15 Takeaway Promotion Ideas to Grow Your Online Sales Immediately

Selling food online can feel overwhelming for restaurateurs who have always relied on their in-restaurant sales. However, once you set up online ordering for your restaurant, you’ll see that promoting it isn’t that hard. The takeaway promotion ideas below will teach you how to spread the news about your food delivery service and motivate people to place their first order ASAP.

The Best Way to Promote Restaurant Takeout & Delivery: 15 Takeaway Promotion Ideas

In this article, you will find both irresistible ideas for takeaway promotions and tips on what platforms to promote them to reach a bigger audience. Get inspired:

1. Happy hour takeaway specials

Happy hour promotions for takeaway have grown to be an appealing trend that brings joy to food customers by indulging in their favorite beverages and bites while lounging in their own space.

These restaurant promotions enable customers to enjoy the enticing deals and discounts that are customarily connected with the after-work social ritual, bringing the atmosphere of the happy hour right to their homes.

Takeaway happy hour promotions offer the ideal option for people to relax and enhance their at-home dining experience, whether it’s a delicious assortment of meals, craft beers, or refreshing cocktails.

Happy hour becomes a memorable and accessible experience thanks to this creative approach. This method serves individuals who prefer the comforts of their homes but also encourages a sense of celebration in a more intimate setting.

Read more: 10 Happy Hour Promotion Ideas for Restaurants to Boost Sales

2. Family-friendly meal kits

There’s only so much takeout you can eat before it starts getting repetitive. You can put a spin on that by selling meal kits. You package the ingredients, write down the instructions, and customers have to put it together.

This is an excellent option for families because meal kits are more affordable than regular takeout. Plus, it’s a brand-new activity they can do as a family: put together a delicious, restaurant-quality meal without leaving their house.

 

3. To-go cocktails

If you can pretty much order anything you want at home when it comes to food, people are starting to miss going out for a drink more and more. As a response to that, some countries have begun allowing alcohol delivery.

If your local regulations allow it, start selling to-go cocktails and other alcoholic beverages. They will instantly boost your online sales, and you have another chance to be creative. Brainstorm beverage takeaway promotion ideas like DIY Bloody Mary Kit, Mason Jar Long Island Mix, or your most popular cocktails in a bottle.

Read more: Restaurant Drink Menu Ideas to Increase Your Beverage Sales

4. Food and drink subscriptions

This is still a new thing for restaurants, but it can be just the thing to pull you out of anonymity if you do it before it becomes popular. Takeaway ideas like these are bound to explode in the future. Give it a shot: offer a subscription that customers can sign up for to get their meals delivered daily at a time of their choice.

You can do the same with drinks or even pair them up. Every time a customer subscribes, recommend they also add the beverage subscription at a discount. Then, send them a drink each day that pairs well with their food order.

5. Hashtag-based promos for social media

The best food promotion ideas for social media often include a hashtag, especially on Instagram and Twitter. There are hashtags exclusive to a brand, but there are also hashtags that circulate nationwide like #TakeoutTuesday or #TheGreatAmericanTakeout. Jump on the bandwagon and use these in your posts to get more engagement and orders.

When you post on social media using these hashtags, tag your city or region so people around your restaurant can see the post.

Read more: How to Attract More Customers to Your Restaurant Using Social Media

6. Frozen/refrigerated heat-and-eat meals

Restaurant takeout menus don’t have to be the same as in-restaurant menus. If you want to add more dishes to your takeout ideas, consider heat-and-eat meals that you can freeze or refrigerate for mass distribution. Unlike more pretentious dishes, they will travel well, which is why they’re great for restaurant takeaway.

7. Email-exclusive offers

Email marketing is one of those restaurant promotions that work regardless of time and place. It’s a simple way to keep in touch with your customers and inform them of discounts and special offers. Implementing it won’t break your budget, and it’s guaranteed to boost your online orders.

With the Autopilot module from GloriaFood, you can easily include email in your takeaway marketing strategy. Hungry clients won’t be able to resist the attractive offers delivered to their inbox.

