A concession stand can turn up to 94% profit on its most popular offerings—cotton candy, shaved ice, popcorn, and funnel cakes. These kinds of food are made with sugar, water, and corn, so it makes sense that they offer the biggest profit margin. But if you notice that your concession stand is making less money as before, it might be time to change your strategy.
Look for Better Suppliers
Look for a nacho wholesale company, for example. If you aren’t getting your supplies straight from the manufacturer, you are not maximizing your profit opportunities. Review the contracts you have with your suppliers. Make sure that you are maximizing every opportunity to make more dollars.
Limit Your Food Choices
Review your food offerings. While you might be making a gross profit on 10 to 15 items on your list, the cost of buying and preparing these items might be cutting on your profit margin. The most popular concession stand food items include popcorn, hot dogs, and nachos. Why not focus on these three and add a few other items just to differentiate you from other concession stands?
Go Mobile
It would be better if you could take the concession stand to where the people are. For example, a mobile concession stand will be very profitable near construction sites and offices. These people cannot really go far out for lunch. They usually just buy what they see on the streets.
People who are looking for a quick snack or just happen to pass by your stand are your customers. You can determine what to sell each day. For weekdays, you can go for hot dogs and sandwiches. For weekends, when there are more kids, go for candies and pretzels.
Increase Prices
This seems obvious, doesn’t it? The trick here is to do it right. A 25-cent increase in the price of a hamburger will go unnoticed. If you go from $3.50 to $4, your customers will notice the price increase immediately. Go by the cent. If you add them all up, you’ll still make a handsome profit. Don’t be greedy when increasing prices.
Offer Combo Deals
Combo deals are the key to driving sales up in concession stands. Make sure that the combo meal will save customers at least a dollar or two. Otherwise, they won’t be too happy with this offer. These savings are minimal, but you’re increasing your gross profit, which is always good for business. Train your employees to recognize an opportunity. When a customer orders Coke and a hamburger, your staff should offer a candy bar for $1 more.
Go to Events
You can offer your concession stand for rent in events such as birthdays, weddings, and corporate events. The organizer can purchase 100 servings of funnel cakes, for example. In kiddie parties, your cotton candy snack bar will be a hit. This is a huge profit for you since the organizer has already paid you for the items and products. Your profit for the day is assured.
There are other ways to improve your sales. You can offer a small pack of popcorn for kids so that their parents might get a soda from your stand. You can offer discounts during non-peak hours. Throughout all of these, study what your customers crave. Measure your profit and know which items are the most and least profitable.
