What is a Restaurant Online Ordering Software?

Restaurant technology is advancing on a daily basis and one of those considered as one the backbone of this advancement is restaurant online ordering software. How can restaurant online ordering software serves as the backbone of restaurant technology? How can it help you to attain your business goals to your restaurants? What is an efficient way to utilize your restaurant online ordering software? These common questions will be answered as you continue in this blog post.

The anatomy of your restaurant online ordering software

The definition of restaurant online ordering software is a type of a software or program that allows restaurant businesses to accept and manage orders placed over the internet. Like our human body, your restaurant online ordering software has its own anatomy or body parts. Each part has specific functions that aid the whole body to become efficient and effective. Your restaurant online ordering software, in general, is composed of two main parts. First is a website or mobile app for hungry customers to view your restaurant’s cuisines and place an online order. Second is an admin management interface for your restaurants in order to receive and manage your customer’s orders. Let’s discuss each main part further one by one.

Website and mobile app your customer’s gateway to your restaurant

Your website or mobile app will serve as your initial interaction or gateway to your customers. It’s where they can view your menu and place their orders to your restaurant. The following are the general things that you need to observe in order to convert your customers to visit your website and mobile app into am order:

Menu description should not be too technical

We understand the temptation to present your house menu as something that is palatable compared to your competitors and one of the techniques is your menu description. You want to include culinary terms in your description. However, be careful not all your customers are knowledgeable of the terms and can easily misunderstand them. Instead of placing their orders they might be overwhelmed by your menu description. To avoid this unfortunate event maintain a simple menu description instead of putting highly technical culinary terms. Say for example, instead of using the French culinary term Entrée you can use the word, main course in your menu description.

Your menu pictures must be a copy of your actual menu

It’s equally tempting to present your menu pictures in all its details sometimes restaurants use a mock-up menu or a synthetic one to bring the menu details. However, using such methods has proven unsuccessful compared to using an actual picture of your menu. Likewise, copying from the menu of your competitors and editing it to suit your brand is not also advisable. These methods can result in customer complaints because your customers will compare your menu pictures over your actual food delivered to them. Nothing will still beat a picture of your actual menu you just need to determine the best angle to bring out your menu edges and taste.

Faster loading time compared to competitors

Nothing can compare to the irritation a hungry customer will experience if your website and mobile app loading time are very slow. Consult with your developers and digital marketing team on the different ways to make your page load faster. You can adjust the sizes of your content, graphics and maximize available space in order to achieve faster loading time.

User-friendly online ordering software protocols

Making your site and app user-friendly is another step in converting your customer visits into an order. You can do this by installing engaging and functional plugins to your site and app. It should direct the customers to the things they wanted to know about your menu, services, and location. It’s advisable also to put a chatbot in order to answer your customer queries.

Your admin management interface features for your business growth

Your admin management interface features of your restaurant online ordering software are intended for you to plan, control and modify your online ordering system to suit your current brand strategy and business goals. It’s important to identify a service provider that can help you with all of your requirements. Each restaurant is different from each other the heavy reliance on restaurant online ordering software among cloud kitchen models are different from full-stand-alone restaurants. A full-stand-alone restaurant incorporates ordering kiosks to its ordering technology to manage its dining guests. You should look into the following features to your admin management interface in order for you to maximize your restaurant online ordering software to your benefits:

Menu management

This feature of your admin management interface allows you to modify and improve the way your menu is presented to your online ordering system. We all know that in restaurant operations not all the cuisines that we are offering to our customers will be saleable it still depends on our customer’s preference. The ability to modify and a flexible feature in your admin management interface are very important. You need to ensure that this is integrated into your online ordering software.

Customer notifications

Another feature to look to your admin management interface is your customer notifications. This feature allows you to receive your customer orders and monitor them on your portal. This feature serves as your reminders for incoming orders to your restaurant.

Order tracking

Your admin management interface should also have an order tracking feature which allows you to monitor the time you received the orders, the time it is dispatched to your kitchen up to the time it is delivered or fulfilled to your customers.

