It is 10 am on a Thursday and the rain has not stopped since dawn. The milk is steamed, the pastries are out, and three tables are full. The regulars who live two streets away are at home, making coffee in their own kitchens.
Rain is the one slow day you can see coming. This post gives you rainy day marketing ideas for cafes that work before the rain starts. It also covers what to do when the cafe is empty right now.
Why rain empties a cafe
People decide about tomorrow the night before. They look at the forecast, see rain, and plan to stay in. By the time the rain falls, the choice is already made.
That is why a sign on the door does not help. Nobody walks past it. A post on social media at 11 am does not help much either. Your regulars have already made coffee at home.
Rain also changes who comes. Walk-in customers drop the most, because nobody strolls in the rain. Office workers stay at their desks. The people who still come live or work very close. Or they plan to sit for a while.
So a rainy day plan has two parts:
- Reach people the evening before, while they still decide.
- Give the people who do come a reason to stay, and give the rest a way to order.
What an empty rainy day costs
Here is an example. Change the numbers to match your own shop.
Say your cafe serves 150 customers on a normal weekday. The average sale is $7. That is $1,050 for the day. Now say rain cuts the day by 15%. That is 22 fewer customers, or about $157 less.
That does not sound like much. But count the wet weekdays in a year. If there are 50, that is about $7,850 in lost sales. Your rent, staff and power cost the same on a wet day as on a dry one.
| Number | Example |
|---|---|
| Customers on a normal weekday | 150 |
| Average sale | $7 |
| Sales on a normal day | $1,050 |
| Customers lost to rain (15%) | 22 |
| Sales lost on one wet day | about $157 |
| Wet weekdays in a year | 50 |
| Sales lost in a year | about $7,850 |
To see how many customers your day needs just to cover its costs, use the free Break-even calculator. Then you know how far below the line a wet day puts you.
10 rainy day marketing ideas for cafes
Tell people before it rains
1. Check the forecast at the same time each day. Pick one time, such as 4 pm. Look at tomorrow and the day after. If rain is coming, you have time to act. If you only look in the morning, you are already late.
2. Send the message the evening before. Early evening is when people plan tomorrow. A short email at 6 pm works well. Name the day and the weather. Say what is waiting for them. "Rain tomorrow. The window seats are yours, and the soup is on from 11."
3. Keep it short and specific. One day, one reason, one thing to try. "Come in this week" is easy to ignore. "Hot chocolate with a free refill, Thursday only" gives a reader a plan.
4. Only write to people who said yes. Ask customers for permission when they join your list. Write to those people only. A small list of people who want to hear from you beats a big list of strangers.
Bring the coffee to them
5. Put your delivery link in every rainy day message. If you are on a delivery app, the rainy day is the day to say so. Many people who will not walk in the rain will still order. Add the link to the message, and name one item to order.
6. Offer a rainy day bundle for nearby offices. Four coffees and four pastries, for one price, delivered or ready for pickup. Walk the offer to the offices near you on a dry day. Then send them one note when rain is forecast.
Give the people who come a reason to stay
7. Offer the room itself. On a wet day the best seat is the offer. A warm room, a free refill on filter coffee, a place to charge a phone, and strong wifi. Say this in the message. People who work from home often want a place to sit on a gray day.
8. Give a double stamp on wet days. If you run a stamp card, give two stamps for every visit when it rains. It costs you nothing today, and it gives a regular a reason to come out. Tell them in the evening message.
9. Put out small comforts. An umbrella stand by the door. A towel for wet dogs. A hook for coats. A sign that says "Dry off, stay a while". These cost little and make people stay longer.
10. Use the quiet hours well. If the room is still quiet, use the time. Prep for the weekend. Train a new team member on the machine. Take photos of the food for next week. Write down how many customers came in, so you can compare next time.
For more ideas that work on any quiet day, read 15 ways to increase restaurant sales on slow days.
What to do when the cafe is empty right now
Sometimes the forecast was wrong, or you did not look. It is noon and the room is empty. You can still do a few things.
