In this six minute read:
- How much do bakeries make on a typical day?
- What time of year are bakeries busiest?
- How National Doughnut Day impacts each state
- How to get the most out of National Doughnut Day if you own a bakery or donut shop
Whether they spell it doughnut or donut, Americans love those little glazed pastries.
In fact, Americans eat about 10 billion donuts each year—that’s about 31 donuts per person per year, or 2.58 donuts per person each month! So, it should come as no surprise that National Doughnut day, celebrated on the first Friday in June every year, is one of the rare national “food” holidays actually rooted in rich history.
The Salvation Army created National Doughnut Day all the way back in 1938 in an effort to raise money during the Great Depression while also honoring their members who served doughnuts to soldiers during World War I.
So, does this rich and lengthy history translate into big business for local bakeries? Or have health-food trends moved Americans away from those glazed rings of fried dough?
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To answer these questions and more, we analyzed transaction trends at more than 2,100 local, independent bakeries across the country during every single day of the year. (Note: this includes both donut shops and traditional bakeries who may or may not also sell donuts).
Before looking at National Doughnut Day, we first determined what a typical day looked like at the average bakery.
How much do bakeries make on an average day throughout the year?
On a typical day, bakeries average around 33 to 34 customers, who spend an average of $16.62 per order. Add that all up, and the average daily sales revenue is about $560 at bakeries and donut shops.
A few themes appear as we look at a month-by-month breakdown of revenue at local bakeries.
Things start slow in January, no doubt due to millions of Americans setting New Year’s resolutions to swear off sweets and carbs. But things quickly rebound with a Valentine’s Day spike.
Easter brings the next bump in revenue before things settle into a consistent baseline before the Holidays close out the year as the biggest time for bakeries.
Which brings us to National Doughnut Day. While clearly not a bakery behemoth on par with Easter or Christmas, does it still move the needle for local bakeries?
People spent 57% more money at bakeries nationwide on National Doughnut Day than on a typical day, making it the 8th biggest day of the year for bakeries. So clearly, the holiday is enough to drive substantial business for bakeries. So let’s take a closer look to see what the day looks like for local bakeries.
How much do bakeries and donut shops make on National Doughnut Day?
When local businesses see an increase in daily sales revenue, it always comes down to one of two things: either their customers are spending more per order, or more customers are making purchases. In many cases, an increase in daily revenue is a blend of those two factors (Christmas Eve, for example, sees bakeries experience a 46% increase in transactions and a 53% increase in average ticket size).
Things are different on National Doughnut Day.
As you can see, bakeries experience a 31% increase in sales revenue almost entirely driven by a 29% increase in transactions. While there was a 2% increase in the size of each customer’s order, it’s clear that National Doughnut Day is big for bakeries because more people are buying donuts, not because people are buying more donuts.
Again, this is among all bakeries. It’d be a safe bet to assume that donut shops or bakeries that specialize in donuts would see much larger increases in transactions and revenue than bakeries that specialize in something like cakes or pies.
How National Doughnut Day impacts each state
Curious if people in your state love donuts as much as the rest of America?
Below you’ll find each state’s average daily revenue, the amount each customer spent, and how many customers purchased from bakeries and donut shops on National Doughnut Day. We’ve also included a national ranking of each state based on the average revenue for local shops in that state.
While Americans in general love donuts, those who live in Nebraska, Missouri, California, and North Carolina have taken their love to the next level.
- #1 Minnesota bakery revenues increased 87%
- #2 Oregon bakery revenues increased 80%
- #3 Tennessee bakery revenues increased 71%
- #4 Indiana bakery revenues increased 68%
- #5 Ohio bakery revenues increased 63%
For a quick reference, here’s the national snapshot of revenue for local bakeries and donut shops on National Doughnut Day. See how your state compares!
