How Entertainment Influences Customer Spending at Bars and Restaurants

Great food and drinks bring customers through the door, but the overall experience often determines how long they stay, how much they spend, and whether they return.

For bars and restaurants, entertainment is more than an added attraction. It can be a valuable business strategy that encourages guests to stay engaged, order additional food and drinks, and make your venue part of their regular routine.

From trivia nights and Bingo to live sports and interactive games, the right entertainment can influence customer behavior in ways that support long-term revenue growth.

Here’s how entertainment affects customer spending and how your venue can make the most of it.

1. Entertainment Encourages Customers to Stay Longer

One of the most direct ways entertainment can influence spending is by giving customers a reason to extend their visit.

Without an activity, guests may finish their meals, pay their bills, and leave. But when there’s an engaging trivia game, Bingo session, or sporting event happening, they may decide to stay for another round.

Longer visits create additional opportunities for purchases, including:

• Another round of drinks
• Appetizers and shareable snacks
• Desserts
• Additional food orders

For example, a group that originally planned to stop by for one drink might stay through an entire trivia game, ordering food along the way.

However, longer visits don’t automatically mean higher profits. Venues should balance additional purchases against table availability and operating costs.

2. Interactive Games Create More Ordering Opportunities

Entertainment can influence not only how long customers stay but also when they order.

During interactive games, customers naturally experience breaks between rounds, questions, or activities.

These moments create opportunities for staff to offer additional drinks, appetizers, or desserts without interrupting the experience.

For example, a venue hosting trivia night could promote:

• Shareable appetizer platters for teams
• Food specials during the opening round
• Dessert promotions between games
• Nonalcoholic beverage specials

By aligning food and beverage promotions with entertainment, bars can encourage additional purchases while keeping the customer experience enjoyable.

3. Weekly Events Help Build Repeat Business

Attracting customers once is valuable. Giving them a reason to return regularly can be even more important.

Recurring entertainment creates habits.

When customers know that Tuesday means trivia night or Thursday means Bingo night, they have a reason to plan another visit.

Over time, these events can become part of their weekly social routine.

Popular recurring entertainment options include trivia nights, Bingo, poker, sports watch parties, and other interactive games.

The key is consistency. Hosting events on predictable days makes them easier to remember and promote.

4. Group Entertainment Can Increase Table Sales

Group activities create opportunities to attract multiple customers through a single event.

Trivia is particularly effective because friends, coworkers, and families can participate together.

Instead of one customer visiting alone, an event might encourage a group of four or six people to reserve a table.

Larger groups can create opportunities for additional food and beverage sales, particularly when venues offer shareable menu items.

Consider pairing group entertainment with:

• Team appetizer platters
• Pizza and snack combinations
• Group dining packages
• Trivia night food specials

The goal isn’t simply to increase attendance. It’s to create an experience that encourages groups to enjoy more of what your venue offers.

5. Entertainment Helps Fill Slower Nights

Many bars and restaurants experience inconsistent traffic throughout the week.

Friday and Saturday may attract steady crowds, while Monday through Wednesday can be more challenging.

Entertainment gives customers a reason to visit on nights they might otherwise stay home.

A well-promoted trivia night, for example, can transform an ordinary Tuesday into a recurring social event.

Rather than relying entirely on discounts, venues can offer an experience customers actively look forward to.

This approach can help improve revenue opportunities during traditionally slower periods without depending exclusively on lower menu prices.

6. Friendly Competition Encourages Customer Engagement

People enjoy competition, especially when it’s shared with friends.

Trivia leaderboards, Bingo challenges, and interactive games give customers something to discuss and celebrate.

A close trivia game can create excitement as teams compete for the top score. A Bingo session can keep participants engaged as they wait for the next number.

These experiences make visits more memorable.

And when customers associate your venue with enjoyable experiences, they may be more inclined to return and recommend it to others.

7. Entertainment Creates Opportunities for Better Promotions

Entertainment and promotions work especially well together.

Instead of offering generic discounts, bars and restaurants can create promotions around specific activities.

For example:

Entertainment	Promotional idea
Trivia Night	Team appetizer specials
Bingo Night	Featured food and drink combinations
NFL Game Day	Game-day snack platters
Poker Night	Evening dining specials
Weekly Trivia League	Rewards for repeat attendance

These promotions give customers a reason to purchase while participating in something they enjoy.

For the best results, keep promotions simple, easy for staff to manage, and aligned with your venue’s profit margins.

8. Entertainment Can Strengthen Customer Loyalty

Customers don’t always return to a bar because it has the lowest prices.

They often return because they enjoy the atmosphere, recognize the staff, and feel connected to the people around them.

Entertainment helps create those connections.

Regular trivia teams may begin recognizing one another. Bingo players might return with friends. Sports fans may make your venue their preferred place to watch important games.

These experiences can help turn occasional visitors into familiar faces.

Over time, a strong community of regular customers can support more consistent sales and word-of-mouth referrals.

9. How Buzztime Helps Bars and Restaurants Create Engaging Experiences

Buzztime provides interactive entertainment designed specifically for bars and restaurants.

Instead of relying on a single event format, venues can offer different games and experiences throughout the week.

Buzztime’s entertainment options include:

• Network Trivia: Scheduled trivia entertainment that customers can enjoy without a live host.
• Live Trivia: Host-led trivia events for groups and competitive players.
• Buzztime Bingo: Classic, Speed, Blackout, and Manual Bingo formats.
• Poker: Interactive poker entertainment.
• Predict the Pulse: Interactive prediction-based gameplay.
• Buzztime Bets: Sports-related interactive entertainment.

Buzztime also offers professionally written trivia content, automatic scoring, live leaderboards, smartphone gameplay, optional tablets, and TV integration through the Buzztime Game Room.

10. Measure How Entertainment Affects Your Revenue

Not every entertainment event will produce the same results.

To understand what’s working, compare business performance on event nights with similar nights without entertainment.

Track important metrics such as:

• Total sales: How much revenue the venue generates during an event.
• Average check size: Whether customers spend more per visit.
• Food and beverage sales: Which menu categories perform best.
• Customer attendance: How many guests participate or visit.
• Repeat visits: Whether customers return for future events.
• Event costs: Expenses associated with hosting and promoting entertainment.

For example, if Tuesday trivia consistently generates higher sales than comparable Tuesdays without an event, it may be worth investing more in promotions or expanding the entertainment schedule.

Looking at these metrics together helps determine whether entertainment is contributing to profitable growth.

Bring more excitement to your venue

Request a free Buzztime demo today and discover how trivia, Bingo, and interactive games can help create engaging experiences that keep customers coming back.