How to Drive Repeat Visits to Your UK Restaurant

While you may find it easy to get customers into your restaurant for an initial visit, getting a stream of regulars to visit multiple times is likely to be more of a challenge.

According to research by Userpilot, the hospitality industry has the lowest customer retention rate out of all industries, with an average of 55%. But increasing customer loyalty and building a loyal customer base is essential to ensuring that your restaurant’s profitability increases and your restaurant remains competitive with other businesses in your neighbourhood.

If you're wondering how to cement your restaurant as a fixture in your community by increasing repeat customers, here are nine suggestions for how you could do it.

1. Promote exceptional customer service

We often remember negative experiences more vividly than positive ones. And the same can be said for restaurant experiences. That's why every member of your front-of-house staff, from your hosts to your servers and counter attendants must offer the best service they can to customers.

For inspiration, watch American restaurateur, entrepreneur, and author Will Guidara talk about how he wowed guests at New York's Eleven Madison Park:

In every day terms, great service might mean training your staff to anticipate customers’ needs before they've asked by refilling a water glass, attending to customers promptly when they're ready to order, and ensuring that your customers receive their food in a timely manner.

It also means finding a quick solution when something goes wrong. If guests experience delays or mix up's with their order, to smooth things over, you could provide reimbursement, offer an appetiser or dessert on-the-house, or give a discount on a future visit to your restaurant.

2. Hire the right front-of-house staff

Having outgoing, passionate people in your front-of-house is crucial to ensuring that customers are engaged and having a good time. Encourage your team build relationships with customers by asking questions and showing genuine interest in them.

When training and onboarding your staff, encourage them to remember customers’ names and their regular orders. Taking special note of birthdays, anniversaries, and other occasions is beneficial as well; it could be as simple as offering a complimentary dessert or training servers to let the kitchen know to write “Happy Birthday” or “Happy Anniversary” when plating a dessert.

3. Implement a restaurant loyalty programme

84% of consumers are more likely to stick with a brand that offers a loyalty programme. And it makes perfect sense - rewards drive positive feelings and build customer loyalty according to the Harvard Business Review.

So, a restaurant loyalty programme is a great way to reward customers for returning to your restaurant. You could offer customers digital stamp cards which promise vouchers or freebies in return for repeat custom. Other potential rewards could include a free appetiser or dessert, or a percentage off after a certain number of orders. A digitised points program where customers can collect points for each visit is another option.

4. Utilise social media

Social media is an integral restaurant marketing tool. While promoting your restaurant through social media can help new people find your restaurant, create buzz around your brand and remind existing customers what you have to offer. 

Having a social media presence, such as through Instagram, TikTok or Facebook, can allow you to engage and create relationships with customers online. Consider posting photos of new dishes or cocktails, or promoting your venue and menu offering with the help of short-form video.

Image source: Fonda Instagram

5. Make sure your business hours are accurate

It might seem like a minor detail, but there's nothing disappointing than rocking up to your favourite restaurant and finding it's unexpectedly closed.

So, making sure that your business hours are accurately listed in online forums like Google and Facebook is key. Ensure this information also matches the details on your restaurants' website. And, if there are any unforeseen circumstances that result in your restaurant having to close on a given day or evening, communicate this to guests clearly via email or social media to avoid frustration.

6. Use email for guest engagement

Creating an email list containing customer email addresses will allow you to keep in touch with them long after they've visited your restaurant.

Use email lists to encourage guest engagement and repeat visits by:

• Targeting lapsed customers: If a customer hasn’t returned to your restaurant for a while, you can send out emails to tell the you miss them. These emails can include updates on your restaurant, information about special events or coupons for money off of their next meal.

• Providing personalised special offers: If you keep records of potential customers’ birthday's or other anniversaries, you can make them feel like VIP's by emailing them with special offers to celebrate personal occasions at your restaurant.

• Sending out a newsletter: Sending out a monthly newsletter to customers via email is an excellent way to communicate new menu items, ticketed events you will be holding, or features on staff members like your sommelier, kitchen staff, or front-of-house staff.

• Promote deals for specific days of the week: Holding a wing night? Email previous customers with a link to make a reservation and a personalised special offer.

Creating emails or newsletters can take some time to create, so you might want to enlist the help of AI applications like Chat GPT to help you along the way.

Bare in mind there are also email marketing tools for restaurants that can quickly help you set up campaigns and generate sales.

7. Curate a diverse menu

Diversifying your menu to include local or seasonal ingredients or collaborations with other chefs, brands or restaurants will excite guests to return to your restaurant.

Get some inspiration from Yardsale Pizza in London, who regularly collaborate with local brands and restaurants, as well as creating hype through promotion on social media:

Image source: Yardsale Instagram

To get started, consider your restaurants unique selling point and how you could use this to jump on any food trends that people are raving about on social media and begin reaching out to any brands that you might want to work with.

8. Allow customers to order online for pickup or delivery

According to Toast consumer research, over 50% of consumers in the UK dine out or order delivery food at least once a week. So, increasing the ways customers can order food at your restaurant is a sure-fire way to entice people to visit or order from your restaurant more often.

While many guests love to dine in a beautiful venue as a means of getting out of the house, some customers may find it more convenient to order food to be delivered to their home or for them to pick up on their way home from work.

For that reason, you should invest in a quality online ordering system to ensure that customers can order food easily and schedule their time for pickup or delivery. Online ordering systems like Toast even integrate with your restaurants POS. You may decide that you would like to hire your own delivery staff or partner with your local food delivery services deliver food to customers’ homes.

9. Put on special events or entertainment

Turn your restaurant into a multi-dimensional space by hosting events or entertainment like live music, standup comedy, or poetry nights.

Try honing in on what makes your restaurant unique and channelling that into elevating guests' experiences. Think putting on a multi-course tasting menu featuring guest chefs, or holding themed wine tasting events that feature unique products and produce from around the world.

Wrapping up

While these customer retention strategies for restaurants aren’t all one size fits all, there are some you will undoubtedly find that a few will work well for you as part of your marketing strategy.

Whether you choose to promote your restaurant through social media, diversify your menu, provide discounts and offers to customers, create a loyalty programme, or schedule special events or entertainment, these strategies will be a significant step towards your goal of turning one-time visitors into repeat customers.