In today’s hyper competitive market, you have to always be thinking about new ways to generate revenue. Be it through sales, upgraded menus, or advertising, getting customers to spend more with each visit is a vital component to being successful for the long haul.

One easy way to drive additional sales of food and beverage is to implement a promotional upsell strategy. This would be a cohesive plan to increase sales by way of promotion merchandise. Be it cups, buckets, shirts or otherwise, there are plenty of ways that you can upsell items in a way that isn’t aggressive or obtrusive to your guests. Today we’ll look at a couple of the ways you can use promotional merchandise to increase sales!

Free Refills

Free refills is probably the most common promotional upsell program used at restaurants, attractions movie theatres and more. In this scenario, you decide on certain item(s) to offer with an upgrade that allows customers to refill their container at no cost.

For example, a movie theater may sell popcorn: $4.00 for a regular, $4.50 for a large and $6 for a promotional branded tub that includes free refills. Any time a customer orders a regular size of popcorn, the employee can say, “for just a dollar more you can get a commemorative bucket with free refills.” Because you’re only asking the customer to spend a small amount more to get an unlimited supply of your product, they’re likely to take you up on this offer. This works just as easy for drinks and other handheld items you may sell and you can tailor the pricing to fit your budget and needs.

BONUS: It’s worth pointing out that in most instances the size of cup or bucket you would use for your promotion is the largest size available, which means the majority of your customers who pay for the upgrade won’t even need a refill.

Loyalty Club

Using promotional items in a branded loyalty club is another easy way to reward your favorite customers and drive more repeat business with additional spending. In this scenario you can create loyalty club package that you can sell to your customers, the package includes an incentive to join, plus some free promotional gear.

For example, a bowling alley might sell a kids club package – that includes discounted bowling rates and a promotion cup. Any time the child comes to bowl they can bring their cup and get one free cup of fries from the snack bar. Of course, most people don’t usually eat food without a drink, so you can almost guarantee a drink sale along with their free fries. PLUS you now have a captive audience at your snack bar – a perfect time to upsell them on additional snack options.

BONUS: When the promotional cup is brought home, your customer is now advertising your brand without even trying!

Building a Brand

One more strategy to increase sales overall is to really build up a brand that customers love. You can use custom branded cups, buckets, shirts, and just about any other type of promotional item to build up your brand. Best of all, you’ll drive some additional sales and create an army of customers who are happy to spread the good word on your behalf.

For example, a BBQ restaurant I frequent, has built an entire brand around their delicious smoked meats. When they opened in 2010 each staff member donned a t-shirt with the restaurant logo on the front and a witty bbq quote on the back. Quotes like “we smoke the good stuff” and “I like pig butts and I cannot lie” were not only a fun way to brand their restaurant but turned into an easy way to make some additional sales. Their branded shirts led to other branded promotional items that they sell and use for giveaways.

BONUS: The genius behind this strategy, is if your promotional item is good enough, customers will use them for years to come, spreading your brand around to their circle of friends and family. And we all know word of mouth is the best form of advertisement that money simply cannot buy!

So now that you know how to drive profits with promotional items, where should you get yours created? We recently linked up with ACIM plastics, adding them as a brand new rebate partner benefit for AutoFry and MultiChef customers. Each new AutoFry or MultiChef sold comes with a $3,500+ value rebate program. This includes huge savings on food and promotional items too! In our partnership with ACIM, you can receive $150 off your first two orders with their custom injection molded cups and tubs, for a total savings of $300. This is a huge discount for you! Best of all, they use a rare In Mold Label process. By placing a plastic, full color printed label inside of the mold before injecting it with plastic, a seamless graphic is produced that cannot be removed. Meaning your logo and branded materials will last a lifetime!

So what are you waiting for? It’s always a good day to start thinking about ways to increase your profits and customer satisfaction. Start today on building up a promotional upsell strategy and see how much your promotional cup could runneth over!