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TLDR
Square’s report on San Francisco spending habits highlights something every café owner has noticed. Fridays are fast and profitable, while Sundays move slowly. The report shows food and drink sales rising sharply at the end of the week, then dropping by more than forty percent by Sunday. This pattern is not a problem but a sign. It means the city shifts gears at the end of the week, and cafés can use that change to their advantage. Instead of chasing the Friday rush, they can design their menus, marketing, and timing around how people actually live.
What Square’s data is really saying
San Francisco has always followed a rhythm of work, wellness, and weekends. Square’s numbers confirm that Friday brings energy and movement, while Sunday is quiet and restorative. This change affects how people connect with cafés. On Fridays, customers want speed and convenience. On Sundays, they look for comfort and a reason to slow down.
Square’s report pointed out that focused marketing on slower days can help cafés restore balance across the week. Instead of repeating the same routine every day, café owners can adjust their plans to fit real customer behavior. This blog takes that idea further and offers a clear plan for turning quiet Sundays into steady, rewarding business days.
Turning slow Sundays into growth opportunities
Sunday is not a weak link but a missed opportunity. The cafés that recognize this early can make quieter days valuable by designing around them.
Lean into slower rituals
Sunday gives cafés a chance to slow down and highlight what makes them special. It is the day for hand-crafted brews, single-origin pours, or tasting flights that tell a story. Feature these through your app or add them as small Sunday-only specials. When customers have more time, they notice the details — the aroma, the pour, the way your team takes care with every cup. That slower rhythm builds appreciation and connection that the Friday rush never allows.
Shift your marketing to quieter hours
The smartest marketing happens during the slowest periods, not on days that already overflow. Move your focus to Sunday mornings when people are still deciding where to go or what to order. Share a quick photo, a message, or a short push notification in your app, inviting them to stop by for something calm. Simple, timely communication does more than big campaigns because it reaches customers when they are most open to it.
Use mobile ordering to reach stay-at-home customers
Some customers will always stay in on Sundays. Instead of waiting for them to come in, make it effortless for them to order from you. Use your Per Diem app to offer curbside and delivery that feels personal and easy. Send a short, friendly reminder like “Your coffee is ready when you are” or “Enjoy free delivery today.” Small gestures like these help maintain steady orders even when foot traffic slows, and they remind customers that your café fits into their day, wherever they are.
Learn more in our quick guide: How to Increase Restaurant App Checkouts on Slow Sundays
Bundle for mood, not margin
Square’s San Francisco report found a quiet but clear trend in customer preferences. Matcha lattes now make up about 18% of all latte orders, up from 14% earlier this year. That rise shows how wellness drinks have become part of everyday café culture. Sundays are the perfect time to lean into this shift.
Create small bundles that reflect the day’s mood instead of focusing only on higher ticket prices. Pair matcha or herbal tea with a locally baked pastry or offer a calm-themed combo such as “Mindful Morning.” Highlight the relaxing side of your menu instead of the fast-moving items. Customers often choose cafés that match how they want to feel, not just what they want to buy.
Build connection instead of conversion
A slower Sunday is an ideal time to deepen relationships with your regulars. When fewer customers come in, your team has more time to talk, share recommendations, and make the visit personal. You can use Per Diem’s built-in loyalty features or integrated Square Loyalty to reward this behavior. A Sunday visit could count as two loyalty points or unlock a small weekday reward.
This approach helps shift attention away from daily sales targets and toward long-term loyalty. Over time, customers remember the cafés that treat them as part of the neighborhood, not just as transactions. That sense of care builds consistency through the week and turns calm days into connection days.
Personalize the calm
Every café has its regulars, but their habits change across the week. With Per Diem AI Chatbot, you can spot these patterns. For example, you might notice that a group of regulars rarely orders on weekends. That pattern can guide gentle, privacy-safe campaigns such as Sunday-only notifications or time-limited offers that invite them back.
A simple “We miss your usual order” or “Your weekend favorite is waiting” keeps communication warm and relevant. Personalization does not have to be complex. It only needs to sound thoughtful. When brands use their data to speak more humanly, they create experiences that feel genuine, not automated.
Why San Francisco Is the Testing Ground
San Francisco often leads the way in café culture. Trends that start here usually ripple out across the country within months. Square’s data makes this visible. The shift toward wellness drinks, the return of whole milk, and the growing focus on slower weekend experiences all began in the city’s small neighborhood cafés before showing up elsewhere.
For owners, this means that the patterns revealed in Square’s report are not only about SF. They are early signals of how customers everywhere are changing. People now expect cafés to fit their lifestyle, not the other way around. A Sunday strategy that works in San Francisco today could work in Austin next year. By paying attention to these shifts early, café owners can stay ahead of what customers will soon want from their weekend routines.
Final Thoughts
Square’s report shows that quiet days are not lost days. They are chances to plan better and connect with customers in new ways. Using what the data shows about weekends, you can plan smarter menus, reach customers at home, and keep regulars engaged throughout the week.
With Per Diem connected to Square, café owners can see these patterns clearly and act on them with simple, useful tools. From weekend offers to mobile orders, every small change helps build consistency and stronger customer relationships.
Book a demo with an expert to see how Per Diem helps cafés grow with smarter, easier tools.
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