You run a place people walk into every day - and that is your biggest advantage. A restaurant, a hair salon or a corner shop have something many online stores dream of: a customer standing right next to you, ready to be handed something. A well-designed printed piece turns that moment into the next visit. In this guide we show you exactly what is worth printing - split by type of business.
- Print works best where the customer already is - at the till, in the bag, on the window.
- Restaurants win with menus, seasonal inserts and flyers with a delivery coupon.
- Service salons earn on vouchers, loyalty cards and a business card with the next appointment date.
- Shops draw people in with a window poster and sticker, plus a flyer slipped into the bag.
- One consistent identity, one clear message and one call to action - that is the foundation of every piece.
Restaurant and cafe - food sells with the eyes too
In hospitality, print works on two fronts: it helps the guest decide what to order now, and it makes them come back. Start with the basics, meaning menus and materials for hospitality - the calling card of your venue, held in the guest's hands for several minutes.
It pays to keep a main menu plus light seasonal inserts - summer lemonades, autumn soups, festive sets. You swap the insert in a minute, without reprinting the whole card. Add a lunch-offer flyer to leave in nearby offices, and a window poster that stops a passer-by on their way to work. The main card is usually a folded menu: it holds the whole offer, while the insert is replaced separately.
- Menus and seasonal inserts - the base plus a quick swap of today's offer.
- Lunch-offer flyers - for offices within a few streets.
- Window posters - one big dish photo and one slogan.
- Placemats and hangers - room for a promotion the guest reads at the table.
- Loyalty cards - the tenth coffee free still works.
- Flyers with a delivery coupon - dropped into every delivery order.
That last idea is underrated. A customer who ordered delivery once finds a flyer with a code for the next order in the parcel - and you have a ready reason for them to come back. A nice classic flyer with an appetising photo does more here than many an online ad.
On a seasonal insert, leave an empty frame on the back for a handwritten note - "today we recommend" or "soup of the day". A waiter fills it in with a marker, and the menu looks made just for this evening.
Service salon - hairdresser, beautician, barber
In a salon the customer sits with you for dozens of minutes and has time to read something. That is the perfect moment for print that builds future visits and sells services the guest has not thought of yet.
The basis is a clear price list - ideally one that sits on the counter and that the customer can take. Add a business card on which you write the next appointment date; the client tucks it into their wallet and always has the reminder on hand. Treat a well-made business card with room for a date as a small, walking advert for the salon.
- Price lists - clear, on the counter and to take away.
- Business cards with the next appointment date - a handwritten note is a ready reminder.
- Gift vouchers - a hit before the holidays, Mother's Day and Valentine's.
- Before-and-after posters - the transformation effect convinces best.
- Loyalty cards - the fifth colouring at a discount, the tenth cut free.
The gift voucher deserves its own sentence. It is a product that sells itself: someone buys it for their mum or a friend, and you gain a new customer who arrives already in a positive mood. A well-printed voucher on decent paper looks like a gift, not a receipt.
Shop - stop the passer-by and slip something into the bag
A brick-and-mortar shop fights for attention at two stages: before someone walks in and once they are inside. Print helps at both. On the window, posters and stickers do the work - big, clear, with one message: new collection, sale, new item on the shelf.
On a large advertising poster - up to SRA3 format, 320 × 450 mm - do not cram ten pieces of information. One photo, one slogan, one date - as much as a passer-by can read while walking past the display. The inside of the shop, in turn, is the place for price tags, labels and small flyers the customer finds after buying.
- Window posters and stickers - one message visible from the pavement.
- Flyers with new arrivals and promotions - at the till and into the hand.
- Price tags and labels - consistent with the rest of the materials, not random slips.
- Flyers slipped into purchases - a discount on the next shop or an event invitation.
A flyer in the bag is your cheapest salesperson. The customer unpacks at home, finds a card with a discount code for the next visit - and you already have a reason for them to return. It is worth making that flyer look like part of the brand, not like an office printout.
Rules shared by every business
Whether you run a bistro, a salon or a toy shop, a few rules always repeat. Stick to them and your materials will start to look like a thought-through whole, not a pile of random prints.
A consistent identity
The menu, flyer, business card and poster should look like siblings - the same colours, the same font, the same logo. When a customer sees your material for the fifth time, they recognise the brand without reading the name. That builds trust faster than any copy.
One clear message and a call to action
Every piece has one main job. A window poster invites people inside. A coupon flyer nudges the next order. Do not mix goals. At the end, always state what the customer should do - "call and book a table", "show the coupon at the till", "come in and ask about a transformation".
A QR code as a bridge to the online world
A small QR code on a flyer or poster leads straight to Instagram, to a Google listing with reviews or to a map with directions. The customer does not retype an address - they scan and they are already with you online. It is the simplest way to make paper and the internet play toward the same goal. If you want each of these materials to truly stick, read our post on how to design promotional materials your customer remembers.
Before you order a large run, print a single copy and place it where it is meant to go - on the table, counter or window. Look at it from the distance a customer will see it. Often only then do you notice the slogan is too small or the photo too dark.
Where to hand it all out locally
The best material does nothing if it stays in a box under the counter. Local distribution is simpler than it seems - you just need to use the places people already pass through.
- At the till - a flyer stand where the customer waits for change.
- Into the bag or parcel - every purchase and every delivery leaves with a small piece inside.
- Into local letterboxes - flyers with a concrete offer for the nearest streets.
- Cooperation with neighbouring venues - leave your flyers at the florist next door and their materials at yours. You both gain new customers without spending a penny on advertising.
That last rule is often the most effective. A hair salon and a nail studio, a cafe and a bookshop, a toy shop and a play area - businesses that share the same customer can recommend each other. All it takes is swapping materials and placing them somewhere visible.
Print in local business is not a relic - it is the most direct way to reach someone who is already right there. Start with one well-thought-out material, see how it performs and grow the set. And if you are not sure where to begin, start with a single piece from our classic flyers offer - and see how it works in your place.
