Seasonal promotions for restaurants are offers and activities planned around the rhythm of the year: the slow months, the school holidays and the festive season. They work best when planned well ahead with a firm end date, so they lift the weak weeks without giving discounts away in the busy ones. Here is a year in a Danish restaurant, season by season, and how to keep track of it.
Plan the year, not just the week
Most restaurant owners know their weekly rhythm by heart: Tuesday is quiet, Friday is full. The year has the same kind of rhythm, only slower, and it is easier to miss because it takes twelve months to repeat.
When a slow month takes you by surprise, the promotion gets improvised. It is put together in a hurry, announced too late and often too generous, because it has to rescue something that is already slipping. Plan it a few weeks ahead instead, and you can choose a narrow offer, tell guests in time and set an end date you have actually thought about.
That is also how this post differs from the one on filling quiet hours. That one is about the hours in a week. This one is about the calendar year.
A year in a Danish restaurant
Every business has its own curve, and the best source is your own numbers from last year. But some patterns repeat across many restaurants and cafes in Denmark. Use the table as a starting point and adjust it to your street and your guests.
Period | What usually happens | The promotion's job |
|---|---|---|
| January | Quiet after Christmas, people saving | Get regulars out of the house |
| Winter school break | Families at home or away | Something for families |
| Easter and spring | First mild days, more people out | Celebrate the new season |
| Summer holidays | Tourists in, regulars away | Stay in touch with those away |
| August and September | Everyday life returns | Welcome regulars back |
| Autumn school break | Families off school | Something for families |
| November and December | Julefrokost parties, full evenings | No discount, sign up new members |
Look at the last column. A promotion does not have the same job all year. In January it has to move guests. In December it should not move anyone, because they are coming anyway. There, the job is to sign up the many new faces so you can invite them back in January.
January: the month that pays for the planning
For many restaurants January is the weakest month. Christmas has been expensive, plenty of people are on New Year's resolutions, and the weather keeps everyone at home. This is where a seasonal promotion does the most good, and where it is most often made too late.
Two levers work well together. The first is making a reward easier to reach: double stamps on weekdays in January is simple to understand and only costs you something when the reward is redeemed. The maths and the limits are in double stamp days. The second is giving guests a reason that fits the month: a light lunch dish, a soup or an alcohol-free drink for the people cutting back after December.
Most important of all, announce it before January starts. Guests who joined in December are the easiest to reach while the visit is still fresh.
Summer and school holidays: stay in touch
The Danish summer holiday turns the picture upside down for many restaurants. By the water or in a tourist area, July is your best month, and your regulars may be the only ones missing. In a residential neighbourhood, July is quiet because the neighbourhood has gone away.
Either way the same rule applies: no promotion will bring a guest home from Mallorca. What you can do is be the first place they think of when they get back. A short message in early August with something that only runs for the first weeks after the holiday does exactly that. The same goes for the winter and autumn school breaks (week 7 or 8 and week 42 in most municipalities), where a kids' menu offer or an extra reward for families can fill afternoons that would otherwise sit empty.
If your business lives almost entirely off the summer, carrying members through the winter is covered in the ice cream shop loyalty program guide.
December: collect members instead of giving discounts
December is busy, which is exactly why you should not give anything away. An offer in a full month is paid for on every single visit without adding a single guest.
Use the rush instead. Julefrokost parties and family dinners bring in plenty of guests who have never been before. If staff mention the stamp card at the table and the QR poster stands where people wait, many of them leave as members. Those are the guests you can invite back in January, when you need them. The first stamp can be reward enough on its own.
How to plan a seasonal promotion
One promotion at a time, with a start, an end and a goal, is enough. The order is the same every time:
Look at last year's numbers and pick the week or month that needs help.
Narrow enough to reach guests who would not have come anyway.
So the promotion does not become the new normal.
At the counter, on a sign and as a message to members.
So you can repeat, adjust or drop it next year.
The last step is the one most often skipped, and it is the one that makes next year easier. Write down two lines: what you did and what happened. In twelve months you will have forgotten, but the note will be waiting.
How to run it in MightyLoyalty
In MightyLoyalty you set up a seasonal promotion as an offer in the owner portal. You choose the weekdays and times it applies, give it an end date and set a limit per guest, such as once a day. Offers are part of Standard, so a promotion needs no add-on.
Guests see the offer in their web app, and staff redeem it when they scan the guest. To also send the promotion as a push message or email, those are add-ons on Standard from 19 DKK a month and included in Pro. Without them you can still tell guests at the counter and on a sign. What to write in the email itself is covered in restaurant email marketing that brings guests back.
When the promotion ends, the portal shows how many times the offer was redeemed. Compare the period with the same period before, and put the result in your calendar for next year. For more on building a base of regulars all year round, see the restaurant loyalty program page.
Frequently asked questions
When should I plan a seasonal promotion?
A few weeks before the period starts. That gives you time to choose the offer carefully and tell guests before the slow stretch is underway. A January promotion first put together in mid-January arrives too late to make a difference.
Which month is hardest for a restaurant?
It varies, but January is quiet for many after Christmas, and the summer holiday is quiet for restaurants in residential areas. Your own visit numbers from last year are the best answer for your business.
Should I run discounts in December?
Usually not. A busy month does not need an offer that costs you something on every visit. Use the many new guests to grow your membership instead, and invite them back during the quiet period that follows.
