The Ten-Minute Manager’s Guide to ... Improving Carryout Sales

MORE THAN NINE IN 10 CASUAL-DINING restaurants offer takeout and to-go options; together, they are an important revenue source—yielding double-digit-percentage shares of sales for some concepts—at a time when midscale chains are struggling to increase unit volumes.

By Derek Gale, Associate Editor -- Restaurants & Institutions, 7/15/2007

MORE THAN NINE IN 10 CASUAL-DINING restaurants offer takeout and to-go options; together, they are an important revenue source—yielding double-digit-percentage shares of sales for some concepts—at a time when midscale chains are struggling to increase unit volumes. Takeout has its drawbacks: The average takeout check, for example, averages $3 or more less than the average dine-in check because fewer takeout customers order appetizers, beverages and/or desserts. Suggestive selling over the phone and online can help boost sales of non-entrée items.

Casual chains can learn from quick service’s flair for eye-catching interior and exterior signage to promote takeout service. Catering is another option. Maryville, Tenn.-based Ruby Tuesday is testing catering in some 300 locations, and the service has "more than paid for itself," says William Stitt, the chain’s director of off-premise sales.

Sales Inside the Box

William Stitt, director of off-premise sales for Maryville, Tenn.-based Ruby Tuesday, says that units seeing best results from the To Go Curbside program are those with dedicated three- to six-person teams in place.

"We modeled the [carryout] teams after our bars," he says. "To have a successful bar, you can’t just throw anyone back there—you need dedicated bartenders working consistent shifts so that guests get to know them. We did the same thing with curbside: Guests [hear] the same people on the phone, and [are] greeted by the same people at the car."

To market the service, Stitt says Ruby Tuesday added neon curbside-pickup signs in some locations to capture attention and spark interest. Adding online ordering is "heavily under consideration," he says.

Ruby Tuesday offers its full menu for To Go Curbside. However, fresh-fried potato chips are served instead of french fries.

"Everybody knows the first thing you eat on the way home is the fries," Stitt says. "We have great fries, but they don’t travel well. So we found a great potato product [that] travels much better."

Ruby Tuesday fries and bags its potato chips in-house. To further extend the chips’ appeal, the chain also offers them as a complimentary bar snack.

Catering may prove to be an even greater off-premise opportunity. In test units, Ruby Tuesday finds that catering boosts off-premise business to 10% or more of sales. With catering, "We’re not talking about tents, vans, warming cabinets and chafers," Stitt says, "but great-quality chicken and beef, pasta and our signature salad bar, all in an easy-to-travel package" that can be picked up or, in some locations, delivered to an office site.

Tap Brand Loyalists

In-store merchandising has been vital to Applebee’s Neighborhood Grill & Bar’s carryout-sales growth, says Nancy Culbertson, vice president of marketing services for the Overland Park, Kan.-based chain. Caddy cards, table toppers and server buttons have communicated the message that the menu is available for carryout.

She says that about 70% of the brand’s sales from Carside To Go, which was introduced in 2005, are incremental, coming from brand loyalists who now use the restaurant more frequently.

Applebee’s research finds that its carryout consumers aren’t difficult to please: Their chief concerns are that food items maintain a proper temperature and be packaged in such a way as to prevent spills on the way home. But with about 10% of sales coming from Carside To Go, Applebee’s recognizes that it must do more to maximize the service’s appeal.

Strategies under consideration include adding nonalcoholic beverages to boost checks and using mobile, handheld point-of-sale devices and online ordering.

Scoring Points

This fall, football fans will be able to enjoy "football the Hooters way," says Mike McNeil, vice president of marketing for Atlanta-based Hooters. Takeout will be "a major part of our football season," he says. "We’ll talk about Hooters’ wings to go, and we have a 64-ounce super mug that we’ll be promoting." A tailgating promotion will feature pickup-truck and portable-grill giveaways.

Fall is a good time for takeout, "no question about it," McNeil says. In addition to football, back-to-school time means families look for takeout, he says.

"Some stores located in suburban areas are getting nontraditional customers—mothers picking up food for the family on the way home," he says. "Those customers tend to make the difference."

He says that incremental business can help increase carryout from its current 7% of sales to 10% or higher. "We have restaurants that do as much as 20% of business in takeout," he notes. "We think the opportunity exists to get the chain average above 10%."

He says people may be surprised that some Hooters locations do such strong takeout business, "because from a concept standpoint, the [in-store] experience is what you think of before the food." But at busy locations where there are lines for dine-in service, for example, some guests will do carryout rather than wait, he says.

The to-go menu includes everything on Hooters’ menu except for shellfish (as a food-safety precaution). The chain has improved takeout packaging to include vented lids for fried foods to better maintain their crispness. But Hooters’ average carryout check remains lower than the average dine-in check. To address that, "We’ve added smoothies to go," McNeil says. "That’s been something that can help us."