Your restaurant online ordering system has the potential to increase your revenue and drive new business to your doors. If used properly, your online ordering system can also lead to bigger orders. Here are some tips on leveraging your online orders to improve business.
1. Add Incentives for Bigger Orders
To encourage customers to increase their orders when ordering online, you can offer incentives and perks such as waiving delivery charges or adding a free drink or starter on orders over a certain amount.
Offering bonuses for large orders will encourage customers to spend more at your establishment and increase patron loyalty to your restaurant compared to your competitors.
2. Improve Features to Make Your Ordering System More Convenient
Most patrons use restaurant online ordering because of the convenience. They find it easier to go through a website than pick up the phone or come into the restaurant themselves to pick up a takeaway.
Since online patrons prioritise convenience, you should make your online ordering platform as easy to use as possible. Choose a system that has as few barriers to ordering as possible. For example, many customers prefer to order from mobile apps instead of websites or to make accounts so that they do not have to enter their personal information with every order.
3. Ensure That You Can Deliver
Building an online ordering system for your restaurant will not be enough. You must also ensure that your restaurant can fulfil the orders of your online patrons. One crucial component of expanding to online ordering is delivery. You should have enough delivery workers to ensure rapid service even during peak times.
However, expanding your restaurant’s services to cover online ordering will require more than hiring delivery drivers. Your cooks should be able to keep up with an influx of new orders from multiple sources even during rush times.
Several technological tools that can make handling more orders easier. For example, automated computer systems help delivery drivers plan their routes and batch orders together.
4. Market Your Online Ordering System
Before your restaurant online ordering system can generate revenue, patrons must first know that it exists. You will need to market your online system to existing customers and use online platforms such as social media to attract new ones to your restaurant.
You can learn how to market your restaurant online ordering system yourself or hire a marketer to do it for you. Either way, you will need to invest in your online ordering system to get revenue later.
5. Use Customer Data to Your Advantage
Your online ordering system can help your business in more ways than just boosting your revenue. It also gives you access to customer data.
When patrons sign up for online orders, they usually need to enter an email or a phone number. Once you have contact information for your customers, you can easily communicate with them further. Add them to your database for marketing emails or send updates on deals they may be interested in.
6. Use Online Ordering to Make Your Customers Happy
Your online ordering system is another tool to help you satisfy your customers. You should arrange your ordering system in a way that provides customers with quick, reliable service. Transparent communication, accurate orders, and features such as order tracking go a long way in ensuring customer satisfaction. Some restaurants go above and beyond by offering loyalty programs with perks such as free delivery.
Setting up a restaurant online ordering system will equip your business with the potential to reach new customers. However, you will need to take extra steps to ensure the success of your online business once it is set up. The system should be as convenient as possible for customers to use. Offering reliable service and ensuring that you can meet all orders and delivery requests will help you retain customers.
You will need to invest some time and money into marketing your new online system before it starts generating revenue. Incentives such as free starters or a loyalty program will help you promote your online ordering and retain customers. Setting up and maintaining your online system will take some work, but it will be worth it when it comes to improved revenue.