Shake it off: 5 ways for QSRs to prepare for Taylor Swift's Eras Tour
When Taylor Swift announced “The Eras Tour” in early November of 2022, the internet was set ablaze. Amid the frenzy were stories of resale tickets going for $40,000 a piece, and hotel rates jumping from $169 a night prior to the concert announcement, to $1,000 per night after it was announced – ruining already-booked wedding plans.
In fact, the tour is projected to make $590M in ticket sales alone. This bloated figure doesn’t take into account the accommodation, transportation, and retail spending in the tour’s host cities leading up to, during, and after the show.
When major headliners come to town, local hotels, restaurants, and transportation providers see spikes in demand that are difficult to meet without adequate preparation. For example, for the Era Tour’s Tampa, Florida stop on April 13 with beabadoobee and Gayle as the show's openers, the concert is expected to draw in a total of $10,894,216 as a result of Tay-Tay-driven spending in the city, including:
$3,696,188 for accommodation
$6,006,764 for restaurants
$1,191,264 for ground-based transportation
The 52-show concert tour runs from March through August 2023, making stops at several high-capacity stadiums along the way. What does this mean for local businesses in these cities? Let’s explore steps quick serve restaurants can take to make the most of the incoming demand caused by Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour.
How to maximize sales during concert-driven demand for your restaurant
Concerts typically attract hordes of excited people – many of whom may be looking for food and drinks before or after the event. This creates an increase in demand for fast casual restaurants in the area around the event venue.
Concerts impact QSR demand by drawing people away from their usual dining habits. If a big show is scheduled for the evening, people may be less likely to cook at home and more likely to eat out, which increases demand for fast food options. Concerts also impact the demand for fast casual restaurants by changing the types of food and drink that people are looking for. For example, people attending a concert may be looking for quick, convenient food that they can easily eat on the go. Let’s take a look at five examples of how to benefit from this increased demand by adapting your menu and operations to meet these changing preferences:
Increase staffing levels: It's important to have enough staff on hand to handle the expected increase in business when big names come to town. Prepare by adjusting staffing levels to ensure orders are hot, ready, and served quickly – which keeps customers happy, and coming back for more.
Offer limited-time specials: Attract more customers and drive sales by offering special deals or promotions to concert-goers, such as discounted meal combos or limited-time menu items. Perhaps a "Love Story” latte to wake concertgoers up, a hearty "All You Had to Do Was Steak” dinner, or a festive “Shake it Off” milkshake.
Promote the location: Draw in customers looking for a quick bite to eat by leveraging social media and other marketing channels to promote the fact that your restaurant is conveniently located near the concert venue.
Keep the menu simple: Reduce wait times and keep things running smoothly by keeping the menu simple, and focused on items that can be prepared quickly – which is especially helpful during events that bring in a large influx of foot traffic.
Prepare for super-sized orders: Some concert attendees may be looking to grab food for a group of people before or after the show. Use demand intelligence to ensure you’re ready to handle large orders, and have options available for bulk purchases.
By being proactive, QSRs can take advantage of the opportunity presented by a nearby show like the stops along Taylor Swift’s upcoming tour.
Discover demand-driving events impacting your business locations
The concert and event promotion industry is currently worth $51.3 billion as of 2022, but this figure is expected to increase each year, and is anticipated to surpass $65 billion in 2023.
PredictHQ aggregates, cleans, and enriches data on concerts and 18 other categories of events to give you insights on impactful performances and demand-driving events before they happen.
Sign up for your free PredictHQ account today to join the ranks of fast casual leaders using intelligent event data to align planning with demand caused by concerts and other local high-impact events.
