Restaurant CAC Calculator (Cafe & Bar)

Include expenses aimed at attracting *new* customers. Common examples:
- Advertising: Local newspaper ads, radio spots, social media boosted posts/ads, Google Ads.
- Promotions: Cost of discounts/offers specifically for first-time customers (e.g., 10% off first order).
- Materials: Printing flyers, promotional menus, table tents for new offers.
- Digital: Website hosting/updates related to promotions, email marketing campaigns targeting new subscribers, Local SEO efforts.
- Events: Costs for participating in local fairs or sponsoring community events to attract new faces.
- Delivery Apps: Fees specifically designated for marketing/promotion to *new* users on the platform (if separable from standard commission).
- Loyalty Programs: Initial setup costs or specific promotional costs aimed at getting *new* sign-ups (not ongoing reward costs).

This is often the trickiest part for restaurants. There's no perfect way without advanced tracking, but here are common methods:
- **Loyalty Program Signups:** Track the number of new members joining your program during the period. (Assumes most new members are new customers).
- **Unique Coupon Codes:** Use specific codes for 'first visit' offers distributed through ads or flyers and track redemptions.
- **POS System Data:** Some modern POS systems allow flagging new customers or tracking based on credit card info (check privacy compliance).
- **Server/Staff Input:** Ask staff to informally track or make notes on checks for apparent first-timers (less accurate).
- **Estimation:** Estimate a percentage of total covers/checks. For example, if you know historically ~20% of your customers are new each month, multiply total customers by 0.20. (Least accurate, but better than nothing).
The key is to choose a method you can apply *consistently* month over month to track trends.

Online reviews (Google, Yelp, etc.) have a significant *indirect* impact. Strong positive reviews build trust and social proof, attracting new customers organically or making your paid advertising more effective (higher conversion rates). This effectively lowers your blended CAC over time. Conversely, poor reviews can deter new customers, forcing you to spend more on marketing to overcome the negative perception, thus increasing your CAC.

While the primary goal of loyalty programs is **retention** (increasing Customer Lifetime Value - LTV), they touch CAC in a few ways:
- **Acquisition Incentive:** The initial offer to join the program (e.g., free appetizer on signup) is an acquisition marketing cost.
- **Justifying CAC:** A successful loyalty program that significantly boosts LTV makes it more sustainable to spend a certain amount (CAC) to acquire that customer initially, because you know they're likely to return and spend more.
- **Tracking New Customers:** As mentioned, tracking new loyalty signups can be one method to estimate new customer acquisition.

Third-party delivery apps are complex. They can expose your restaurant to new customers you might not otherwise reach. However, they charge high commission fees (often 15-30% or more) on each order.
From a CAC perspective:
- **High Effective CAC:** Think of the commission fee as a very high cost per order, which includes acquiring the customer for that specific transaction. If a $30 order has a 25% commission ($7.50), that $7.50 can be seen as the acquisition cost *for that order*. This is often higher than CAC from direct channels.
- **Limited Data/Relationship:** You typically don't own the customer data from these apps, making it hard to market to them directly or build loyalty for future, more profitable direct orders.
It's beneficial to track orders/customers acquired through apps versus your direct channels (website, phone, walk-in) to compare profitability and CAC.