8 ideas and 5 trends to increase your restaurant’s delivery sales during the 2022 World Cup

Every four years, football fans wait patiently to watch 32 countries fight for their chance to be crowned the best team in the world. The World Cup is one of the most awaited and watched events today. In fact, the 2018 World Cup was watched by over 3.5 billion people according to FIFA. That’s half of the world’s population. So, yes, it’s a pretty big deal!

As a restauranteur, you already know that big sporting events mean big business for your restaurant. This year’s World Cup is a little bit different, seeing as it is set to take place in November instead of summer, with the final happening only days before Christmas. Considering the unusual time without any big holidays, you might be worried about how this could affect your dine-in sales and wondering how you can maximise your food delivery orders. Don’t worry! We’re here to help you get the best out of this year’s World Cup by going over stats, food trends, and promotion ideas to maximise your delivery sales during the most popular sporting event in the world.

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World Cup Fast Facts & Trends

We scoured the internet for the most relevant facts and trends that you need to know to get your restaurant ready for the upcoming World Cup.

1. 83% of British people watch World Cup games from home 

According to a study by Shopmium for the 2018 World Cup, most British people watch World Cup games from home and this trend is not likely to change this year either. This means that people are more than likely to order in. In fact…

2. 30% of Brits use the World Cup as an excuse to order in

Food delivery and football go hand-in-hand, the World Cup acts as an amazing opportunity for Brits to let loose and eat differently during England games. 

3. Pizza is the most ordered food for World Cup Games 

70% of Brits that answered Shopmium’s survey suggested that pizza would figure into their game-day meal in some fashion. While pizza isn’t Britains's go-to delivery meal year-round (click here to find out what is) it sure is during the World Cup. In 2018, Domino’s sold over 8.2 million pizzas in the UK during the tournament, increasing their sales by 15.2% on average and peaking at 85.7% during the semi-final against Croatia!

4. Beer and Cider FTW! 

This comes as no surprise, but beer and cider play a massive part of game day, with 65% of Brits stating that they would be having the fizzy beverages while watching England games. In 2018, the demand even caused a small beer shortage that coincided with the World Cup and BBQ season, this year might be a little different.   

5. Only 8% of people watch England World Cup games alone 

England games are huge social occasions and a reason to get together and watch football with family and friends. This might explain why 18% of UK households are willing to spend up to £50 on pizza and beer on game day. That’s 35% more than they would spend on average per delivery order.

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Tips and ideas to increase your restaurant’s delivery sales during the 2022 World Cup 

Let's check out some tips and ideas to help you make the most out of this World Cup and get as many delivery sales as possible. 

1. Modify your opening hours on your food delivery platforms

We know this may sound like a no-brainer, but while we may not currently have the fixture calendar and knowing that the games are being played in a country where there is a slight time difference, it might be a good idea to adapt your restaurant’s opening and closing hours on food delivery apps like Uber Eats, Just Eat and Deliveroo to accommodate for the order rush that usually happens before the games start.

Depending on how many food delivery platforms your restaurant is on, changing the opening and closing hours of all of your restaurant’s locations for one day a week can be a tricky task. With Otter’s Order Manager solution, you can modify all your restaurant locations’ opening and closing hours from one place, making it a very handy tool to have for the tournament. 

2. Adapt your delivery offer for large groups

Knowing that most people watch England games with their family and friends and that households aren’t afraid to spend more than average on game day meals, do not be afraid to adjust your menu and offer combo meals adapted to larger groups. Create family pack burgers and fries with drinks or pizzas packages, for example. This can very easily increase the number of orders your receive and even boost your average order value. 

3. Add foods you can share to your usual menu 

The World Cup is a great time to try something new! Do not forget that these matches may be happening in between meal times, so do not be afraid to innovate and add items to your menu for the occasion. As you know, most people will be watching the games with their friends and family, so it would be a great idea to add finger food and tear & share options to your usual menu. You can also consider adding the portion size & how many people each order feeds to make your customers’ lives easier.

