Restaurant owners have been facinga sales decline and a cash register receipt decline since thebeginning of this year, while small entrepreneurs in the sector sawtheir revenues plummet by as much as 50% against 2008. What is thesolution? As many special offers as possible, adapted to thecurrent context, and targeting a turnover rise, even at the expenseof profit margins.
Customers are ordering less foodwhen they go out, and tend to go as cheap as possible. Restaurantshave acknowledged that, and have launched promotions more visiblethan ever on every table, and on companies' websites. From menusthat include two courses and a dessert, all for 19.9 RON, to thecrisis menu, which includes a small amount of cheap food for 9.9RON, and to the "cheap menu", which costs 12 RON, all are meant toattract new consumers or to persuade already "loyal" ones toallocate a portion of their budget to eating out.
The Pizza Hut chain, managed underfranchise by American Restaurant System, is the latest to launch apromotion in Bucharest - "All You Can Eat", which is rather unusualfor Romanians, but very familiar to the US market and to theWestern European market:
Under the slogan "Eat all you canfor 19.9 RON", customers can order as many pizzas as they want, andtheir glass of juice can be refilled without paying additionalmoney.
'We launched this promotion inorder to boost our number of evening customers. The menu was firstintroduced in Pizza Hut restaurants in Cluj-Napoca and Iasi in Julybut, seeing that this menu's sales accounted for half thetransactions recorded between 6 PM and 9 PM, and that it broughtabout an up to 30% turnover increase, we have extended the offer,"said representatives of Pizza Hut, which posted 10 million euros inturnover in 2008, via 13 locations, six of which are inBucharest.
The City Grill group, controlled by Dragos Petrescu throughTrotter Prim, which ended 2008 with over 15 million euros inturnover, has introduced around 15 promotional offers in its CityGrill, Caru' cu Bere and Buongiorno restaurants.
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