Getting Millennial Guests in the Door … and Staying Longer

It used to be that restaurants wanted turn-over. More people in the door means more money spent, right? Not quite.  Now, restaurants want people staying. Lingering. Hanging out. Ordering more food slowly. Ordering more drinks.This makes your establishment always look full and lively. We’ve all walked past empty restaurants that look like ghost towns. Do we stop in there for a drink or an app? No. We mosey on until we find a place that looks happening. Restaurants don’t necessarily need more people, like a revolving door. They need people hanging out.

So how do you do this? How do you encourage your guests to come in and stay a while?

We all know the gimmicks like hosting events. Live music. Meet ups. And those are all great for special events and one-offs. But how do you get people to hang out on a consistent basis?

One tried-and-true technique is simply offering free wifi, right? But that also leads to a passive engagement level. People hunkered down over their computers not…