Should You Be Offering a Happy Hour in Your Ice Cream Shop?

Happy hour is a great way to bring new customers into your ice cream shop. You can easily promote new business during the slower hours of the day. It's a great way to grow your ice cream shop!

What to Consider

When you're deciding if you want to implement a happy hour in your ice cream shop, there are a few things you need to consider: you average amount of store traffic, how your customers respond to discounts, specials, and deals, and how much you can afford to discount your products.

Your Store Traffic

Your ice cream shop will inevitably have busy times and slow times. The best time for your happy hour will be one of your slow times. Most shops will choose 3-4 pm, when kids are getting out of school. This will capitalize on the after school crowd.

How Your Customers Respond to Discounts

Happy hour brings customers into your shop during obscure hours of the day through discounts, deals, and specials. If you've found that your customers aren't motivated by things like that, then a happy hour may not work well in your shop. Most people are willing to spend more or try different things when there's a discount or deal. 

How Much Can You Discount Your Products?

The reason a lot of small businesses don't have many promotions is the loss of profits. It can be intimidating to shrink your profit margins for a promotion. If you can't afford to give any sort of discount, consider offering double punches on their punch cards or something similar.

Happy hour is a great way to drive business into your shop. People love any kind of promotion. It's a fun opportunity for new customers and new specials. When asking yourself if you should be offering a happy hour in your ice cream shop, we know you'll make the right decision after these considerations.

Do you offer an ice cream happy hour? Tell us about it in the comments, we love hearing from you!