4. Spread the word through local Facebook and Instagram ads 

While changing your opening hours and modifying your menu will help you maximise the number of orders your receive from your current customers, you may also want to expand your customer pool and reach more people through local Facebook and Instagram campaigns. This will help get your restaurant’s name out there and brand your restaurant as the ultimate go-to place for game day meals.

Don’t forget to add your delivery platform links or your website link if you do direct-to-consumer delivery to your Instagram bio. To stand out, make sure to communicate on special promotions your restaurant is offering for the World Cup.

If you want to get started with Facebook ads for your restaurant but don’t know where to start, we’ve created the ultimate guide on how to use Facebook ads for restaurants. 

5. Take advantage of delivery app promotions

Creating promotions on third-party apps like Uber Eats, Deliveroo, and Just Eat is an excellent incentive for more customers to order from your restaurant. Running promotions on food delivery apps can help boost your chances of showing up on the front page of each app. And in 2022, when 80% of delivery orders happen from the home page of an app like Uber Eats, finding ways to boost your ranking in the algorithm could have a significant impact on your sales.

If running promotions on your own sounds a little overwhelming or time-consuming, let the team at Otter take that off your plate with our marketing automation solution, Boost. Learn how you can increase sales through Boost’s automated promotions without lifting a finger here.

6. Gamify your discounts and promotions 

This is a fun opportunity to try new ways of offering discounts and promotions to your customers. You can consider gamifying your menu by changing the sides’ and extras' names to players' names and offering a discount for future orders if the player scores. For example, you can have Harry Kane Onion Rings and Messi Fries for an England vs Argentina game, if Kane scores the customer that ordered the Harry Kane Onion Rings will get 10% off their next order. This will not only increase the chances of your customer ordering from your restaurant again, but it will also boost your average basket size with more extras and sides and will get people talking about your restaurant!

7. Create a virtual brand to reach more customers

We established that pizza is the most ordered food for game day meals. If you are currently operating a burger joint but also serve pizzas, chances are, customers that are searching for pizza on Just Eat will not find your burger place. Virtual brands are your solution. Virtual brands are digital storefronts on delivery platforms like Uber Eats, Just Eat, and Deliveroo. That’s where the name comes from: they are called “virtual” because the customer can only see and order from these restaurants online.

A single restaurant can have multiple brands in the same space, making many restaurants more profitable. So, if you are looking to increase your pizza delivery orders at your burger restaurant then you might consider launching a virtual brand around pizzas to reach more customers while maintaining your original brand. We know you have a lot on your plate already and that creating a virtual brand can be time-consuming, which is why at Otter we carefully craft virtual brands for every cuisine type to attract consumer interest on delivery apps. Each brand’s menu is filled with fan-favourite dishes to drive orders. We can match your restaurant to one of our pizza virtual brands, for instance. All you have to do is prepare food for orders that we will generate through marketing and receive your guaranteed earnings every week. You can learn more about it here.

8. Use an Order Aggregator to optimise delivery

On game day, most restaurants receive the bulk of their orders a couple of hours before the game and the rest during the game. This means that you only have a very small window to receive and prepare all your orders. When you are on more than one delivery platform, this increases your chances of missing an order or getting it wrong as you have to juggle several delivery tablets and printers.

An Order Aggregator like Otter can help you consolidate all your delivery orders in one easy-to-use tablet and printer. Otter’s Auto-Accept feature can also ensure that you never miss an order by automatically accepting orders and printing tickets directly to your kitchen. If a customer modifies their order, you will automatically get notified and avoid order errors, which will keep your ranking high on delivery apps and will help you get even more loyal customers. And if you are using your own POS, no need to worry, you can integrate Otter directly into your POS and manage all your dine-in and delivery orders directly from one place.

We hope these World Cup ideas and trends can help your restaurant maximise its delivery sales during the very first winter World Cup. If you’re looking to simplify and grow your delivery business—we’d love to partner with you!