Ice cream shops7 October 2026, 11 min read
Ice cream shop: how to sell more tubs and ice cream cakes, even when it's cold
Today's flavours online, tubs pre-ordered for Sunday lunch, birthday ice cream cakes with notice and a planned cold season. Practical ideas for ice cream shops.
An ice cream shop lives by the seasons and the weather. A week of rain in June hits the accounts as hard as a month's closure. The cone remains the main product, but tubs and ice cream cakes are the part you can plan: they're ordered in advance, they sell even when it's cold and the spend is much higher.
Why focus on tubs and cakes
An ice cream cake is worth ten or fifteen cones, but takes just one sale. And someone who orders it for a birthday does so days ahead, so you can prepare it calmly.
Do the maths
Ice cream cakes in a month
- Ice cream cakes per week6
- Average price of a cake£ 32
- Weeks4
Example calculation. Cakes sell all year round, even when nobody's buying a cone.
1. Publish today's flavours every morning
"What flavours do you have today?" is the most frequent question, at the counter and on the phone. If today's flavours are online, updated every morning, the customer decides before leaving home. And if the pistachio runs out at 21:00, you mark it sold out and avoid disappointing someone who comes specially.
Gelateria Polo Nord
Flavours updated at 10:12
- Bronte pistachioSold outContains tree nuts
- Piedmont PGI hazelnutNewContains tree nuts, milk
- StrawberrySorbet, dairy-free
Always show the allergens: tree nuts, milk, eggs. For an ice cream shop it's information customers actively look for.
2. Get tubs pre-ordered for Sunday
The tub to take to Sunday lunch is a classic. If the customer can order it on Saturday evening, with the flavours chosen and a collection time, you find it ready in the freezer and they skip the 13:00 queue.
- Offer clear sizes: 500 g, 750 g, 1 kg, with the number of flavours for each.
- Say how late orders can be placed for the next day.
- Add a paid cool bag for people with a journey ahead.
3. Ice cream cakes are ordered with notice
An ice cream cake takes time. Set a minimum notice, for example 48 hours, and ask for everything in one go: number of people, flavours, message, any allergies.
🛍️ Takeaway order
- 1 × Ice cream cake, 8 people
- Flavours: hazelnut and strawberry
- 1 × 500 g tub
Message: Happy birthday Sofia!
Total £46.00
🕒 Collection Saturday 16:00
18:42 ✓✓
With a written order there are no misunderstandings about the message or the flavours, and the customer knows exactly when to collect.
4. Plan the cold season
If you stay open in winter, change what you offer instead of waiting for summer. Semifreddo, ice cream cakes for the holidays, hot chocolate, tubs of ice cream for Christmas lunches. If you close, schedule the closure and communicate it well: the online menu must say when you reopen, and orders must stop by themselves on the days you're closed.
5. Remember birthdays
Someone who ordered a cake for a birthday will do it again the following year, if you remind them. With the customer's consent, a message a week before the date, "Last year you celebrated with one of our cakes: would you like to order it again this year?", brings almost certain orders.
6. Think about tourists
In tourist areas, ice cream is one of the products foreign visitors look for most. A translated flavour menu, with an explanation of gianduia, stracciatella or fior di latte, helps the customer choose and makes them feel welcome.
7. The flavour of the week
A special flavour that changes every week gives regulars a reason to come back and gives you something to talk about. Announce it on Monday, always in the same way:
🍨 The flavour of the week is ricotta, fig and walnut. You'll find it until Sunday, while it lasts!
It works even better if the flavour is tied to the local area or the season: peaches from the valley, hazelnuts from the Langhe, chestnuts in autumn.
8. Rainy days and the end of the season
A rainy day in the middle of summer doesn't have to be a lost day. You can prepare a "rain" offer to switch on only when needed, for example a 1 kg tub at a special price to collect by the evening. Announce it at 16:00 in your WhatsApp status: people stuck indoors fancy an ice cream on the sofa.
At the end of the season, before closing, empty the display cases with a final week of tubs at a reduced price and announce your reopening date. Whoever bought the last tub is the first one back in spring.
9. Cakes for every occasion, not just birthdays
Ice cream cakes also sell for first communions, confirmations, graduations, company dinners and end-of-school-year parties. Create a category in the catalogue for each occasion, with clear sizes and prices:
| Size | People | Notice |
|---|---|---|
| Small cake | 6 to 8 | 48 hours |
| Medium cake | 10 to 14 | 48 hours |
| Large or tiered cake | 20 or more | 5 days |
| Individual semifreddo | per item | 24 hours |
Mistakes to avoid
- Online flavours not updated: the customer who comes for the pistachio and doesn't find it remembers the disappointment, not the menu.
- Cakes with no minimum notice: an order for 9:00 tomorrow received at 22:00 puts the whole workshop under pressure.
- Closing without telling anyone: a sign on the door isn't enough; the online menu must say when you reopen.
- Allergens shown only at the counter: tree nuts and milk are the first things customers look for.
Where to start
The simplest starting point is today's flavours online, because they save you questions straight away. Then add tubs pre-ordered for the weekend and, before winter, the cake catalogue with its notice period.
How to do it with NovaMenu
With NovaMenu you update today's flavours from your phone, receive orders for tubs and cakes on WhatsApp with a collection day and time, and schedule the seasonal closure. You'll find it all on the page for ice cream shops.