Boost Your Bar’s Revenue with a Deep Dive into Illinois Happy Hour Law
In hospitality, those pouring shots and wings are often lasered in on generating more revenue, not concerned about the legalities of all that is going on around them. One area that can impact revenue, but may be off the radar, legitimize it or not, may be compliance with certain local laws. For example, the regulations surrounding happy hours in Illinois have specific parameters, and even a call to action for local entities. It is important that organizations comply with the regulation, for many reasons, including marketing opportunities.
Google “illinois happy hour law” and you will find reams of information focused on what it is, who it impacts, and all kinds of “how to” articles. Instead of rehashing those again, we’re going to focus on how knowledge of this local legal regulation can be leveraged for marketing purposes.
First, what exactly is the Illinois Happy Hour Law? The law, according to Hospitality Law, is that “No retailer may increase the volume of alcohol permitted to be served to a patron by a particular alcoholic liquor beverage at any one time. This prevents a retailer from selling more than one drink to a customer (such as two-for-one drink specials) or from reducing the price of a single drink during a happy hour.”
Violating this law is punishable and those found to be in violation may be prohibited from selling alcohol for 30 days, or fined up to $500.
Advertising that directly mentions the availability of happy hours is prohibited in the state of Illinois. The laws are meant to help protect underage drinkers, and ensure that establishments do not accelerate rates of intoxication in patrons. While you may agree or disagree with these laws, they are what they are; they exist for a reason, and likely not being taken under advisement with your local bar owners.
Why is this exactly good to know? Let’s play out the scenario of the bartender and restaurant down the street from you, who does not abide by the law. They change the menu up every night, on a whim, and offer unadvertised drink formats like “buy the bottle” or “all-you-can-drink night.”
While they may beat you in organic search results on Google for “happy hour,” Yelp and other platforms, the truth is that they may be doing tremendous damage to the entire industry. Not only are they violating the law, but they also are damaging the reputation of the industry, because the media will likely get ahold of this, and amplify the risk.
Which brings me to the positive: by fully advertising and promoting that your bar abides by Illinois law, you are marketing your brand as an industry leader. You have a staff that is trained, you have nailed the menus and drinks, you are not involve in any kind of piracy when it comes to selling liquor, and your a trustworthy aspect of the town.
Most importantly, you are not cheating your customers out of revenue. This may be a good or bad thing, depending on how you look at it.
In fact, many businesses leverage their competitive advantage to drive traffic and sales. This is the same logic: as a business that specializes in compliant happy hour offerings, you are offering an experience that is not only compliant, but something that is enjoyable and at a good price point.
This can be highlighted in all forms of marketing automation, like emails, eNewsletters, promotional offerings on flyers and the website, and on social media – let folks know that your bar is legal as the day is long, and that there isn’t any muddy water under this bridge.
An example of this could be: Happy Hour at ABC Restaurant. $1 Off All Drinks (or whatever law-compliant discount you can give). Not only is it clear that you are advertising what you sell legally, but it provides an opportunity to explain in a call-to-action how and why it is legal. In a time like this, it can become even more important to “sell” a brand to local customers, as they are your bread and butter, and essential to the day-to-day operations of the business.
When you know the law, you can leverage it for marketing, optimizing revenue, and then improving the bottom line.
Then the next time someone in Illinois were to Google “Illinois Happy Hour Law,” they may be led to a blog like this one.
