How to Level Up Your Concession Stand Menu

Having an enticing concession stand menu can help capture potential customers’ attention. However, it’s easier said than done.

Restaurateurs need to consider that there are various aspects that must be taken into consideration which can impact the overall performance of their concession stand business, such as long waiting times and huge crowds.

Luckily, a QR code menu can minimize these problems by optimizing your stand menu. 

In Oracle’s 2021 sports and entertainment consumer trend survey, 57% of people prefer to schedule food and drinks before arrival, and another 49% suggested that pre-ordering food should be a standard.

QR codes allow easy access to your digital menu for seamless online ordering. Scanning the QR code using a smartphone immediately redirects customers to your menu. 

In addition, customers can browse your menu and place an order with a single tap, and they can even choose whether they prefer to pay online or in cash. 

However, these are just a few benefits of integrating QR codes into your menus.

This blog will discuss the QR code digital menu further, how it can benefit one of your best concession stand food businesses, and some unique concession food ideas to get inspiration from.

Concession stands and its benefits

Having concession stand ideas can do wonders for your food establishment. How exactly can you benefit from running this? Here are three examples:

Reach more people

You may already have loyal customers, and your business may be doing well, but getting your brand out there would boost your brand recognition further.

Concession stands allow you to branch out and reach customers who may not know your brand. Plus, it helps in branding your business, so you gain more loyal customers until your business thrives.

Know your competitors

You can better observe your competitors in a huge venue where you share space and consumers.

Get to know who your competitors are—what they offer, their pricing, and what strategies they are possibly using. The information you have gathered can help develop marketing strategies to improve your business.

Affordable

Setting up concession stands is more cost-efficient than building a physical store which can take a while and is a considerable weight on your budget. 

They are also easier to set up and have lower startup costs. Moreover, there are many easy concession stand food and drinks that are quick and easy to prepare.

What to Keep in Mind Before Starting a Concession Stand

Knowing how to start a concession stand can do wonders for your food business. This will help you align your priorities and start your business smoothly.

Laws and regulation

Before starting a small business, it is crucial to be aware of the legal business regulations of your area. Doing so will help you minimize the chances of potential violations and penalties.

Prepare all the documents needed for your business. These include your business permit, health and safety permit, and sales tax license.

Choosing concession stand equipment

Invest in your equipment. It is better to be safe and have quality equipment than to find cheaper ones that might cause problems and complications later. 

Plan your menu

If you already have your own food business before you branch out to the concession stand, fine-tune your menu into your most popular and best dishes, as these will serve as your brand’s representative.

However, if a concession stand is your starting business, carefully gather menu ideas and plan your concession stand menu template well. You can go for unique concession food ideas not offered by your competitors to have the edge over them.

Remember to keep profits at the top of your priority list when considering what food to sell or include in your menu.  

Set prices

In your concession stand menu template, balance is essential when talking about pricing. Overpricing your product won’t get you any customers; however, underpricing won’t bring you any return on investment.

You want to make a good profit but would also like to sell your products reasonably. Plan to charge At least two or four times what you spend for your product. 

Monitor customer feedback on pricing, then adjust the price till it works best for you and your customer. Also, monitor your competitors and their product prices, especially if you offer the same product.

Staff hiring

Concession workers will represent you and your business, so they need excellent communication and organizational skills for efficient transactions with your consumers.

When hiring your concession stand employees, consider the amount of work and the possible number of consumers.

Smaller events need fewer workers. In contrast, a more significant number of consumers require more workers.

Best-selling concession stand food ideas

Suppose you’re still deciding what to put on your menu but already need products to start your business. WebstaurantStore has put together a menu of good foods that you can start with:

• Corn dogs
• Cotton candy
• Ice cream
• Nachos
• Pretzels
• Popcorn
• Roasted nuts
• Snow cones

In addition, most of these are prepackaged concession stand ideas that are easier for the customers to carry around if they want to move from one place to another.

Therefore, consider three things to ensure your concession stand items are profitable: 

1.  Inexpensive to purchase in bulk 

When in an event, customers will most likely purchase foods in volume, especially if it’s affordable. It would be too burdensome to go back and forth just to order the same product and miss a part of the event they went there for.

After all, who does not love inexpensive food right? If your food falls under your customers’ interest, they will likely buy it.

2.  Easy to mass-produce

Producing food in time might be one of the biggest dilemmas, considering the number of customers in an event who might order from your concession stand.