- Send a short message to your list now. Keep it to the next two hours. "Quiet here, and the kettle is on. Free cookie with any drink until 3 pm."
- Post one photo on your Google Business Profile and social media. Show the warm room inside.
- Call your regular office orders and ask if they want a delivery.
- Give the staff a job that helps tomorrow.
A same-day message reaches fewer people than one sent the evening before. But a few extra tables on a wet afternoon still matter.
Where KANJIN helps
KANJIN is a set of tools for small shops. We make it, so read this part knowing that.
Free: the list, and the count of wet days
The free Stamp card is a digital stamp card. The customer's phone number is the card, and there is no app to download. Customers can join from their own phone by scanning the QR code on the Counter poster. The first time, they can give an email and tick a marketing yes. That is the list from idea 4.
Staff set how many stamps each visit gives with the − and + buttons. So a double stamp on a wet day (idea 8) needs no extra setup.
The free Lost revenue screen counts the wet days where you are. It uses one year of daily rainfall at your location. A day with one millimeter of rain or more counts. It also shows your slowest weekday, from your own Stamp card visits.
On the free plan you can send one email a month to up to 150 people.
Paid: the Rainy day email and the slow-day email
These two are part of the paid plan, Paid plan.
Rainy day shows the week's forecast for your shop, and writes the email for the wet day you pick. Here is how it works.
- Set where your shop is, once. The forecast is read for that place. The forecast comes from MET Norway, the Norwegian weather service.
- Look at the next seven days. Wet days are marked. A wet day is rain, snow or a storm in the forecast.
- Tap a day. KANJIN writes the email for it, with the weather, the day and your shop name. Change any word you like.
- Add a discount code if you want one. Pick the delivery or booking link from the ones you saved in Settings.
- Choose when it goes: Now, The evening before, 6 pm, or That morning, 9 am. These times are your shop's time, from the time zone in Settings.
- Press Send. It goes to the customers who gave an email and said yes to offers.
Nothing sends by itself. You see the forecast, you pick the day, and you press Send. A wet week is not seven emails unless you send seven. Each Rainy day email counts as one of your two marketing emails a week. The screen shows how many are left.
The slow-day email is for the empty room right now. Open the slow-day email under Marketing. Pick a reason, such as Empty room. KANJIN writes the first draft. Type a coupon code word for the counter. Then press Send now, or pick a time such as tomorrow at 9 am. The screen shows how many people will get it before you press. It also counts as one of your two marketing emails a week.
The Paid plan is $39 per location a month, or $390 a year. The first 100 shops keep a founder price of $29 a month. Billing is not live yet. The paid plan is switched on by hand for our first shops, and nothing is charged until you choose to start it. The plan pays for itself if it brings in one table of two.
One limit to know. KANJIN can send email for shops in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand for now. In other countries the Stamp card and the Lost revenue screen still work. The email screens say email is not available there yet.
Frequently asked questions
What should a cafe do on a rainy day? Tell your regulars the evening before, while they still plan tomorrow. Put your delivery link in the message. Then make the room worth the walk: a warm seat, a free refill, or a double stamp.
When is the best time to send a rainy day promotion? The evening before, around 6 pm, works best for most cafes. People plan tomorrow in the evening. A message on the morning of the rain reaches them after many have decided to stay in.
Do rainy day promotions work for restaurants too? Yes. The same idea works: reach people before they decide, and give them a way to order. For a restaurant, a delivery link and a set dinner for two often do more than a discount.
What do I do when my cafe is empty? Send your list a short message about the next two hours. Give one clear reason to come in. Call your office customers about a delivery. Use the quiet time to prepare for the next busy day.
Should I give a discount on rainy days? You do not have to. A warm room, a free refill or an extra stamp often works as well. If you use a discount, keep it to that one day, so regulars do not learn to wait for rain.
Your next step
Find out what wet days cost your shop. Put your own numbers into the free Break-even calculator. Then create a free account and put the Stamp card on your counter. You will have a list to write to before the next rain.