How To Start Successfully Selling Restaurant Merchandise

In 2023, your restaurant business success entails more than a well-crafted menu; it's about creating an experience. This article explores the steps of launching a merchandise line, highlighting its potential to increase brand loyalty and generate income. By combining your great food and service with branded products you can create a stronger connection with your restaurant guests. 

Here’s how to start successfully selling restaurant merchandise and how to market it to increase revenue. Ready? Let’s get it started! 

Why sell merchandise at your restaurant?

We get it- you’re busy focusing on your menu and restaurant staffing. But the fact of the matter is your guests want to buy merch. In a Forbes article, Cassandra Grey, founder of Violet Grey, explained, “Great brands belong to their customers, communities, and fans. And those being served by the brand tend to expect merch, just like they do from their favorite pop stars, their summer camps, or their country clubs.” 

Restaurant merch can be recognized even by those who have never been to that certain restaurant. For example, if you live in Massachusetts you can point out a Beachcomber sweatshirt from one short glance. If you live in New York, you’ve probably seen a Katz’s Delicatessen tote bag from time to time. 

Restaurant merch is a great additional revenue stream that can expand your brand and advertise for free. 

Generate additional revenue

During the pandemic, restaurants scrambled to come up with creative ways to generate more revenue. Small businesses started selling their homemade dry rubs, cocktails to-go, and many other food and beverage products. Many food establishments also ventured into merch sales, and it kept many restaurants in business. For example, Turkey and the Wolf, a New Orleans sandwich shop sold over $14,000 of merch during the shutdown. 

Today, the landscape of the food service industry isn’t the same (thankfully), but the concept of additional revenue remains. Selling merch both in-store and online can help your food business increase its bottom line. 

Expand your brand 

Whether you’re opening a new business, or have been operating your restaurant for years, you can always expand your brand. Your restaurant branding is what makes customers come back time and time again. After all, 65% of a company’s business is directed to a company by existing customers.

Selling branded apparel can be a strategic move to expand your restaurant brand's reach and visibility. It can help create a stronger connection with your customers and enhance your overall brand identity. Here's how selling branded apparel can help expand your restaurant business:

Word of Mouth Marketing: Apparel with your restaurant's branding can spark conversations and generate word-of-mouth marketing. People who see the apparel on others may inquire about your restaurant, leading to recommendations and new customer interest.

Sense of Belonging: When customers wear your restaurant's apparel, they develop a sense of belonging and loyalty. It fosters a community around your brand, and they are likely to continue patronizing your restaurant to feel part of this community.

Online Presence: Branded apparel can make your restaurant more shareable on social media. People often post pictures of themselves wearing unique or stylish clothing, and if your restaurant's apparel fits this category, it can lead to organic online exposure.

Special Events and Promotions: Create limited-edition apparel for special events, holidays, or promotions. This adds an element of exclusivity and urgency, encouraging customers to purchase while the items are available for a limited time.

Remember, while selling branded apparel can have numerous benefits, it's essential to ensure that the designs and quality align with your restaurant's image. The apparel should be comfortable, stylish, and reflective of your brand's personality. By carefully planning your approach, you can leverage branded apparel to effectively expand your restaurant brand.

Advertise for free

Branded apparel, in a way, turns your customers into walking advertisements. When people wear your restaurant's logo or design on clothing, they essentially become brand ambassadors, exposing your restaurant to a wider audience as they go about their daily lives. There’s no advertising like the organic kind, and people paying to wear your brand says a lot to bystanders. 

In comparison to other advertising methods like, influencer marketing, and social media ads, producing and distributing restaurant merchandise can be relatively affordable. While there are costs associated with designing, producing, and distributing the items, the return on investment can be substantial. Restaurant merch is a fantastic advertising tactic.

What merchandise should you sell?

What type of merch or retail your restaurant should sell is dependent on your restaurant concept, brand, and business plan. However, here are some top ideas for your first time selling restaurant merch and products. 

Branded apparel & headwear 

This is the obvious choice that most distributors can sell. Adding your logo or restaurant name to tshirts, sweatshirts, hats, and more is a safe option. You can sell these both in-store and in an ecommerce online shop. Some vendors that can help you create your branded apparel include Custom Ink, Vistaprint, and Canva. 

Consumables 

Consumables can include special sauces, spice blends, or other items you're known for packaged for people to use at home. Selling these can be slightly more difficult because you need to take food safety and packaging into account. However, most consumables are dry items, so you shouldn’t run into problems with the health department. As long as these items are prepared in your kitchen, consumables are a great option. If your restaurant is known for its special sauce or seasoning, consider selling your food products directly to consumers for some extra revenue. 

Gifts for pets 

Yes- believe it or not people do buy restaurant merch as toys for their pets. According to FMI projections, the pet toy market could reach a value of US $5.90 billion in 2023. If you have a fun idea for a dog toy or treat- it might be worth a shot. 

Toast restaurant, Loco Taqueria and Oyster Bar, sells dog toy versions of their popular Coco Margarita. As a result, you can find dogs all over South Boston and Fenway with their cocos and free marketing. You can purchase these doggie margs in-person or online on their Shopify site. Shopify is an all-in-one commerce platform that many restaurants use to sell their merchandise. 

Accessories & Specialty Items

If you’re a new restaurant trying to decide what retail items to sell, consider what items your staff uses and what your guests buy the most. For example, many bars sell branded bottle openers and koozies to their guests. With inexpensive up-front costs, and an attractive design your bar could make some extra revenue from these items. 