Most customers are not willing to wait for long, so you should choose food items that are easy to mass-produce to boost your sales and leave you with good customer feedback.

3.  No need for utensils

During an event, people won’t have the time to sit and eat food with a spoon and fork. They most likely would prefer foods that are easy to carry around and eat with bare hands.

Why you should use QR codes for your menu

With interactive digital QR code menu software, running a concession stand can be much easier. This technology can benefit you and your customers. And you can use this tool on how to effectively start your concession stand and stand out from competitors.

Let’s find out what are its primary benefits.

Easier and faster transactions

With just one scan of your QR code, customers can browse and place orders. Paying will not be an issue since the digital menu can provide options to pay online or in cash.

In addition, you can easily track your customers’ orders, thus, making transactions between you and the consumer effortless.

Promotes hygiene and safety

One reason businesses adopted QR codes is to avoid physical contact in light of the pandemic. Consumers won’t have to hold printed menus or touch other surfaces.

Keep menus updated

Using QR codes for your digital menu makes it easier to update it anytime. This technology saves you from reprinting a new set of menus, thus avoiding high printing costs.

Creating a concession stand menu with MENU TIGER

Creating a menu for your concession stand can be an overwhelming task. But with the right digital menu software, you can do this easily.

There are many options online, and deciding which works best for your business will be another struggle. To guarantee the quality and efficiency of your digital menu, you should choose MENU TIGER.

This digital menu software ensures quick and easy transactions between you and your customer through its admin app as tracking orders will be easier. 

Further, the software provides different payment integration for customers to have a variety of payment options.

Sign up with MENU TIGER

Streamline your concession stand food business by upgrading your menu with MENU TIGER for a much better customer and business experience.

Follow these simple steps in creating your concession stand digital menu:

1. Sign up for free

Tip: Make an email solely for your concession stand business only.

2. Provide your details

Enter your full name and contact number. 

3. Enter your business name and restaurant type

Note: If business type is not in the option, click Others

4. Choose language

Select your Menu default language, then add Menu Language options so your customers can select translations of your menu. After that, set your Currency.

Note: You must manually translate your menu into different languages before adding them to the software.

5. Choose how to organize your menu

MENU TIGER offers three ways to curate your menu:

• Import your menu if you want to download a sample sheet to fill in your menu, then re-upload
• Blank state if you want to start from scratch
• Create a sample menu with prebuilt categories and menus.

Customize Your QR code 

1. Click Stores under your Dashboard

Note: You can only add more branches to your concession stand business after upgrading your account subscription.

2. Customize your Menu QR code

Click Customize QR to modify your QR code’s design.

Then, Click Tables+ and name it anything you want. Click Add. 

Note: If you will not put up tables for your customers, only add one table to download your customized QR code.

3. Test your QR code by scanning it with your smartphone. Once it’s working, click the Download button.

4. Create your Menu list

Click the Food section under Menu and add your Categories (e.g., Appetizers, Desserts, Salads, etc.). Fill in all the pieces of information asked before clicking Add.

5. Add your best-selling concession stand items under the Category you just created 

Fill in every required section. After that, upload appealing images of each item.

Notes: You can also add Modifiers under your Menu. Just click the “Modifiers” section under the “Food” section.

6. Set your taxation

Look at your local taxation regulations to reflect the local tax rates in your state. Choose whether your item prices already have tax inclusion or if you want to apply tax on top of item prices.

7. Set your Payment Method

Click the Integration section to choose your payment method.

Note: You can also enable or disable the Cash option, depending on how you will run your food truck business.

8. Personalize your website menu page

Click Website. Start customizing your landing page, digital menu page, overall design, and more.

Your digital menu is now ready. Customers can now browse through your menu after scanning your QR code.

Create your QR code menu with MENU TIGER

Many food businesses have adopted QR code digital menus to provide a seamless customer experience and manage their businesses more efficiently.

These versatile squares can help monitor orders, receive payments, and generate customer checks to track store revenue. With QR codes, your concession stand can run more smoothly.

Going for a digital menu with MENU TIGER allows you to customize your menu page and modify your QR code for consistent branding, making it easier for people to remember you. 

Aside from seamless ordering and paying experience, it also provides dayparts allowing owners to set scheduling or item visibility whenever needed.

Level up your concession stand menu with MENU TIGER. Sign up for a Freemium plan and experience a wide variety of benefits for your digital menu.