The key to any restaurant’s long-term success is to give clients what they want. In the past, customers only needed great food served in an inviting location with pleasant staff.
But, as times evolve and eating habits change, more and more clients want to enjoy amazing food from their favorite restaurant from the comfort of their homes or at work. Therefore, if you want to attract more customers to your restaurant, you must cater to their food ordering needs.
Here are the benefits of online ordering for restaurants that will convince you to allow customers to place online orders:
1. Give clients the gift of convenience
One of the biggest benefits of online ordering for restaurants is that it helps you attract more customers. How does it do it? By gifting clients the convenience they desire.
Clients no longer have to find the time to make a call to place an order, risking having their order delivered wrong due to inevitable errors. Not to mention, the younger generations will now mostly refuse to buy anything if involves human interaction.
If you use an online ordering system, clients will be able to place online orders with just a few clicks on your website. They can easily browse your menu, add the desired items to their cart, and order, all in just a few seconds.
Moreover, they will be kept in the loop with an estimated time of arrival, so they know when to expect the delivery of your delicious food.
2. Increase the number of sales
Your restaurant has a limited number of tables. Therefore, you can only service a certain number of clients per day, depending on how fast your table turnover is.
If you want to increase your sales, you need to get more customers on the same day. This is where online ordering comes in. If you install an online ordering system on your website, you will get more orders and enjoy bigger profits.
When clients see how easy and fast it is to order online from your restaurant, they will be tempted to do it more often. Furthermore, if you also provide excellent food and fast delivery, customers will recommend you to their friends and online, leading to even more sales.
3. Improve efficiency in the restaurant
Working in the restaurant industry involves juggling a lot of tasks which can sometimes seem daunting. Overworked employees may be tempted to quit, which you cannot afford with the ongoing hiring crisis.
One of the most important benefits of online ordering for restaurants is that it will make your staff’s jobs easier. All they have to do to confirm an order is press a button in the order-taking app and take the printed receipt to the kitchen. You can even use other system integrations, so the order is transmitted directly to the kitchen once accepted.
Without constantly rushing to answer the phone, your employees will be able to focus on more important tasks and the overall morale will improve.
4. No more errors or misunderstandings
If you’ve ever ordered from a restaurant by phone, you know it was more of a gamble. Did they note your address down right? Will all your menu items be included in the delivery? When will your order arrive?
Even if your employees are doing their best, human errors will often occur, especially at the end of a full day. While understandable, the problem is that these misunderstandings lead to unhappy customers who will complain about your restaurant.
One negative review can deter many other potential clients from ever ordering from your place as people generally trust others’ experiences with food businesses.
Avoid negative publicity by using an online ordering system that makes no mistakes. The order gets directly to you and the kitchen, with no information lost on the way.
5. Low investment, high reward marketing
To attract the maximum number of online orders, you need two main things: an efficient online ordering system with marketing features included and a sales and SEO-optimized restaurant website.
This will ensure Google notices your website and pushes it to the first page. As more and more clients order and have a great experience with fast-loading pages and an easy online ordering process, you will go up even more in rankings.
Therefore, with a low initial investment, you get to reach bigger audiences, which you can tempt with your mouth-watering dishes and irresistible restaurant promotions.
6. Get ahead of your competition
There are certainly many other restaurants in your area, even ones that serve a similar type of cuisine to yours. How can you differentiate yourself from your competitors and convince people to choose your business over theirs?
Get ahead of your competition by offering online ordering, a service that surely not all of them have available. When people see how easy it is to order from your place no matter where they are, they won’t be tempted to look elsewhere.
7. Use reporting data to improve business
If you used to take orders by phone, it was easy to lose count of how many orders you accepted or other important information such as the bestselling dish.
One of the biggest benefits of online ordering for restaurants is that it gives you access to reporting data such as the number of new versus returning clients, your busiest days, how much you sold of each item, and more.
You can use this information to identify what works and what doesn’t for your business. For example, if you notice the number of orders drops on Monday, try adding a promotion just for the day such as a free dessert for every order.
Conclusion
If you want to succeed in the food industry, you must be open to change and adapt to new technology and eating habits.
The benefits of online ordering for restaurants presented here demonstrate that adding an online ordering system to your website is a must if you want to get more customers, increase your sales make your employees’ lives easier.
