Learning to bake is probably the easy part of getting into the bakery business; what’s even harder is how to get your sales running. Even worse, you need to retain these customers as well, not simply to sell to new individuals every time. If your dream is to make and run a bakery, this is certainly a challenge, but not impossible.
How will you serve your neighborhood if you’re new on the block? Other than investing in commercial-grade bakery equipment, here are some tips that are worth considering below.
Use Your Bakery’s Aroma
This has to be the most affordable way to introduce your products to customers mainly because it’s free. If you designed your bakery in a way where the aroma could be smelled from the streets, you’re bound to pique someone’s interest (read: anyone with a stomach) who’s just passing by.
Scent marketing, which this falls under, is the best way to market your bakery. If you think about it, it’s free because your pastries’ aroma is a natural byproduct of the food. This is why whenever you’re baking, just open a vent or a window to let the aroma entice passersby.
Keep Up With the Hype
To stay in the customer’s favorite go-to places, you need to keep up with their ever-changing demands and preferences. This doesn’t mean ditching all your current recipes just to revamp them with what’s new at the moment, though. For example, if gluten-free food choices are all the hype, then make your own gluten-free products.
You won’t have to apply this to all your current delicacies. These types of changes are all interesting to people with peculiar requirements and those with FOMO—especially to a younger generation who are excited about new things.
Make a Welcoming Doorstep
Most small restaurants and boutiques these days try to come up with various ways to get people into their shops. One of the most successful techniques is to have some kind of chalkboard just outside the door of the establishment. Depending on what you think is better, you can choose a short, witty message with your store and a bit of promotion.
If you think that’s not your style, you can go for a funny quote or question instead on your storefront. A solvable riddle and a discount reward to whoever gets the answer right is also another way to amp up this trick.
Offer Free Taste Samples
This is one of the common and also one of the most effective ways for you to entice customers. People like free stuff and their interest doubles because your samples are food. Who doesn’t like food, anyway?
You can try this technique in different ways. You can either have an employee offer the samples just outside your store or place the samples next to the counter so paying customers can try something that they may also want to buy.
The stage is set for your bakery to shine. Follow these ideas and maybe you’ll be the next big thing in bread since the invention of bread.