Advanced business analytics

This feature is a must in your admin management interface so you should discuss it to your restaurant online ordering software service providers. It will help you set your own performance metrics to your online ordering system. You can put your performance metrics like your delivery hit rate, the volume of orders and delivery locations among other metrics. Another purpose of this feature is that it will allow you to have your in-depth analysis of your restaurant operations. It will identify what areas are you leading and needs improvement. It will serve also as an evaluation tool on the effectiveness and efficiency of your online ordering software.

Easy ordering feature for your customers

As a general rule, you should ensure all your offerings to your customers are engaging and can get their attention this includes your online ordering system. This feature allows your customers to easily browse and click your menu for their order placement. The simpler, faster and easy to use an ordering feature the better for both of you and your customers.

Loyalty and incentives program

Your customers wanted to be rewarded and receive gifts from you because of their loyalty and this feature takes care of that. You can put and modify your loyalty and incentives program to your online ordering software easily.

Currency converter

If your operations involved overseas customers placing their orders for their relatives and friends to your location then this feature is helpful to you. This feature will allow you to convert the currency of your customers easily to your own local currency at the prevailing exchange rate. It will also help your customers know the exact amount they will be paying you for their orders.

Your online ordering software features is a partnership with your service provider

Putting all the needed features to your online ordering software is not only your task or that of your chosen service provider but it’s a partnership. You need to lend each other’s expertise, resources, and experience in order to discuss the features that you need and are applicable to your restaurant operations. Service providers like Taker are open to listen and implement to your online ordering system any features you want to be integrated, replaced or deleted. The key here is to be open with your service providers all throughout the cycle of your online ordering software.

What is the development cycle of your restaurant online ordering software?

You might be wondering how your online ordering software came to its existence. What are the steps or cycle your software developers and service providers followed to successfully run the program? What are your roles as the end-user in the software development cycle? In this part of our blog, we will discuss the development cycle of your restaurant online ordering software. Your service providers and software developers followed the software development life cycle (SDLC) when they designed, developed, and test your online ordering software before its deployment to your restaurant.

When the process of SDLC is followed correctly it produces quality and effective software that will meet your expectations and is completed within the deadline at a minimum cost to you. The SDLC helps in defining which tasks must be performed at each step in the software development process. It serves as a method of quality control and a means of ensuring your service provider teams stay on the same page.

The software development cycle of your restaurant online ordering software: Key to your sustainability

Let’s now discuss each cycle on your software development which is one process with 6 stages as follows:

Planning

This stage involves what we call a requirement analysis of your online ordering software, which is considered the most basic part of the SDLC process. It is performed primarily by your service provider development team considering the varied inputs coming from you, stakeholders, current market research, sales, and other relevant sources. This stage is the foundation of your software analysis stage. In this stage your service provider teams do some competitors check in order to determine ways to gain an edge and advantage. Once you are all clear on the specifications of your online ordering software, the team can use the information gained from outside sources in planning on your basic project approach and identifying potential risks. Another aspect of the planning stage is putting together a cost-benefit analysis. A cost-benefit analysis is identifying how the project helps advanced your restaurant goals.

The following are the important things you need to focus your attention during this stage:

Features you want to integrate to your restaurant online ordering software
Budgetary requirements over projected expenses
Open communication with your service providers

Analysis

After planning your software development, your analysis stage of the SDLC process will let you define your project goals as functions.

Next, your development team determines the suitability of your online ordering software to your restaurant operations. Simply put, analysis is the gathering and interpreting of data, as well as diagnosing your issues with your current online ordering system and recommending improvements as well as replacements. This is attained by studying your end-user information needs and removing inconsistencies on the way. This stage is considered as the problem-solution step. The development team determines where problems are found and identifies ways to solve them with the new software. The aim of this stage is to remove obstacles that would prevent your online ordering software from successful deployment. This step is when a software requirement specification (SRS) document is written that identifies the scope of your software project. Once your approval is obtained, the project can now be started by your service provider’s technical team.

The following are the important things you need to focus your attention during this stage:

Identified problems you encountered with your current restaurant online ordering software
Proposed solutions your encountered problems
A detailed study on your part before approving the project

Design

In this stage, the team uses the SRS to design your online ordering program architecture. The requirements in the SRS will guide the design approaches that are included in a design document specification (DDS) of your service provider development team. You are to review this document, and a design approach will be chosen based on your feedback. The risk assessment, market research, design modularity, budget, and time constraints of your online ordering software are all considered during this stage. Your development team will lay-out the program architecture, communication, data flow representation and external as well as third-party modules.

