December 9, 2024
TF #076: How to Handle Busy Seasons: Scaling Production for Holidays and Special Occasions
During the holiday season, people search for thoughtful, convenient gifts that bring joy and make life a little easier for their loved ones. A heat-and-eat meal subscription fits perfectly into the mix for those looking for unique, practical presents. It is a gift of convenience and nourishment and stands out from the usual offerings of holiday sweaters, gadgets, and gift cards.
For heat-and-eat meal delivery businesses, the holiday gifting season represents a fantastic opportunity to increase sales, expand your customer base, and grow brand loyalty. However, capitalizing on this demand requires careful preparation, attention to packaging, and creative promotion.
Here’s how you can prepare for the holiday gifting season, package your service for gift-givers, and promote your meal subscriptions in a way that resonates with your current subscribers and new customers looking for the perfect gift.
Before you promote meal subscriptions as gifts, it’s crucial to ensure that your business is equipped to handle the holiday rush. Proper preparation starts with forecasting demand, adjusting production schedules, and ensuring that your inventory can support the influx of orders.
Forecasting Demand
The first step in preparing for the holiday season is forecasting demand. Look at your historical sales data to understand the volume of orders you can expect in the lead-up to the holidays. If this is your first holiday season promoting meal subscriptions as gifts, consider market trends and consider running a pre-holiday promotion to gauge interest.
If you’ve offered holiday promotions in previous years, examine your performance. How many gift subscriptions were sold, and what time frames saw the most orders? Did you encounter any bottlenecks or delays during peak periods? Use this information to create a holiday sales forecast that helps you anticipate potential challenges.
Adjusting Production Schedules
You may need to adjust your production schedules to meet holiday demand. Consider scaling up your kitchen operations to accommodate additional orders or extending working hours during peak periods. If you’re offering a special holiday menu, have a dedicated production plan for your regular and holiday-specific orders.
Ensuring that you have enough staff to handle increased production is key. Hiring temporary staff or cross-training existing employees can help lighten the load during the holiday rush.
Managing Inventory
There is nothing like running out of key ingredients or packaging supplies that throws a wrench in holiday sales. Ensure your inventory is well-stocked, particularly when it comes to high-demand items that will be featured in your holiday menus or gift packages. Work closely with your suppliers to coordinate timely deliveries and avoid supply chain bottlenecks during the busiest weeks.
Consider stocking up on packaging materials early, especially if you plan to offer special holiday packaging (more on that later). Packaging suppliers may also experience delays due to increased holiday orders, so placing your orders well in advance is important.
When selling a service as a gift, presentation is everything. For meal delivery businesses, this means rethinking their packaging for the holiday season to make it feel special and festive. Your goal is to make the meals look great when they arrive and make the act of giving your service feel like a true gift experience.
Custom Holiday Packaging
Start by designing special holiday-themed packaging that sets your meals apart from regular orders. This could include custom-branded boxes with festive colors or holiday-specific illustrations. Don’t underestimate the power of packaging that makes the recipient feel like they’re receiving something extraordinary. Gift recipients should experience excitement and delight when they open their package, even if it’s something as practical as pre-cooked meals.
Consider using eco-friendly and aesthetically pleasing packaging materials that look luxurious yet align with sustainability goals. This might include recyclable boxes or compostable meal trays in holiday colors, adding decorative touches like ribbons or branded stickers to make the package look extra special.
Personalized Touches
Adding a personal touch to each gift subscription enhances the gifting experience. Include a customized holiday card in the box, with a personalized message from the gift-giver or a simple holiday greeting. Alternatively, you could let customers personalize the message when ordering the gift subscription online.
If your meal delivery service offers a variety of dishes, consider including a printed menu highlighting the different meals the recipient will enjoy, alongside instructions for storing and heating the food. You could even include a small bonus item, such as a holiday-themed dessert or a sample of a popular meal, to surprise and delight the recipient.
Gift-Ready Subscriptions
While the meals are the focus, creating a “giftable” experience for those purchasing your subscriptions is crucial. Offer the recipient the option of sending a gift box or a welcome kit. This kit could include a branded introduction to your service, a guide to using the meal subscription, and details on how the recipient can customize future orders.
Digital options are equally important. Offering a downloadable or printable gift certificate for last-minute shoppers is a great way to increase convenience. The ability to easily purchase, personalize, and send a meal subscription gift anytime makes your service more accessible to busy holiday shoppers.
To stand out in a sea of holiday advertisements, you must strategically promote your meal subscriptions as gifts. Your marketing should tap into the season’s values—convenience, thoughtful giving, and the joy of shared experiences.
Create a Holiday-Specific Campaign
Craft a dedicated holiday campaign around your meal subscription service. Highlight why meal subscriptions make the perfect gift—particularly during the busy holiday season when families juggle work, shopping, and holiday events. Emphasize how your service can help recipients save time and enjoy delicious meals without the hassle of cooking.
Use festive imagery, holiday colors, and customer testimonials in your marketing materials. If you’ve been in business for a while, showcase photos of past gift recipients enjoying their meals or share stories of how your service helped brighten their holiday season.
Offer Limited-Time Holiday Promotions
Create a sense of urgency with limited-time holiday promotions. Offering special discounts on gift subscriptions during the holiday season is a great way to encourage early sales. For example, you might provide a 10-15% discount on all gift subscriptions purchased before December 1st or bundle a few meals together at a lower price.
Another promotion could include a gift or upgrade with every subscription purchase—perhaps offering an extra meal, a holiday dessert, or an extended subscription period as an incentive for gift-givers.
Use Email Marketing to Reach Subscribers and Prospects
Your existing customer base is a valuable audience for holiday promotions. Send out email campaigns to current subscribers and leads in your database, letting them know about your holiday gifting options. Highlight the ease and convenience of giving a meal subscription as a thoughtful, practical gift.
Personalize your messaging by offering exclusive discounts to loyal customers or reminding them that they can gift subscriptions to family members, co-workers, or friends. For new prospects, emphasize the ease of signing up and gifting to create a seamless experience for first-time buyers.
Utilize Social Media and Influencer Marketing
Social media is a powerful tool for promoting your holiday gift subscriptions. Use platforms like Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok to share photos and videos of your holiday packaging, behind-the-scenes content from your kitchen, and customer testimonials.
Partnering with food influencers or local personalities can also help spread the word. Influencers can showcase your meal service as the perfect gift idea in their holiday gift guides or “unboxing” videos. Authentic endorsements from trusted voices will lend credibility to your brand and reach new audiences.
Partner with Corporations for Corporate Gifting
The holiday season is a prime time for corporate gifting, and meal delivery services can offer a unique solution. Contact local businesses and offer meal subscriptions as part of their holiday gifting plans for employees or clients. This could be especially appealing for companies looking to provide thoughtful, health-conscious gifts that support their employees’ well-being.
Consider offering corporate gift packages that allow businesses to purchase multiple subscriptions at a discounted rate. Highlight the ease of giving your service as a gift that can be appreciated long after the holiday season ends.
Make Gifting Easy, Delicious, and Thoughtful
The holiday gifting season presents a massive opportunity for meal delivery services to attract new customers and increase sales. By preparing your business for the rush, packaging your meal subscriptions festively and thoughtfully, and strategically promoting your service, you can position your heat-and-eat meal delivery as the perfect holiday gift.
Whether you’re appealing to busy families, corporate clients, or individuals looking for unique presents, offering a well-packaged, convenient meal subscription allows gift-givers to provide their loved ones with something practical and meaningful. With some planning and creativity, you can make the most of this festive season and watch your business grow.
