Halloween (31 October) is behind only Christmas and Easter in the ‘spending stakes’, and has become immensely popular, with sales of related products topping £300 million in the UK last year. It is therefore at the forefront of autumn planning for Orchid Group’s Free House Dining pubs, where sales are predicted to rise by up to 12% this year – an attractive prospect to any business!
Bella Kirkton, Marketing Executive for Free House Dining, explains:
“The influence of popular occult TV programmes, films and books such as Twilight, Supernatural, The Vampire Diaries, and the Harry Potter films is huge and has really helped take Halloween’s popularity to new heights.
“Add to that the large volume of people staying home over the summer to watch the Olympics on TV, we’re confident Britons will make up for the lack of summer partying this Halloween.
“Families are willing to loosen the purse strings for a spooktacular Halloween, and we go all-out to help them celebrate.”
The colder and darker, the better!
One of the biggest advantages of Halloween is that it’s not weather-dependent. In fact, the colder and darker it is, the better! At this time of year people are getting used to spending more time indoors, so when taking the family out, a pub meal and a trip to Fuzzy Ed’s Funhouse are the ideal alternatives.
For Free House Dining pubs, Halloween is all about providing a fun, welcoming atmosphere for everyone. The activities will help to keep footfall up and boost business at a quieter time of year. It has added benefits too, such as increasing the customer database and ensuring repeat visits.
Hands-on parties and activities
The key to Orchid’s Halloween success lies in a range of parties and activities that are hands-on and encourage customers to stay in the pub for longer. This results in a lift in sales.
For example, Bostin Fittle’s Halloween disco last year increased sales by 39.5%. And the Grapes Inn in Shrewsbury held a weekend of events including a ghost hunt, spooky games and fancy dress disco, which saw sales rise by 57.7% over the previous weeks.
The Coulby Farm always gets right into the spirit – it is rumoured to be haunted – so Halloween efforts there focus on tempting the ghoul to come out and say hello. Last year the pub was packed with ghost hunters, and food sales were up 35.6%.
At the Hobby Horse in Chesterfield last year, Halloween ran for a whole week, with all sorts of ghoulish activities. “We had face painting, find the wizard, find the fangs, paint a ghost competition and our finale fancy dress disco,” says General Manager Brian Henderson.
“The children came in fancy dress, and so did most of the parents and staff. I had a tough job choosing the winners! It was a fantastic “Halloweek” and probably our best of the year for customers and our sales.”
Orchid’s pubs with Fuzzy Ed’s Funhouses have always held a Halloween party for the kids. These have been a massive success and usually sell out, so this year, Free House Dining pubs without the kids play centres are getting on board too.
And for this year…
Among the Halloween activities and promotions planned for this year across all Orchid’s free House Dining pubs are:
- Halloween Party at Free House Dining pubs – including buffet and entertainment for all the family for just £5 per adult and £2.50 per child.
- Three Fuzzy Ed’s Halloween parties – giving the kids the chance to let off steam, while parents relax.
- Free kids meal offer – issued to dining customers over Halloween to be redeemed for a free kids’ meal with an adult main meal in November.
- Spooky Sharing Sundae – a delightfully devilish dessert with special creepy toppings.
- Colouring competition – kids can get creative with the chance to win a three-course meal for their family.
- Decorations, balloons, fancy dress, face painting, party games and more.
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