The general rule here is that the internal design of the architecture should be defined in a complete and in detail by your developers. The following components that should be included are your screen layouts, business rules, process diagrams, and other documentation. Your service provider development team must be able to develop and deliver your online ordering system based on this information with minimal revisions. This stage works like your internal organs in your body. It is the internal function of your online ordering system so this should be given careful attention.

The following are the important things you need to focus your attention during this stage:

Feedback and review on your online ordering program design
Restaurant process that should be made known to your service provider
Practical software design
Your service provider should present the design to you in a manner you will understand

Implementation

This stage is the start of the actual development of your online ordering system. During the implementation stage, your development team builds your restaurant online ordering software and writes the programming language to match the DDS. During this stage, it is important for your developers to follow the coding guidelines as defined by their company and technical organizations they belong to. According to Husson University, developers use various programming tools like interpreters, debuggers, and compilers to generate the code, along with high-level programming languages like C, C++, Java and more. Likewise, your developers determine the language to use based on the type of software along with your requirements (restaurant operations, features, process flow). At the end of this stage, your online ordering software is put into production.

The following are the important things you need to focus your attention during this stage:

Ask updates from your service provider regarding the production of your software
Your participation on this stage is limited because it’s entirely your service provider work

Testing and Integration

According to Husson University, this stage of the SDLC involves bringing the separate parts of your online ordering software project together into a dedicated testing environment to check for errors, bugs and other issues. During the testing phase, your restaurant online ordering software is checked to ensure that defects are reported, tracked, fixed, and tested again until it meets agreed quality standards. The testing environment can be your own restaurant or a mock-up restaurant. But it is highly advised that you do the testing on your own restaurant so that you can really find out if your online ordering software is reliable and is of the best quality based on your needs.

During this stage, it is also a perfect time to evaluate your software development process in order to determine if there are factors that did not work as planned. Your service provider development team should also examine any aspects of your finished online ordering software that did not meet your expectations and preferences. This will make your development team correct errors and inconsistencies.

The following are the important things you need to focus your attention during this stage:

Does the new system meet your restaurant requirements and business objectives?
Is it reliable and is a big improvement in your operations?
Are there any remaining bugs after you run it?
Does it function according to your needs and preferences?

Maintenance

When testing is complete your restaurant online ordering software is ready for deployment, it is time for its deployment to you for your use. According to Husson University, sometimes this happens in stages or all at once, depending on your restaurant business strategy. For example, your software may only be exclusively released to your restaurant or will also be available to others. This will depend on your agreement with your service provider and the services they are offering.

Based on your feedback, changes may be made before the complete deployment of your software happens. After your online ordering software release, maintenance is the task of your service provider. The team makes software improvements or change requests as needed. The end goal of the maintenance stage is to ensure that your online ordering software remains relevant and high quality to your operations. It involves ongoing evaluations of your restaurant’s online ordering software performance.

The following are the important things you need to focus your attention during this stage:

Ongoing performance evaluation of your online ordering software
Timely feedbacks to your service provider
Review your agreement with your service provider
Record any problems you encountered during operations

5 Tips to consider in choosing your restaurant online ordering software service provider

It’s very hard to find a service provider that can deliver on your needs and preferences so we give you the following tips that you can consider in finding one:

Your service provider should have a mock-up online ordering system for your testing

You need not wait longer to test your online ordering system a potential service provider should have ready mock-up software for you to use and experiment on. In this way, you can find out if the software fits your preferences or not as well as identify room for improvement.

It should have a development team in place

Your service provider should not outsource the majority of its software developers it should have a team to take on your project and answer your inquiries.

Open and transparent communication lines

A service provider that always appreciates your feedback and is open to them is a good partner for you. It should have designated key persons to whom to address all your problems, feedbacks and insights on your system.

Process flow for your software maintenance work

You already read that maintenance work is an ongoing task by your service provider so a process flow for it should be in place by your service provider.

Existing satisfied customer base and reviews

You can check on your potential service provider website and social media accounts regarding the brands and types of restaurants they are currently servicing. Pay attention to customer reviews if the majority of the reviews are positive then it’s a good sign to go with your transaction to your service provider.

