Delis and rotisseries: 8 practical ideas to sell more at lunchtime

In a deli, lunch is decided in an hour and a half. Between 12:00 and 13:30 there's a queue, the counter empties and anyone who comes in at 13:15 finds half the dishes gone. The rest of the day is quieter, but that's exactly where you can prepare the ground to sell more.

Here are eight practical ideas, none of which requires you to change the way you cook.

Why it pays to work on pre-orders

A customer who orders at 10:00 to collect at 12:30 doesn't queue, doesn't find the dish sold out and doesn't go somewhere else because it was too busy. For you it's a certain order, already paid for or nearly, that you can prepare calmly.

1. Publish the dishes of the day by 9:00

Customers decide where to have lunch between 9:00 and 11:00, often on their phone. If at that time they don't know what's on your counter, they choose out of habit or convenience. Publishing the dishes of the day early, with the price per kilo or per portion, puts you on their list.

• Update the online menu from your phone as soon as the dishes are ready.
• Share the same link in your WhatsApp status and Instagram stories.
• A photo of the real counter, even one taken on your phone, is worth more than ten catalogue photos.

2. Let customers choose a collection slot

Divide lunch into quarter-hour slots and decide how many orders you accept in each. The customer chooses when to come by, you prepare in order of time and the counter doesn't jam.

Close pre-orders at a fixed time, for example 11:30, so you know exactly what to put aside before the queue arrives.

3. Weight or portion: offer both

The price per kilo is right for you, but for someone ordering on a phone it's hard to picture 300 grams of lasagne. Next to the price per kilo, offer a standard portion at a fixed price, for example "portion about 350 g, £6.50". Those who want a precise quantity write it in, and those in a hurry choose the portion.

4. Offer a "complete lunch"

A pasta dish, a side and a small bottle of water at a single price work better than three separate products. The customer doesn't have to think, the average spend goes up and you know in advance how many portions of sides to prepare.

5. Look for nearby offices

Practices, shops, building sites, clinics: the people who work around you have lunch every day, and often as a group. Bring a card with the menu QR code and suggest a group order with a single collection: one person gathers colleagues' choices by 11:00, comes by at 12:30 and collects everything together.

These are customers who, if they're happy, come back every week.

6. Open the festive menu well in advance

Christmas, Easter, Palm Sunday, the mid-August holiday: these are the days when a deli works hardest, but also the ones when orders pile on top of each other. Opening orders two or three weeks ahead lets you know the quantities and buy your ingredients at the right time.

With written orders you also get the total per product: how many kilos of vitello tonnato, how many trays of lasagne, how many chickens. It's your shopping list, already done.

7. Keep a list of your regulars

Every order brings a name and a number. With the customer's consent, you can send a message when there's a dish they usually order or when you open the festive menu. One targeted message a month works much better than a flyer.

Mind the consent: promotional messages should be sent only to people who have agreed to receive them.

8. Reduce end-of-day waste

The more orders arrive early, the more predictable production becomes. Prepare what's already ordered plus a margin for the counter, and watch for a few weeks how much is left over. Often it's enough to move one tray from one day to another to turn waste into profit.

9. Publish the week's calendar

Many customers choose a deli for one specific dish: Tuesday's tripe, Friday's salt cod, Sunday's lasagne. If on Monday you publish the calendar of the week's dishes, customers plan around it and you already know how many portions to prepare.

10. After lunch: end of day and dinner box

Lunch isn't the only moment of the day. What's left at 14:30 can become an end-of-lunch offer, and the afternoon can bring a second round of takings with dinner to take home.

• End of lunch at a reduced price, always at the same time, only on the day's portions.
• A dinner box at a fixed price, designed for people who finish work late: pasta, main and side with instructions for heating them.
• An announcement at 17:00 in your WhatsApp status, with a photo of the box and the collection time.

Sample messages to copy

Every morning, in your WhatsApp status or stories:

🍝 On the counter today: baked lasagne, vitello tonnato, roast chicken and grilled vegetables. Order by 11:30 and collect without queuing: [link]

To nearby offices, just once, with the card and the QR code:

Hi! We're the deli next door. If you often have lunch together at the office, you can order from our menu by 11:00 and come and collect everything in one go at 12:30.

Mistakes to avoid

• Publishing the dishes at 12:00: by then the customer has already decided.
• Only the price per kilo: someone ordering on a phone wants to know what a portion costs.
• No closing time for pre-orders: getting an order at 12:25 for 12:30 creates more problems than benefits.
• Boxes and offers that are always different: to become a habit they have to be recognisable.

Where to start

You don't have to do everything at once. The first step that brings the quickest results is number 1, the dishes of the day online every morning, followed by collection slots. Offices and holidays come later, once the system is running smoothly.

How to do it with NovaMenu

With NovaMenu you publish the dishes of the day from your phone with a price per kilo or per portion, receive pre-orders on WhatsApp with a collection slot and keep your customer list, with no commission on orders. You'll find all the details on the page for delis and rotisseries.