Offers for slow hours

Every restaurant has hours that are busy and hours that are not. Staff, rent and electricity cost the same in both. A well-aimed offer can turn a quiet stretch into a steady one, but a careless one simply trains customers to wait for discounts. Here is a way to think about it.

Find the quiet hours first

Before you create anything, look at your own numbers. The Analytics and Daily sales screens show what sold and when. You are looking for the same pattern repeating: a dead hour after lunch, a slow Tuesday, a flat stretch late in the evening.

Snapitto's offers module also shows a daily suggestion, built from the outlet's last 28 days of orders. It looks for things like your quietest weekday, a slow weekend, or a new outlet that needs a push, and rotates one idea per day. Treat it as a prompt, not an instruction.

Six offers to consider

1. A time-window percent discount. Ten to fifteen percent, on weekdays between lunch and dinner. The time window keeps it from leaking into busy hours.
2. A minimum order. Require a minimum amount so the offer lifts the bill, not just lowers it.
3. Items together. Offer a flat discount when a particular starter and drink are ordered together. It nudges customers toward combinations that are easy for the kitchen.
4. Buy X get Y. Buy two of an item and get a third at a percentage off. The till discounts the cheapest qualifying units first, which keeps the reward predictable.
5. Repeat-customer offers. Aim an offer at returning customers with a minimum number of past orders to reward loyalty.
6. New-customer offers. The opposite: a welcome offer for first orders, useful at a new outlet.

Protect your margin

• Know your limit. Work out the largest discount your dishes can carry before the order loses money. Stay under it.
• Prefer conditions to blanket discounts. A time window, a minimum and an outlet restriction all narrow who gets the offer.
• Remember the rules built into the till. Only one offer applies per order, and a discount is capped at the value of the items. A cashier cannot accidentally stack several promotions or discount below zero.

Make it easy for the cashier

The Offers panel on an order lists which offers qualify and explains why others do not. For combos and buy X get Y offers it shows an Almost there section with one-tap buttons for the items still needed. That turns a missed promotion into a friendly suggestion at the counter: "add one more starter and you get the combo price."

Measure, then keep or drop

Give each offer a fair test of one or two weeks.

• Did orders increase in the target window?
• Did the average bill hold up?
• Did repeat orders rise?

If it worked, keep it. If it only discounted customers who would have come anyway, end it. Offers can have an end time, so you can run a limited trial and let it expire on its own.

Keep the message simple

A discount nobody understands does not get used. Name it plainly, such as "Weekday afternoon 15% off", and tell your regulars in person.

Offers are available from the Starter plan. To build one, follow Create a happy hour offer, or read the full list of conditions in Offers and discounts.