How to Increase Your Café Patronage with the Right Interior Design
Posted on: 5 January 2016
Looking to increase the amount of customers who visit your café and return day after day? Improving your interior design could be the solution. Here are 3 ways better design and café furniture choices can increase your café's patronage.
Pick a Theme & Stick to It
A theme is simply one idea or concept that weaves your entire café design together. Don't get worried about themes making everything too linear or uniform – a varied, "mishmash" style can be a theme in itself. Your theme aligns your interior design with the angle or "vibe" of your café. Having an angle is essential to building a dedicated, loyal customer base. Most people are afraid of change. If your café is a greasy spoon one week and a boutique coffee shop the next, customers won't know what to expect – and they'll abandon you in a heartbeat. A coherent design theme will draw in the right type of customer and keep them coming back again and again. If you want to draw in a base of busy workers, go for a "quick fix" theme with long, streamlined counters and minimal seating. If you want to be the healthiest café in town, draw in holistic patrons with a "natural" theme featuring plenty of natural fibres and plant life. Choosing your theme helps you make the right decision about furnishings that build and retain your customer base.
Take Your Seat
For many cafés, having a variety of seating options is ideal. Some customers will want to eat and drink quickly at a counter while others may want to enjoy their food and drink at an outdoor table. However, there's one type of café chair that you should definitely be using – the booth. Booth seating creates an intimate experience that's perfect for groups. From business lunches to family meet-ups, booth seating creates the ideal opportunity for larger numbers of customers. Aside from your takings increasing exponentially with your amount of customers, booth seating will also boost revenue by increasing the amount of time spent at your restaurant. The close group setting makes customers stay longer to socialise, thereby offering more opportunities to spend money. Statistics from ParknPool indicate that customers at booth seating spend a whopping 45% more than those at free-standing tables.
The Light at the End of the Tunnel
Ever heard of mood lighting? The reality is that all lighting can, and does, create ambiance. Large windows that allow plenty of natural light can have overwhelming benefits for customers. Sunlight boosts happiness levels, increasing your café patrons' perceived satisfaction and encouraging them to come back for more. As for artificial light, experiment with different sources and colours of lighting to achieve the right atmosphere. For example, you can easily create a more intimate atmosphere with gold-toned table lamps. A Cornell study's findings actually showed that customers who ate at tables with indirect lighting spent more time eating, ordered more food, and rated said food higher than those sat at harshly-lit tables.
Keep these tips in mind as you select cafe furniture and lighting, and you'll be able to increase the customers visiting your establishment.
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