We believe that we have given you already a comprehensive blog regarding the topic of your restaurant online ordering software. From the basic information until its technical aspect we already shared with you with the goal that you can carefully plan and choose your service provider. Whether you’re a full-service restaurant or a cloud kitchen the need for online ordering software is just great as well as a reliable service provider.

If your restaurant is looking for an online ordering system

contact us now.

Cloud Kitchen: Your Beginners Guide to Success

Cloud kitchen is now beginning to be a trend in the restaurant industry due to the popularity of online ordering system. Many providers like Taker allows for many helpful features that make starting a cloud kitchen a profitable business. In this post, we will introduce you to the concept of cloud kitchen and how it can help you in your restaurant set-up. It can also make you restructure your current restaurant setting focusing on cloud kitchen operations.

Cloud Kitchen Simplified

Basically, a cloud kitchen is a restaurant set-up that only offers food delivery to its customers. Comparing it to full-service restaurants that have dining, drive-thru, function and delivery segments offered to its customers. The common set-up among cloud kitchens are the following:

Online orders come in and they’re recorded by staff then forwards them to the kitchen

This is the first interaction between customers to your cloud kitchen and is done through orders made online, via mobile calls and telephone calls. The staff should make sure that the customer’s special instructions are recorded to avoid complaints later on.

Orders are cooked immediately in the kitchen then prepared for packing

After the orders are received and confirmed, the staff will forward it to the kitchen personnel. Orders are then cooked and packed. The packing procedure is critical in the set-up of your cloud kitchen because the customer’s order should be complete with all the condiments and plastic utensils. Likewise, special instructions by customers should be followed in both the cooking and packing procedures.

Delivery of orders is done by riders to the location of the customers

The rider then delivers the order to the customers in their location presenting the packed food meals to them and then engages the customers for possible repeat orders to your cloud kitchen. The important part of this last stage is that the rider should be able to represent well your cloud kitchen and its brand to the customers.

For more information on how to create a great online food delivery experience for your customers? Kindly read this post.

How cloud kitchens are operated?

Cloud kitchens are operated relying on its online ordering system for menu orders then foods are packed and delivered to the customer location. These simple operations of your cloud kitchen become its advantage comparing it with full-service restaurants. The following are the advantages of operating a cloud kitchen:

Lower rental fees

You’re only renting a limited space for your kitchen and this provides for a lesser cost compared to renting a prime location with a large parking lot area for a full-service restaurant. You can have the option to rent a space that’s safe but has a lower rental fee near your target market.

The start-up cost of investment is minimum with opportunities for expansion

To be able to start operating your own cloud kitchen you just need a minimum investment cost to establish and market your brand. Once you’re able to engage your target market and build a loyal customer base then you can expand to other locations. This will enable you to fund your expansion plans as well as sustaining your operation at the same time.

Overhead cost savings

If you operate a full-service restaurant you’ll be hiring your dining staff to take customer’s orders and engage them. Your management team will normally be composed of 4 managers to oversee your daily operations on a shifting schedule. You need also to maintain your store interior so you’ll be buying decorations depending on occasions and seasons. With a cloud kitchen, you’ll only hire your kitchen personnel, delivery riders and a supervisor to help you in your operations. This will help you save on your overhead costs.

Flexibility on your menu management and pricing

Since you’re operating a cloud kitchen the flexibility on your menu and pricing is always possible. You can add, improve and match your menu depending on the volume of demand your customers have in your menu. You can easily put variations to your menu compared to a full-service restaurant. Likewise, you can choose to lower your price but still gains a profit from your meals.

Failure rate and cost are minimized for start-up in the business

In starting a business there’s no fail-proof method and assurance of your success along the way you may fail. With failure comes the business cost for start-up companies. This goes true to all business including your cloud kitchen. The only difference is that in our case, you can easily start over again and your cost will be at a minimum rate. Should you fail in your first try to your original target market and location you can easily relocate to new markets.

Some small cloud kitchen only needs a medium-sized truck in order for all of its equipment to be relocated. Since all equipment is for cooking and packing purposes so mobility is easy. Think of failing on your first try to a full-service restaurant the cost will be heavy and starting over again would entail another huge investment. If you want to test the market another way is a cloud kitchen operation.

What’s the future of your cloud kitchen in the restaurant industry?

