A Brief Guide to Running A Food Court
A unique and successful food court located in a retail shopping centre can prove to be an authentic factor for attracting shoppers and customers. A retail food court typically sustains the interest of customers in the shopping mall and prolongs the time for their visit. It also attracts customers for repeat visits. All this enhances the potential for sales in the retail space.
Retail Booster
The food court becomes a magnet for customers shopping in the mall. It is natural that a well-located and well-structured food court will deliver significant help for the growth and success of the retail property. Location is key for scouting commercial space for sale in order to run a food court.
Formula for Retail Tenants
The following formulas and tips will help you create a successful retail food court located in your shopping mall.
Branding of shopping centre
The question is- what is the branding of your shopping centre? The image of the food court must complement the overall branding of the shopping mall. For instance, if your mall is known as ‘Plaza on the beach’, then the promotional material, signage and design of the food court should reflect the ‘beach’ theme. All aspects of the food court must be consistent with the total brand.
Choose anchor tenants
It is good to have one or two anchor tenants in the food court. These tenants are either big in size or feature attractive food offerings. They serve as pivot points to attract customers. Mostly, they will be franchises of popular food brands. You can then set up other tenants in the food court linked to the anchor tenants.
Attraction of foot traffic
Try to make sure that the location of the food court is in a busy location for foot traffic. Usually, the food court will be central to the retail property but may also feature outdoor access for prolonged or out-of-hours trading.
Standard terms of lease
Especially in situations where you are negotiating fresh leases with food tenants, you must consider the duration of the lease as well as any options that are part of the leasing process. For instance, you might not like the situation in which all leases will expire simultaneously in a single food court. This may impact the cash flow of the food court and the overall performance of the property.
Operational hours
The operational hours of the property must be set in such a way that food court tenants must have a distinctive set of hours to trade. The trading window can then be included in the working hours of the mall.
Marketing plan
The food court must have a marketing plan. This marketing plan can differ from that of the mall and be staged separately in a timeline all through the year. The food court could include location-based and seasonal promotions. It could also be part of the tourism focus in an area.
Branding and signage
It is wise to establish rules for branding and signage for the zone of the food court to ensure that all tenants stick to a common formula. When this happens, the food court can consolidate its attractiveness to customers as well as its overall image for attracting investors for the food court for sale.
Tips To Increase Profitability
Raising prices is the typical way to boost profits. However, this can reduce customer satisfaction. So, one can go in for other options like:
Discounts and promotions for a limited time
A good way to boost sales and footfall is to run limited-time discounts or promotions. For example, running a discount on certain meals or combos with a price-sensitive nature can help attract customers. Food courts can also collaborate with nearby shops and theatres by offering discounts after shopping or watching a movie. This helps improve footfall at the food court, leading to more sales.
Optimization of menu
The profitability of a food court can be much impacted by the quality and variety of dishes and food items they offer. To improve sales, the food court can conduct an analysis of data to know which dishes are liked by customers. Then, the food court can optimize the menu items by introducing more popular dishes and reducing the less popular items. It can also include deals for cheap combo offers of items in place of expensive separate items.
An effective strategy for marketing
To attract and retain customers, it is vital to create a good marketing strategy. The food court can exploit social media platforms such as Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook to promote its food items. It can showcase attractive videos and pictures of its menu items along with testimonials from former customers. It can also launch SMS and E-mail campaigns and promote its dishes to customers for repeat purchases.
In sum, the above tips and factors will aid you in creating and running a thriving food court in a retail shopping centre. Take care that the food court is located in an ideal place so as to boost footfall for the entire shopping centre.