2% year-on-year in the first weeks of the new financial year, largely caused by “softer trading in a number of our branded restaurants”. Therefore, the company announced its “accelerated growth plan” – a turnaround strategy which will see 126 lower-returning restaurants closed while converting an extra 112 into new hotel rooms. Some 21 restaurant sites have already been earmarked for sale for £28 million. Whitbread expects its actions will lead to pre-tax profits rising by as... More at #Proactive #ProactiveInvestors http://ow.ly/CnzR105rhGW