Restaurant Clientele Types and How to Persuade Them to Order More

Your restaurant’s sales are directly proportional to the number of new and returning customers.

Therefore, if you want to own a successful business, you must know the most common restaurant clientele types and how to convince them to become regulars at your place.

In this article, you will discover each client archetype’s preferences and how to cater to their needs to convince them to choose your restaurant over the competition.

7 restaurant clientele types and how to cater to their needs

Differentiating your customers according to sex, age, and location is a good start to identifying restaurant clientele types. But Technomic took it further with their study, and identified the seven most common consumer behaviors.

Once you know what your clients’ habits, needs, and preferences are, you can change your menu, marketing, and location to attract a specific type of customer.

Archetype 1: Busy balancers

The busy balancers are usually millennials with an upper-middle class income, usually caring for kids.

They rely on restaurants for food often, especially delivery. Moreover, they prefer restaurants that can also cater to their children’s needs.

How you can attract busy balancers to your restaurant

Just like the name suggests, busy balancers are one of the restaurant clientele types that are often on the move, so they only dine out for special occasions. On the other hand, they are frequent users of delivery services.

Therefore, if you want to convince them to become your clients, you need to implement a reliable and easy to use online ordering system, like the one from GloriaFood.

Clients will be able to place their order in seconds, with just a few clicks on your website. Moreover, it will take you no longer than 10 minutes to add the online ordering system to your website:

You will get access to an intuitive menu creator that can be updated as many times as you want, free of charge. To cater to people with children, you can add a category to your menu titled “Kids menu” where you can add simpler dishes with smaller portion sizes.

Archetype 2: Food hobbyists

Food hobbyists are described as being both middle aged and having middle income. They are one of the restaurant clientele types that view dining at a restaurant as an experience to be shared with friends and family and they expect great service. On top of this, they are interested in healthier menu items.

How you can attract food hobbyists to your restaurant

To get food hobbyists to visit your business, start with updating your menu with enticing menu descriptions and nutritional values. If you use organic, locally grown, eco or other special ingredients, make sure to mention it.

Go a step further and update your menu items with helpful information, such as allergens, diets, and nutritional information. You can do so easily using our online ordering system. This is how your complete restaurant menu will look:

Moreover, consider adding appetizers that are fit for a group to share to create an unforgettable food experience for your clients.

Archetype 3: Functional eaters

Functional eaters are usually lower income millennial or Gen Zs that use food for fuel and don’t focus much on ingredients. They rely on restaurants for a lot of their meals and expect to have them delivered fast.

How you can attract functional eaters to your restaurant

If you want functional eaters to become regulars at your restaurant, consider implementing some promotions that would make their lives easier.

For example, free delivery, combo deals, a free dessert or 10% off for a big order will be appreciated by this type of customer. You can use our online ordering system to create hard to say no to promotions in seconds.

After you set up a restaurant promotion, it will be visible at the top of the menu to ensure nobody will miss it:

Because functional eaters want a fast-ordering process, considering enabling online payment. This will allow them to pay when they order so they can receive their food with no more unnecessary steps. To activate this feature, follow this instructional video:

Archetype 4: Affluent socializers

Affluent socializers are typically baby boomers or older with a high income. They dine out at list once a week and like to splurge on enticing or out-of-the ordinary menu items. They are one of the restaurant clientele types that actively seek out new restaurants that promise a satisfying experience.

How you can attract affluent socializers to your restaurant

Help affluent socializers find your place by creating a remarkable online presence. Start by getting a SEO and sales optimized website that will rank in the first results on Google. It will only take you ten minutes to generate a website that turns visitors into clients:

Here are more tips to convince this type of customer to visit your place:

• Claim your Google Business Profile and complete your profile with a link to your website, address, working hours and many pictures of your food and location;
• Be present on review platforms: encourage customers to leave positive reviews and make an effort to reply to each review, even if it is negative;
• Be active on social media: let people know about all new menu items, interesting ingredients, promotions, events, etc.

Archetype 5: Bargain hunters

Bargain hunters don’t go to restaurants often because of their low income but are always on the lookout for a good deal. They are one of the easiest restaurant clientele types to satisfy because they don’t usually follow a specific diet or care about healthy food, they only care about low prices.

How you can attract bargain hunters to your restaurant

To attract bargain hunters, your safest bet is to use restaurant promotions. For example, you can create a flyer that offers customers 10 % off for their first online order and distribute it in your area.

Another great idea that will attract bargain hunters and helps you reduce food waste is to create new items with ingredients that only have a few days until they go bad and sell them at a reduced price. Put them in a combo box and enjoy your increased sales!

Archetype 6: Habitual matures

Out of all the restaurant clientele types, habitual matures are the ones most prone to become a regular at your place. They are usually people over 55 with a modest income, that don’t often go out, but when they do, they seek simple comfort food.

How you can attract habitual matures to your restaurant

Most marketing strategies don’t work for habitual matures, your only chance is to be within walking distance of where they reside. So, if your location is near a bunch of apartments, make sure your menu includes some classic dishes for your area.

Helpful staff can also persuade this type of customer to become a regular so train your employees regularly. They should be aware of all your menu items, so they know what to recommend for each client.

Archetype 7: Health enthusiasts

This is one of the restaurant clientele types that don’t often go out to eat, but when they do, they are on the lookout for healthy options. They usually follow specific diets and they like to have the option of customizing their menu items.

How you can attract health enthusiasts to your restaurant

Because health enthusiasts often follow specific diets, you can attract them by marking your menu items that are safe for them. For example, our menu creator allows you to signal a dish as Hot, Vegan, Vegetarian, Gluten-free, Halal, Nut-free, Dairy-free or Raw.

Moreover, you can also use out menu builder to give people the option to customize their dishes such as the size or the toppings of their pizza. Ensure you provide plenty of meatless options to persuade this type of customer to order.

Conclusion

Getting familiarized with the most common restaurant clientele types and their preferences will give you an advantage over your competitors. Because you now know how to cater to each type’s needs, you can implement a strategy to attract the clients that will buy more.