Similarly, whatever your “star” selling product is, you should consider capitalizing on it. For example, Texas Roadhouse has started selling candles that smell like their signature cinnamon butter. The restaurant owner saw an area of opportunity and took it, and your restaurant business can do the same. 

Meal Kits

Meal kits are arguably the easiest products to sell. You can sell kits of the same ingredients you cook in-house, to guests to make in the comfort of their homes. This concept also grew during covid but can be sold as a fun date-night idea for couples. For example, Toast restaurant Lincoln Tavern sells Bake at Home Cookie Sundaes. Similarly, you could sell a DIY pizza kit with dough, sauce, cheese, and toppings for your guests to purchase and make themselves. It’s less work on your end for the same price. Sounds like a win-win, huh?

How to sell restaurant merchandise 

It’s time for some logistics. How can you fit merchandise into your daily restaurant operations? Here’s everything you need to know. 

Establish the products your consumers want 

Based on the different ideas we listed above, the first step is to decide what your customers want. Should you just sell t-shirts? Or could you sell some branded bottle openers too? Consider your brand, restaurant concept, and target audience when making this decision. If all else fails you could always send out a survey and get feedback from your staff and guests. 

Do some research 

Next, do your research! Go online and compare pricing for both vendors and competitors. What are the restaurant businesses around you selling? Look up restaurants with similar concepts and find inspiration for your own merch. Printing t-shirts can be expensive, before accepting a quote online talk to a representative and see if you can come to an agreement. 

Determine where to sell it 

Does your restaurant have a well-run website? A great restaurant website can attract new customers and raise the overall profile of your restaurant. If so, add a shop to your restaurant website. Shopify is a great option for your e-commerce sales. Shopify gets your restaurant online fast. So you can keep cooking without sacrificing what matters.

For in-person sales, make sure your POS is updated with all your merch items. Train your staff on how to add a beanie or a tshirt to a patron’s tab. This can also increase check sizes. Lastly, make sure your guests can see your merch. Give out some of the apparel to your staff so they can model it, and hang some up by your host stand so guests know they’re for sale. 

Check that you have the proper licenses

Although your restaurant already meets all licenses and permit qualifications, packaging items for sale may require further labeling. Your staff should already have their food handler’s card, but where are these sauces/seasonings going? The FDA regulates all food and ingredients for sale. Make sure you are meeting the proper labeling requirements when selling consumables. This may include nutrition facts, allergies, and refrigeration requirements. Check your local licenses and the FDA website for more information.  

Acquire the best technology to help 

POS - Your point-of-sale system should be able to handle as much or as little merchandise as you choose to sell. An important factor to consider here is how you will enter these items into your point of sale. To most efficiently sell retail, your POS should include a scanner to quickly add new products. 

For example, you can manage both your food service and retail businesses with Toast. With Toast SmartScan pulling in key metadata for new SKUs such as product image, vintage, abv, brand, and other key information is as simple as scanning a barcode with your mobile phone. Learn more about Toast Restaurant Retail here. 

Inventory management - Where are you going to store these new items, and when do you need to restock them? These are more logistics to think about when you open up a merch store in your restaurant. If you only have a few boxes of inventory, you can store them in dry storage or even in your restaurant office. If you have a surplus consider outsourcing s storage unit or renting a warehouse. However, you should avoid a surplus by tracking all your inventory. Some inventory tracking software options, especially for small business owners include:

• Cin7

• Ordoro 

• inFlow

• Zoho Inventory

How to market your restaurant merchandise

Now that you’ve established the best restaurant merch for your business and how to sell it, it’s time to market it. Creating marketing strategies for your new product launch will set you up for success for years to come, and here’s how. 

Social media 

You knew this one was coming. Post your new restaurant merch all over your social media accounts, and include a link to your online shop in your bio. Right now, short videos are popular so consider posting a quick Instagram Reel with all your new products! In your caption be authentic with your followers. Tell them how much you appreciate their support, and that you hope they like your new merch (link in bio!). 

Promotions 

Promote your new merch as much as possible! You can run giveaways on your social media, show them off around your restaurant, and much more. Here are a few more ways to promote your new restaurant merch.

Check presenter ads - these are an inexpensive yet effective way to get the word out! You can design a little ad on Canva or on your design software of choice, and print them out. Then attach the ads to all your check presenters so when a server cashes a guest out they see a preview of your amazing merch. Easy! 

Take out ads - the same ads you make for your check presenters can be stapled to your takeout orders. This way, you’re reaching all your customers both dine-in and takeout. You can also include merch options on your takeout menu to optimize your audience reach. 

Email

Already running email campaigns or newsletters? Add a direct link to your merch shop so users who aren’t actively in your restaurant can still purchase your new items! Also, seeing the ad over time might grow on your audience, then once they see your merch in person, they’ll make a purchase. 

Signage 

Lastly, there’s always good old signage. Signage has actually taken off as a trend over the last few years with people using attractive fonts in interior design, wedding decor, and photograph backdrops for social media. Consider adding an LED sign in your restaurant that reads “merch store”, or something else specific to your restaurant. This also creates a designated area for all things merch so you can stay organized. 

Increase your bottom line today

Adding new revenue streams to your business can help increase your restaurant's bottom line today. Make sure you’re using all the right technology and tools in 2023 to run a successful restaurant business.  The right POS, steps of service, and payroll & team management are essential in the competitive industry today. Toast is your all-in-one platform to help both your restaurant and retail business.