Restaurant Data: Sales Increase 65% on Valentine’s Day

Upserve and 7shifts have collaborated on a Valentine’s Day guide filled with data and insights to help restaurateurs make better business decisions during this restaurant-centric holiday.

Upserve’s data team pulled the numbers on Valentine’s Day’s most ordered items, table turn times, ticket sales, and more. Understanding what guests are looking for in a Valentine’s Day experience will help restaurant owners, managers, and chefs craft the perfect menu, create an ideal customer experience, and bring in more guests. Additionally, the team at 7shifts provides insights into staffing during this busy holiday, helping restaurateurs make smarter scheduling decisions.

Valentine’s Day Menu Ideas

• Lobster and steak dishes: It may seem cliche, but sales of these two items go up 78% and 62% respectively on Valentine’s Day.
• Heart-shaped pizzas: Get cute and casual by offering a themed version of everyone’s favorite food.
• Dessert specials: Guests are 50% more likely to order dessert on Valentine’s Day, so give them enough options to choose from. Red velvet cake, strawberry ice cream, and anything chocolate are all classics.

Valentine’s Day Sales and Staffing

No matter the location, restaurant sales increased on Valentine’s Day by 65% on average across the country, so restaurants need to make sure they are well-staffed and ready for the rush. (Valentine’s Day 2019 had 147% more time-off requests compared with the average Thursday, so planning ahead is key!) 

For more Valentine’s Day information, including the most popular menu items broken down by region, reservation trends, and a lookbook with menu inspiration, download the free guide. 

Upserve is the magic ingredient that helps restaurateurs become wildly successful, providing everything you need to manage a restaurant in a single hub. Upserve offers the market-leading cloud restaurant POS, actionable insights, transparent processing, automated inventory and ordering, workforce tools, and mobile restaurant management. 11,000 restaurants use Upserve to manage relationships with more than 57 million active diners, process over $10 billion in annual sales and serve over 36 million meals per month. Upserve is headquartered in Providence with an additional location in Denver.

7shifts helps restaurants of all sizes simplify their labor management, one shift at a time. With 7shifts, restaurants can optimize labor costs, retain staff, and stay labor compliant—so managers can focus on serving their customers and growing their business. Save 5 hours per week on scheduling, minimize staff calls & texts by 70%, and reduce your labor costs by integrating your Upserve POS. Join 250,000+ restaurant pros using 7shifts to simplify their life.