What offers and happy hours cost, and who came back at full price
What the answer looks like
Illustrative output on sample data
Illustrative example: how Lexi answers this for a tapas restaurant group with seven venues. It totals discounts from POS for last quarter and follows each redeemer's later visits.
- Weekday happy hour: $96,000 in discount, 5,400 guests, 31% came back at full price
- Sunday family offer: $38,000 in discount, 1,900 guests, 44% came back at full price
- First-visit voucher: $22,000 in discount, 2,600 guests, 18% came back at full price
What the data shows
The Sunday family offer costs the least and brings back the most guests at full price.
What it means
Happy hour is the biggest cost, and most redeemers were existing guests who moved their visit earlier in the evening.
What to do
Keep the Sunday offer, shorten weekday happy hour by an hour, and review the first-visit voucher channel.
Want me to show happy hour redemptions by venue?
Why it matters
An offer is worth its cost only if some guests come back and pay full price later. Adding up what each offer gave away, and checking how many redeemers returned at full price, shows which offers build trade and which only lower the check.
Frequently asked questions
How do you measure the return on a restaurant offer?
Add up the discount given, then follow the guests who used it. Count how many came back at full price and what they spent. An offer that brings guests back at full price earns its cost, while one that only discounts existing visits does not.
Do happy hours pay off for restaurants?
They can, if they bring in new guests or fill otherwise empty time. They cost margin when regulars simply shift their usual visit into the discounted window. Matching redeemers to past visits shows which is happening at your venues.
How long should you track guests after an offer?
Ninety days suits most restaurant offers, long enough to see a return visit but short enough to act on quickly. Use the same window for every offer, to rank them fairly and drop the ones that do not earn their cost.