Whether you recently opened up a new restaurant or a bakery, or you already own one, surely you’ve been wondering about the ways to attract potential customers to your storefront. Storefronts play a big role in the success or failure of any type of shop. It does not matter what you are selling or how good you are at it, if there are no customers around. To bring those customers around and to keep them around, you have to constantly move things around, make adjustments and maintain the ambiance of the place. Storefronts are like the headlines of a news article; If the reader does not find it intriguing, they’re not going to read any further! So without further ado, let’s dive right into the ways to attract potential customers to your storefront.

1. The Aroma Is A Loyal Friend

We live in a world where everyone has their eyes stuck to screens. People are too busy capturing photos and they rarely pay attention to the things around them. Don’t you worry, humans have five sensory organs and we can at least attract one of them; if not all! Who can resist the smell of freshly baked bread?! So use it to your advantage.

2. If It’s On The Charts, It Better Be On Your Tabs!

Food is an industry of constant change, and trends are on the top of that list of changes! While some trends last for a little too short, some last for a little too long; and besides that, there’s always room for throwbacks! Keep up with the latest trends on social media and in other food places to get a clearer idea of what the market demands.

3. Sometimes, First Impressions Matter The Most

The entrance of your bakery is your first chance to capture the eye of a customer. Keep changing and spicing up your entrance and your visitors will be always intrigued. You must have seen that many cafes and restaurants have chalkboards placed near their entrance or near the walkway. You can use these to lure customers inside in a number of ways. You can write clever messages, tips or write riddles on these and offer discounts to customers if they solve those riddles. This will surely help with bringing in customers as well as keep things interesting for them.

4. Be Social on Social Media

Social media can be a real blessing to your business if only you figure out how to use it to your advantage. Being active on social media, arranging give-aways, offering limited edition custom orders, opening up email lists are just some of the many ways you can use social media to drive crowds to your business or your website. Be social on social media, listen to your followers’ demands, keep in touch with your customers, put on polls and stories about your daily specials, study the market carefully, and you will see your business blooming in no time!

Related: Your Social Media Strategy Guide For Your Confectionery Business

5. It’s Always Better When It’s Free!

People love getting free samples. Celebrity brands have their own PR lists for the same reason! There are a number of ways to go around this one. You can either arrange a free sample stall in your locality, offer free samples online through giveaways, for example, to enter the giveaway, you can ask your followers to comment on your latest posts, post their own photos taken at your bakery, tag you in their posts about your products and so on.

6. Loyalty Is The Best Policy

To spice things up further, you can offer your own Loyalty Programmes to your regular customers and spoil them with ‘first impressions’ of your new products and free samples of the same. This will bring you further closer to your customers as well as give you a healthy and rich feedback on your products before you decide to start selling them as a regular menu item.

7. The Glorified Use Of Displays!

Everyone loves visuals. Use screens to capture the eyes of the customer. You can invest in a good LED display screen or you can invest in making promo videos or recipe videos and promote them through social media. It’s all up to you.

8. Google Is The New Way Through

First things first, you have to register your business on Google My Business page. If your location is not listed online, then how else will people find you? People often search for things like ‘Restaurants near me’ and it’s the easiest way possible to reach any shop or business you’d like to. So go get yourself on there right away.

9. Start Selling Online

This has become more of a requirement than an advice now. The outlook of many businesses as well as customers has been influenced by the pandemic. Home deliveries and takeout has become the most comfortable way for the customers to enjoy their favourite meals. Having a good website for your business is a necessity so invest in one today. Provide your customers with opportunities to get attractive discounts and special offers and they will shower you with love (and $$$) in return.

10. Keep Your Customers Closer

People love to feel included. Whether it’s about a new product or a new event, if you use your social platforms to keep your customers included in the process, they’ll definitely love it. You can do this in a number of ways, add stories to feature your new or upcoming recipes, organize events online and make invitation cards that will be sent to your users either via direct messages, group chats or an email list. It’ll keep them updated and intrigued at the same time!

11. Host All Kinds Of Events

Whether it’s a birthday party or a community event, events always get people talking. Outdoor events work best, but if it isn’t feasible, you can always host events online and use your website and other social media platforms to promote these.

We hope you liked our tips on how to attract potential customers to your storefront. You’ve got a lot of work cut out for you, so get down to it and charm them all!

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