- Day Rank: 8th
- Daily Revenue: $731
- Purchase Price: $16.88
- Transactions: 44
Quick note: Unfortunately, Alaska, Montana, West Virginia, Wyoming, North Dakota, Delaware, Vermont, and New Hampshire didn’t didn’t have enough data for local bakeries to be included in this analysis.
| STATE | RANK | DAILY REVENUE | VS TYPICAL DAY | PURCHASE PRICE |
TRANSACTIONS
|
| Alabama | 14 | $505 | 38% | $17.58 | 29 |
| Arkansas | 25 | $490 | 25% | $14.71 | 33 |
| Arizona | 35 | $612 | 8% | $16.69 | 37 |
| California | 16 | $751 | 35% | $16.85 | 45 |
| Colorado | 22 | $738 | 27% | $18.97 | 39 |
| Connecticut | 41 | $454 | -8% | $17.91 | 25 |
| Florida | 29 | $718 | 16% | $18.98 | 38 |
| Georgia | 37 | $584 | 5% | $19.34 | 30 |
| Hawaii | 34 | $962 | 10% | $18.80 | 51 |
| Iowa | 28 | $421 | 17% | $18.85 | 22 |
| Idaho | 21 | $634 | 28% | $10.15 | 63 |
| Illinois | 36 | $617 | 7% | $17.86 | 35 |
| Indiana | 4 | $1,306 | 68% | $14.19 | 92 |
| Kansas | 27 | $803 | 19% | $15.37 | 52 |
| Kentucky | 8 | $993 | 54% | $15.20 | 65 |
| Louisiana | 31 | $570 | 13% | $15.32 | 37 |
| Massachusetts | 33 | $810 | 10% | $19.95 | 41 |
| Maryland | 19 | $1,305 | 29% | $27.99 | 47 |
| Maine | 26 | $637 | 20% | $13.49 | 47 |
| Michigan | 20 | $928 | 29% | $21.08 | 44 |
| Minnesota | 1 | $1,520 | 87% | $27.32 | 56 |
| Missouri | 6 | $725 | 60% | $14.18 | 51 |
| Mississippi | 30 | $577 | 14% | $16.92 | 34 |
| North Carolina | 23 | $726 | 26% | $19.67 | 37 |
| Nebraska | 10 | $670 | 50% | $16.78 | 40 |
| New Jersey | 40 | $597 | -6% | $18.26 | 33 |
| New Mexico | 11 | $651 | 45% | $13.15 | 50 |
| Nevada | 9 | $807 | 51% | $23.90 | 34 |
| New York | 39 | $587 | 1% | $19.48 | 30 |
| Ohio | 5 | $825 | 63% | $19.61 | 42 |
| Oklahoma | 13 | $529 | 39% | $11.17 | 47 |
| Oregon | 2 | $1,398 | 80% | $18.31 | 76 |
| Pennsylvania | 12 | $758 | 43% | $17.36 | 44 |
| Rhode Island | 42 | $818 | -13% | $19.47 | 42 |
| South Carolina | 38 | $493 | 3% | $19.56 | 25 |
| South Dakota | 24 | $641 | 26% | $13.78 | 47 |
| Tennessee | 3 | $680 | 71% | $14.75 | 46 |
| Texas | 15 | $583 | 36% | $13.62 | 43 |
| Utah | 7 | $1,867 | 55% | $17.31 | 108 |
| Virginia | 32 | $698 | 12% | $19.58 | 36 |
| Washington | 17 | $1,177 | 33% | $17.17 | 69 |
| Wisconsin | 18 | $755 | 30% | $19.11 | 40 |
How to get the most out of National Doughnut Day if you own your own bakery or donut shop
Do you own your own bakery or donut shop? If so, do you see National Doughnut Day (or other special food “holidays”) drive big business for your shop?
It’s clear that National Doughnut Day drives more customers in the doors of local bakeries, and particularly so if those bakeries sell donuts. This might sound obvious, but there’s a good chance that bakeries across the country aren’t taking advantage of the extra business National Doughnut Day can drive through their door.
If you’re a donut shop, take advantage of the numerous free advertising options for local businesses out there to get the word out about your shop being the place to visit on National Doughnut Day. If you’re a bakery that doesn’t specialize in donuts, consider adding them to the menu for National Doughnut Day! Spread the word and drum up excitement.
Check out our post on 4 crucial steps to building an effective small business marketing plan for even more ideas and suggestions.
Finally, if you truly want to get the most out of big days that drive extra customers to your business, you’ll want to make sure you have a way to capture customer information to bring those customers back in your door when things start to slow down again.
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