With summer here, people are looking to spend more time outside to make the most of the fabulous weather. For businesses, this can be both a positive and a negative. It can help drive trade. People are outside enjoying activities and coming into contact with shops, cafés, bars and restaurants. However, people may be reluctant to go inside for long periods as they wish to make the most of the good weather and spend time outside.
For this reason, businesses need to do everything they can to attract customers when the summer weather provides a tempting alternative. For businesses offering food and drinks, making the most of any available outdoor space can significantly increase the chances of attracting customers during good weather.
In the UK, beer gardens — an outside area owned by a pub or bar in which people can drink — are traditionally very popular during the summer months and can draw huge crowds throughout the day. For pubs, bars, cafés and restaurants in city centres, however, outdoor space may be minimal, in some cases just side alleyways or rooftops.
One way to enhance these areas is through the installation of artificial grass. When compared to concrete areas or paving slabs, artificial grass represents a significant improvement from an aesthetic point of view. Artificial grass also has key benefits compared to real grass, which make it a great choice when looking to provide an attractive outdoor space for customers.
Artificial grass looks good in all weathers
While during the summer you would expect the same from real grass, the challenge comes from maintaining the grass all year round, particularly during winter months. If the grass is significantly damaged during the winter and does not recover in time for summer, the appearance may be off-putting for customers and actually keep them away from a business due to the appearance of the space. With artificial grass, the weather has no impact on how it looks and therefore can attract customers when the weather is good, and when it matters most. Also, as artificial grass has developed over time, now more than ever, artificial grass looks like real grass.
It’s low maintenance
Compared to real grass, artificial grass is much lower maintenance. For businesses, this can be a significant benefit. With an already busy workday before customers start arriving, spending time maintaining real grass is not something most businesses can spend time doing. Furthermore, there are additional costs for maintaining real grass.
Cutting, watering and feeding the grass can add up to be expensive and for small businesses, this may be unmanageable when combined with the other costs of running a business. You also do not need to worry about weeds or moss with artificial grass.
It’s durable
For a busy city centre bar or café, the amount of foot traffic through an outside space can be very high. During summer months with people sitting and standing around the area, going inside for drinks from the bar or to order food consistently hour after hour, this can place significant wear on a surface. Real grass would not be able to withstand this amount of foot traffic and would soon start to show bare patches. Artificial grass can withstand high foot traffic and can also survive in shaded areas. Unlike real grass, artificial grass does not need any sunlight or water to survive. For this reason, areas under tables or in shaded corners will look the same as ones in sunny areas all year round.
Overall, artificial grass can provide an enhancement to a space which could help draw in new customers during the busy summer months. It is also easy to maintain, and because of its durable nature can survive all year round in a variety of weather conditions, unaffected by sunlight or water. Providing an attractive outside space to customers can help generate long-term business, particularly in busy city locations for businesses such as bars and restaurants.
