How do you get restaurant customers to come back?
They ate, they paid, they left. Will they come back? Every F&B shop asks this, and there are simple ways to raise the odds.
Five approaches below, cheapest first, each with the real cost and when it fits.
1. Give them a reason that only works next time
A discount gets used once and the customer is gone. You bought one transaction.
Try this instead: give them something small today (a topping, a size upgrade, RM1 to RM3 to you) and a voucher they can only use on their next visit. That second one is the reason they come back, and:
Cost: RM1 to RM3 for the first, nothing for the second unless they return
Fits: any F&B, especially above RM20 a head
2. Get their contact details
This is the foundation, and many shops skip it.
You did fifty orders today. How many of those people could you contact tomorrow? If the answer is none, you are paying to win customers again every single day.
To get a number you have to give them a reason. The three common ones:
- Scan to win: lowest friction, it feels like a game
- WiFi login: high conversion, but the numbers are often fake
- Membership sign-up: best data, but staff have to help, and during a rush they skip it
Cost: RM0 to RM300 depending on approach
Fits: every shop. With contact details, the other four become possible.
3. A short stamp card
Stamp cards have worked for decades for a reason: the boxes are visible progress, and people like to finish what they started.
They usually fail in three ways:
- The finish line is too far: ten visits before anything happens, and the nine in between give nothing
- They forget: the card is at the bottom of a wallet or in another jacket
- Staff stop stamping: during a lunch rush it gets skipped, and this is the one that ends it
If you use one, keep it to three to five visits, and put something small in the middle. Points kept on the customer's phone solve the forgotten card.
Cost: a few tens of ringgit to print, or use a digital one
Fits: high-frequency shops such as coffee, breakfast and drinks
4. Expiry reminders
The voucher went out and they forgot. This loss is the easiest to avoid.
A reminder a few days before it expires lifts redemption noticeably. Keep in mind:
Cost: around RM0.35 per message
Fits: above RM30 a head. For a RM5 order, skip the reminder
5. Google reviews
Reviews mostly bring in new people. They share the same moment as the four above: right after they have paid, when they feel best about you.
Cost: nothing, but someone has to ask
Fits: every shop, especially new ones
Which one first?
If you can only do one, do number two and get the contact details.
Everything else is built on it. With a number you can send reminders, run a membership and see who came back.
Returning-customer vouchers and points (Jom Lagi) are free for 100 customers a month. The customer scans the QR on the table, leaves a number, and gets a gift today plus a voucher for the next visit. The number goes into your customer list. Friend referral vouchers, points and birthday gifts give them more reasons to return, staff add points at the counter, and Boss shows you who to message next.
Updated · Lucco Technology