The Bounce-Back Bakery: Tips to Entice your Customers

With most bakeries finding themselves able to reopen fully, some of you may be finding it difficult to entice your customers back into the store. We’ve put together some ideas for you to use to promote your bakery.

As far back as May, we began to see local bakeries opening their doors for takeaway customers. We covered some of the best practices we saw in our article The Takeaway Baker, where we looked at the power of delivery, social media and more. 

But, now we’re seeing more and more bakeries reopening seating areas (lockdown dependent), and offering customers the opportunity to eat and drink inside; yet, some customers are more willing than others. 

How to Promote your Bakery when reopening 

Some ways you could promote the reopening of your bakery are:

Social media. We’ve covered Instagram, in particular, a lot recently. But the power social media has shown baker’s and bakeries alike over lockdown has been incredible. If you’ve won yourself over an audience, then putting together some content to promote the reopening of your bakery is a great idea. 

Local advertising. Getting back to basics by letting local publications and stores know you’re reopening can work great too. Creating some small visual assets such as posters or flyers, let your local community know they can now sit in again. 

Tasters. If your bakery is in a prime location, you could give out tasters to passers-by, to regain their attention. If you do this, make sure all your tasters are pre-wrapped or bagged, and whoever is giving handouts has the right safety equipment. 

Deals. If you’re in the position to be able to offer discounts or deals on your products to get feet through the door, the “eat out to help out” initiative – which saw 64 million meals claimed – is a good sign that consumers are ready for such promotions. 

Any promotion you do will perform better if you’re doing something new or different than before. Merely promoting the fact you’re reopening might not be enough for your customers. 

Here are some ideas to focus your promotion around and get your bakery back in the limelight. 

Encourage your Customers

This first point may sound obvious, but you should help your customers to feel safe and welcome in your bakery. 

Introduce Safety Measures in your Bakery

One of the first things your customers are likely going to be wary of is cleanliness and COVID precautions. So make it clear that you’re taking the government’s guidance, and are acting accordingly. 

Display mask posters in your windows, to ensure everyone who enters the store knows the rules. You could even display the precautions your store is taking in response to the virus, and how you’re planning to keep your product and seating areas clean. 

Here are some things you could consider doing: 

• Implement a one-way system
• Offer anti-bacterial hand gel at the front of your store
• Ensure all staff’s safety by introducing visors or masks
• Limit you numbers in-store and have all staff enforce the rule
• If any products are open for picking out, have them ready-bagged 
• Move to card and digital pay ONLY, or strongly encourage all payment in this fashion
• Keep your seating area distanced, and cleaned frequently, with no tables offering over six occupants

Entice them with Indulgent Bakes

We’ve talked about this before, especially in our Christmas bakery trends article, but we’ll repeat it: when the present is unpredictable, humans opt for comfort. 

Comfort may come from continuing to work from home, bringing luxury meals home instead of eating out, or by going back to their favourite indulgent bakes. We’ve been starved of eating and drinking out. And the pleasure that comes with a deep-fill doughnut, fresh brownies or a muffin is well sought after. 

Offer Personal Cake, Doughnut or Brownie variations 

Offering your customers personal variety boxes that they can order and collect in-store could set you aside from your competitors. You could also provide bespoke bakes for upcoming occasions such as Halloween or Christmas. It allows your customers to think of ideal gifts or enjoy a personalised creation just for them. 

Personalisation goes beyond colours and flavours. Giving customers the chance to choose their portion sizes, for example from a large traybake, gives them the flexibility to buy what they need to cut down on waste on large portion sizes.

Continue to offer Home Delivery 

Back in January this year, experts were predicting that the baking sector would be taking a bigger slice of the delivery market. If only they knew what was round the corner then. 

Bakers across the UK adapted to home delivery and online eCommerce, and it’s a trend well and truly set to stay. If your bakery can continue delivering, we’d say it’s a safe bet to continue doing so as virus measures look set in stone until Christmas 2020 at least. 

Offer Healthy Bake alternatives

A trend that has only continued to be of focus during lockdown and beyond is health. And the health concerns of consumers—especially when it comes to everyday products like bread. 

Hovis’ poll in March found 29% of consumers were trying to eat more healthily. With Nicholas & Harris reporting sales of sourdough and other more “gut-conscious” styles of bread seeing an increase of 60% in sales compared to last year, the figures speak for themselves. 

Nutrition claims have become more attractive than ever, with consumers conscious of what they’re buying and feeding their families. 

By offering healthier variations in your bread, rolls and morning goods, you could entice returning or newer health-conscious customers into your bakery. 

We’re ready to help your Bakery Bounce-Back 

It hasn’t been easy for the baking sector over the last few months. With supply chains disrupted, customer behaviour harder to predict and no in-store experiences, it’s been a tough time for many. If you’re looking for help with your ingredient supply, then we’d love to help. With nutritionally-boosted new products in the pipeline, watch this space! Contact us today to learn more.