There are more than 1.3 million active-duty military members. Including their spouses and children, there are over 1.5 million additional active-duty military family members.
So what does this mean for you as a food truck owner? It means there’s a big opportunity to expand your customer base while also helping your local community. You can do this by offering a discount to military members and their families.
Read on for reasons why your food truck should offer a military appreciation discount, and how this simple discount can be beneficial to you and your military customers.
Gain a New Loyal Customer Base
When you advertise a military discount, word travels among military families. This discount will attract hungry military members to your food truck during their lunch break.
Once you create a customer base, you want to keep them coming back for more. They’ll start to bring their co-workers along. Soon enough, they will bring their families even on their days off.
Serve Military Bases
One of the perks of owning a food truck business is that you can take your business to any part of town. To connect with military members and their families, look up nearby military bases and see if you can operate there once or twice a week. You’ll need to make sure and get the necessary permissions before setting up nearby.
Build Your Company Image
Not only will you build a great reputation with military families, but a military discount (and veteran’s discount) shows non-military people that you care. Chances are, they have a friend or relative that serves. Because of this, they are also more likely to recommend your business to others.
Help Your Business
Though at first it seems counter-intuitive, offering any discount will drive up your business.
For example, customers eligible for the discount might end up buying more because it seems like they are saving money. In the case of the year-round military discount, your military customers will visit more often, increasing sales over time.
Show Your Support
Military discounts benefit everyone involved. Military families, especially younger military families with children, live on tight budgets. Financially, offering a discount helps them save a little bit of money when feeding their families. More so, it shows that you support and salute their service.
How Much to Offer for a Military Discount
Most restaurants or stores with a year-round military discount offer somewhere between 10-15% off for military members and their families.
Along with the year-round military discount, consider upping the amount for anything surrounding military appreciation holidays or events. Military appreciation discounts work well for Memorial Day weekend, the Fourth of July, and Veteran’s Day. This would be a great time to offer 20-25% off, to show military members and their families how much you appreciate their service.
Show Your Military Appreciation With a Discount
From gaining a new customer base to showing your support for the armed forces, there are multiple reasons why your food truck should offer a military discount. Start offering a military discount today; your customers will appreciate it.
For more tips on how to successfully run your food truck business, check out the rest of our blog.