How to increase same-store sales

To increase same-store sales, first split the number into its two parts: traffic, meaning the number of orders, and average ticket, meaning sales per order. Comp sales can only grow if one of those grows. Then work the lever that fits the part that is weak. To grow orders, add catering, push your own online ordering, do local outreach you can measure and keep the peak hours fast. To grow ticket, add add-ons, combos and a well-timed price change.

Most owners look at comp sales as one number and react to it. That hides the most important fact. A store can post nearly flat sales while losing 7% of its customers, because a price increase covered the gap. That store does not need a promotion. It needs its customers back.

What are same-store sales?

Same-store sales, also called comp sales or like-for-like sales, compare sales at stores that were open in both periods. If you opened two new stores this year, your total sales grew. Your comp sales tell you whether the stores you already had grew.

A common rule is that a store joins the comp base once it has been open a full year. Some brands wait longer, so the opening bump is out of the numbers. Pick one rule and apply it the same way every month.

Comp sales are usually compared with the same period last year, because that takes out the seasons. A burger store in Greeley does not sell the same in January and July, and comparing those two months tells you nothing.

How to calculate same-store sales growth

The formula:

• Same-store sales growth = (this period's sales at comp stores − same period last year at the same stores) ÷ same period last year.

Use net sales, after discounts and before tax, for both periods. Only include stores in the comp base. Compare matching days of the week. This October has a different mix of Fridays and Saturdays than last October, so many operators compare against 364 days earlier, which lines up the weekdays.

Fort Collins opened in June, so it stays out of the comp base until next June. Including it would have made October look far better than it was.

Traffic vs ticket: split the number before you act

Sales are orders times average ticket. So sales growth comes from more orders, a bigger ticket, or both. Your POS already reports both.

Provo's sales only fell 1.6%. On a single line, that looks like a soft month. Split out, it is 700 fewer orders, covered by a menu price increase. Prices can rise again. Lost customers are much harder to win back.

Read the four combinations like this:

• Orders up, ticket up. Healthy growth. Find out what is working and repeat it.
• Orders up, ticket down. Often a cheaper mix or a promotion. Check add-on attach rates.
• Orders down, ticket up. The most common hidden problem. Price is covering lost traffic.
• Orders down, ticket down. Fewer customers spending less. Start with traffic.

How to grow traffic

Traffic is the harder of the two to move and the more valuable. Every new order is also a chance to raise the ticket.

• Catering. One office catering order can be worth 15 or more counter orders. Call nearby offices, schools and gyms. Our guide on how to grow catering sales covers how to build the list.
• Your own online ordering. Make it easy to find and fast to use. You keep more of each sale, and you know who ordered so you can ask them back. See first-party vs third-party online ordering.
• Local marketing you can measure. Neighborhood events, school nights and offers tied to one code, so you can count the orders they bring in. See local restaurant marketing.
• Speed at peak. A slow lunch line turns customers away at the door and in the drive-thru. Staff to the forecast on next week's schedule. See how to improve speed of service.
• Reviews. A customer choosing between you and the place next door reads the rating first.

Find the hours and days that dropped

Before you pick a lever, compare orders by daypart and day of week against last year. If Provo's drop is all weekday lunch, office catering and speed at noon are the first places to look. If it is weekend dinner, local outreach to families fits better.

How to grow average ticket

Ticket is easier to move, and it adds up fast across thousands of orders.

• Add-ons. Fries, a drink, a dessert, a premium topping. Ask for them every time, on every channel. Online ordering can suggest them on every order.
• Combos. A clear combo price lifts ticket and speeds up ordering.
• Bigger catering orders. Add drinks, sides and dessert trays to every quote.
• Menu prices. A price change raises ticket at once, but watch orders closely for the next eight weeks. Read how to raise menu prices without losing customers first.

For more ideas on this side of the equation, see how to increase average check.

None of these needs a discount. Each one is a specific thing whoever runs the store can do next week.

Common mistakes with comp sales

• Including new stores. It flatters the number and hides weak stores.
• Comparing mismatched days. One extra Saturday can swing a month by a couple of points.
• Reading sales without orders. Price increases hide traffic loss for months.
• Reacting to one week. Weather, a holiday shift or a local event can move a single week. Look at four-week trends.
• Using discounts to buy traffic. Orders come in, ticket falls, and margin goes with it. Grow orders through channels and service first.
• Judging every store against the system average alone. Compare each store with its own last year first, then with similar stores.

A weekly same-store sales habit

Keep it to one short check, the same day each week.

1. Pull last week's net sales, orders and average ticket for each comp store, against the same weeks last year.
2. Mark each store in one of the four traffic and ticket boxes.
3. For any store with orders down, find the daypart and day that dropped.
4. Pick one lever for that store and put it on next week's plan: five catering calls, a staffing change on next week's schedule, or an add-on push at lunch.
5. Check the same numbers next week.

AI COO does this check for you. It reads each store's POS sales and orders, compares each store with its own recent weeks and with the middle store in its brand, and each morning sends the owner at most one specific lever per store. See how AI COO works.

General information for restaurant and franchise operators, not legal, tax, accounting or financial advice. Figures in examples are illustrations, not predictions or promises of results. Laws and platform policies change and differ by location, so check the current rules and talk to a qualified advisor about your situation.