Our 2018 National Frozen Yogurt Consumer Survey posed the following question, “When you go to a frozen yogurt shop, how often do you go with others?” Almost half the respondents (47%) reported getting froyo with someone else over 75% of the time. Compare that figure with the 18% who go to get a froyo with someone else less than 25% of the time. We found that 60% of our respondents usually visit froyo shops with other people.
These results show that frozen yogurt shop visits are social events and that deciding to visit the frozen yogurt shop could be a joint or group decision. The good news is that just about everyone likes frozen yogurt, so if you appeal to just one person, your shop can often draw in multiple customers.
But how can your yogurt shop encourage group visits? Here are some ideas.
Events
Community events and fundraisers are not only a good way to build goodwill with the community, but they also draw new customers to your shop.
If you find partners (e.g., other nearby businesses) for events, contests, and promotions, you’ll draw more people and have help getting the word out. Join the local Chamber of Commerce or a similar neighborhood business association to network and find potential partners.
Host family-friendly events at your shop. For example, your shop could show kids’ movies, offer craft classes, and host story time during the summers or weekends when parents are looking for things to do. If you have a larger space, consider offering birthday party and team party packages. School tours and girl scout tours appeal to kids and their families.
Contests
Running fun contests is a low cost way to generate interest in your shop and engage your customers. It also gives your shop something to talk about on social media and creates content that people will want to share. You could run a photo contest, scavenger hunt, frozen yogurt eating contest, coloring contest, board game night with frozen yogurt prizes, etc. Consider partnering with other businesses for your contests.
Be sure to encourage people to like your social media post and share it with others to help spread the word.
Making Your Shop a Place to Hangout
You can also make your shop more kid friendly with kids’ tables, children’s books, toys, free stickers, etc. To create a place for young adults to hang out, offer free wi-fi, board games, a clean restroom, and late hours.
Smart Discounts
Discounts are easy to offer and they work, but you don’t want to offer them too often. However, they can definitely bring in new customers, some of whom will become repeat customers.
There are a wide of group discounts that you could offer, including “buy one, get one free” or something similar (buy 2, get 1 free). If your shop is by a movie theater, offer a discount for bringing in a movie stub, since most people go to the movie with others.
People usually spend time with family on family-focused holidays and are more likely to dine in groups. Offer discounts for Father’s Day, Mother’s Day, Valentine’s Day, Independence Day, etc. Make the discounts fun and use social media to promote them. For example, you could combine a contest with a family-oriented holiday.
Kids promotions are also a way to draw in siblings, parents, other family members, and friends. Consider offering kids a discount for good grades or the first day of summer. Dentists, libraries, police departments and others have handed out froyo gift cards to children as rewards. By partnering with other businesses and community organizations, your shop can reach new families.