You just need a few free minutes to set any of these campaigns:

• Encourage second order: to get more loyal customers;
• Re-engage clients: to remind busy clients of the delicious food you serve at your restaurant;
• Cart abandonment: don’t let distracted clients forget about their order, remind them with an email.

To learn how to set it up, watch this step-by-step tutorial:

8. Discounts available only to app users

Having a branded mobile app can set your restaurant apart from the competition. The app will carry your imprint, from brand logo to colors. In addition, customers prefer apps over ordering on a website because the process is more intuitive and convenient.

One way to motivate them to install your app is to offer regular food promotions only available in-app. Once they install it and order once, they’ll keep an eye out for more promos in the future.

9. Higher discounts on low-traffic days

Offering food delivery promotions and takeout deals is excellent. Still, you can’t be doing too much of that either, lest you wake up losing money instead of increasing your revenue. A good way to balance that is to offer your highest discounts on days that are particularly quiet to attract more customers.

10. Online contests and giveaways

Some of the best promotional ideas for restaurants are contests and giveaways. They reward customers while increasing your engagement and, ultimately, food orders. The simplest way to go about this is to include a couple of must-dos to qualify for the giveaway/contest that will give your social media presence a boost.

For example, you can ask for a follow on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, a like to the post, or a comment tagging some friends so that the post reaches more people. The prizes can be unique food delivery offers, gift cards, or an online food order discount.

Read more: 20 Restaurant Contest Ideas That Will Delight Your Customers

11. Ads that target locals

Most takeaway promotion ideas are either free or with minimal costs. However, you can also put some money into ads that target the local community.

For instance, you can run a Facebook ad that includes a call to action redirecting customers to the online ordering page on your website. That way, you boost traffic to your website and bring users one click away from placing a food order.

Read more: 10 Facebook Ad Targeting Tips to Boost Restaurant Conversions

Moreover, you can also spread flyers in your area with takeaway promo codes. Hungry customers will be tempted to take advantage of the offer, especially if you use mouth-watering images in the menu.

12. Free menu item for orders to go

Another excellent strategy to encourage people to order takeaway is to offer a complimentary menu item. This strategy increases consumer appreciation and fosters positive word-of-mouth marketing for your business.

By rewarding customers who order takeout with slow-moving items, you may further minimize waste and make your establishment more eco-friendly.
For example, if a dish that was prepared for lunch does not sell out, you might give it away or charge a lower price to clients who are taking their supper to go.

Read more: 12 Restaurant Newsletter Ideas That Will Convert & Engage

13. Themed evenings

Promoting restaurants is much easier now than ever. Social media is a great tool to promote events and special themed evenings without paying a dime. Now that most events are held online, brainstorm some ideas for takeout and delivery specials with a theme.

It will be just like you’re organizing a themed evening at your restaurant. Some great takeout ideas are Couples’ Night In, Family Movie Night, or Singles’ Sunday Funday. Create themed offers for each, like two-for-one pizza, 4-person meal bundles, and a free drink with any order.

Read more: 15 Restaurant Event Ideas to Get Customers Through the Door

14. Advertise takeaway promotions on your website

If you have an SEO-optimized website, your potential clients will easily find it when they search for your type of cuisine in your area. Once they click on it, they will be tempted by your irresistible offers and have no other choice but to order.

If you want to get a sales optimized website that turns visitors into clients, check our intuitive restaurant website builder that only takes ten minutes out of your time:

15. Reward loyal customers with promotions

If you want to use takeaway advertising to increase the number of loyal clients, consider rewarding customers when they make a set number of orders or when they spend a certain amount of money.

You can do this in seconds with the Promotions module from GloriaFood. For example, you can give a free dessert for a customer that placed his third order. Or you can offer 30% discount on the next orders for clients who spent $200 at your restaurant.

Read more: How to Increase Customer Loyalty in a Restaurant

Conclusion

If your goal is to increase takeout and delivery sales, we hope these takeaway promotion ideas have given you the inspiration you needed. The good news about ordering food online is that promotion also happens online, so it’s virtually free. With a little bit of creativity, you can capture customers’ attention and secure their loyalty.