The Importance of Having an Online Ordering Tool for Your Restaurant
One of the fastest growing business tools in the restaurant industry is the ability of the customer to enter an order online. Online ordering has changed the way that restaurants with large volume takeout business can operate. No longer is it necessary to have multiple people tied up on the phones taking orders and communication errors have been minimized.
Since online ordering has become almost as popular as dining in, your restaurant is essentially slamming a virtual door in a customer’s face if you do not feature this service.
While you may be hesitant to add online ordering to your website or social media in fear of it cutting into your dine in business, you shouldn’t be.
A recent study showed that customers generally have already decided that they want takeout before choosing the restaurant. This means that you are potentially losing customers who are looking for a quick and easy way to order and pay.
Customers who have utilized online ordering enjoy the convenience and statistically order more than they would order if they were to call their order into your restaurant. Consequently, increasing your takeout business and allowing you to gain valuable data on what your best products are.
Providing an easily accessible link to your online order form or a link on your Facebook Page can help you to gain business, increase loyalty and ultimately streamline operations.
While a building a custom website for online ordering specific for your restaurant would be awesome, many do not have the tools or resources to do so. This is when third party sites like orders2.me are beneficial for adding this tool to your website.
They will work with you to create visually appealing spaces to host your online ordering, some companies also include mobile apps.
Many restaurants are hesitant to send their customers to third party portals for placing orders, which is understandable. Many third party businesses will make you wait for your money and charge you fees on each order.
These are some of the major things to consider when adding online ordering to your restaurant’s website, but doing your research and deciding what is best for your business is important to the success of your online ordering tool.
Once you have established online ordering for your restaurant you will need to actively promote it, especially in the first few months. Choosing to actively promote your website–whether it be from printed messages on your receipts and in-restaurant signage to word of mouth from your wait staff and customers– is crucial to the success of this tool.