Concepts for success: April 2013

One of the top-selling holidays is coming up. Here are five great ways to increase your Mother’s Day profits.

One of the top-selling holidays is coming up. Here are five great ways to increase your Mother’s Day profits.

Mother’s Day is one of the biggest holidays for bakery owners and operators. With a little bit of planning, you can easily increase sales in your bakery and also earn some new regular customers. Try out one of these promotions to help make the most of this hot seller day.

Breakfast-in-bed special
Making mom breakfast in bed is one of the more typical Mother’s Day traditions. However, mom may not be so appreciative when she finally goes downstairs and sees a huge mess in the kitchen from the kids attempting to cook! Consider offering a breakfast-in-bed special consisting of ready-made croissant dough or pastries, scones, French toast or waffles that dads and kids can just pop in the oven to bake or reheat. Package together with gourmet coffee, freshly squeezed juices, chocolates and flowers, and you’ve got a winning combination.

Gift baskets
Create gift baskets filled with baked goods including small packages of cookies, muffins, shortbread, scones, crackers and pastries. As you do not want all the contents of the gift basket to be perishable, include packages or jars filled with your bakery’s mixes for mom to make her own homemade breads, muffins or brownies; and add tins of gourmet coffee or loose-leaf tea, or small boxes of chocolates or candies. And most importantly, put a $10 gift card in the basket to ensure that mom visits your bakery again in the near future. Make sure that your offer gift baskets at different price points to suit all types of budgets.

Hold a Mother’s Day workshop
Organize a fun workshop for moms and their kids to enjoy together on Mother’s Day, or a workshop just for kids the day before Mother’s Day where kids can create something special for their mothers. It could be something as simple as decorating cookies or something more complex such as making a cake or cupcakes. You can also make additional retail profits by ensuring that all the materials used in your workshop are for sale.

Do cross-over promotions with a local spa/salon
Mother’s Day is all about eating lavish sweets and getting pampered. Work with a local spa or salon in your neighbourhood to cross-promote your businesses. Sell a packaged deal that includes a Mother’s Day treat and a spa service for one fixed price, or offer coupons to each other’s businesses. Either way, it’s a low-cost promotion for both of you, and an easy way to gain additional exposure.

Don’t promote ONLY cake!
As more and more people choose to stay home and celebrate special occasions to avoid the hassles of eating out, a bakery can take advantage of this trend by offering complete meals for a special brunch at home. Put together a visually stunning merchandising display of your quiches, meat pies, bagels, croissants, breads, coffee cakes, pastries and other brunch-friendly items, and promote your “Mother’s Day Brunch at Home” offering on your website and other social media outlets. You can also add non-bakery items like pre-made stratas, bacon, smoked salmon, cream cheese and house-made vinaigrettes.

Diane Chiasson, FCSI, president of Chiasson Consultants Inc., has been helping restaurant, foodservice, hospitality and retail operators increase sales for more than 30 years. Contact by e-mail at chiasson@chiassonconsultants.com, or visit www.chiassonconsultants.com.