It’s estimated that in the year 2023 the online food delivery market will be recording total revenue worth $137,596 million worldwide. Today is an opportunity to start building your own cloud kitchen brand and have a share of the revenue of the business. Take into consideration also of the fact that real estate is limited and its cost is rising each year. If you want to enter the food industry with a limited initial investment cloud kitchen is a viable option for you. You will have no problem with the rising cost of real estate because as you read already you will need a limited space for your operations.

We have given you already some of the basic information about having a cloud kitchen. This introductory blog allowed you to understand its operations and advantages for you, should you choose to start your own cloud kitchen operations. We are glad to be of help to you on your journey toward your new business endeavor.

If your restaurant is looking for an online ordering system

contact us now.

8 Factors to Consider When Choosing a New Restaurant Location

When you’re choosing the best location for your restaurant it’s not only about your restaurant ordering software but there are other factors you should consider. It’s a challenging and awesome task ahead to scout for your restaurant location. However, if you’re able to consider the things that we will give you in this post you will be able to nail it right. Here are the factors you should consider when choosing your new restaurant location.

1. Safety and security

In choosing for your new restaurant location you should ensure that the location is safe and secure for both you and your customers. This is very important because you need to make sure that your operations will be sustainable and that your customers will be able to walk to your restaurant without any safety and security issues in mind. In short, it is giving yourself and your customer’s peace of mind inside your restaurant. You should choose a location that will allow you to security in installing your restaurant ordering software and your inventory. The crime rate of your proposed location is important to consider before choosing it as a new place for your restaurant.

Crime rate as your indicator for safety and security

Look at the statistics of the crime rate in the new location that you’re looking for in your restaurant because it will give you an idea of the safety and security of the place. If it has higher incidents of crime then this is a good indication that you should not proceed with your place and look for another location instead. If it indicates a lower number of crime rates then you can consider the new location for your restaurant. Just be aware though of your needed safety and security measures in your restaurant so that you can avoid being a victim and part of the statistics.

2. Traffic Generator

Another factor to consider in your new location is if it will give you a volume of traffic. You should observe in your proposed restaurant location if it is near establishments where people go and do their business. This is your indicator that your location will be able to attract customers to your restaurant. Look at the following establishments as a sign that your proposed restaurant location is a good traffic generator:

Hospitals

Shopping malls

Government offices

Colleges and Universities

Parks and resorts

Transportation terminals and train stations

Airports and seaports

These are just the establishments that can drive traffic to your restaurant its ideal to have a location near to all of them but if you can’t find such prime location you can settle with 2 or more of any of the mentioned establishments in your proposed location.

3. Competitor check and comparative restaurant ordering software

In choosing your new location the factor of identifying who your competitors are is relevant in order for you to strategize in your opening activities as well as marketing. You should identify the competitors that are already operating in your proposed location. The following tips will help you to further identify your competitors and segment them accordingly:

Identify your competitors if they are your direct or indirect competitors.

Your direct competitors have the same menu, restaurant niche and level of service that you’re offering. Say, for example, you’re a casual dining restaurant that offers chicken as your top menu then at the corner of your proposed location you find the same style and menu in a restaurant that you have then segment the restaurant as your direct competitor.

Your indirect competitors are any restaurants that are not within your niche and level of service. At times, they are entirely different from your menu and offerings. Say, for example, you’re a casual dining restaurant that offers beef steak as your top menu and you saw in front of your proposed location another restaurant but it is offering burgers and is a fast food concept, this restaurant is considered your indirect competitor.

Your competitor’s restaurant ordering software matters

Another tip is to look into the restaurant ordering software of your competitors. You can do this by accessing their online delivery or dining for them. It will help if you can experience for yourself your competitor’s restaurant ordering software so that you can spot room for improvements and their strengths. You can also look at their provider for their system and make a comparison with yours.

4. Parking area

If your proposed restaurant location has a spacious parking area this will become your edge over your competitors in the area. Your customers will like it if they will have a parking area within your restaurant so that they will not walk anymore, struggle to find a parking area or pay for it while they are dining in your restaurant. It is also advised if you’ll include your parking area information in your restaurant ordering software for your customer use. This will give your customers a great dining experience to your restaurant.

If your proposed location has no parking area don’t worry, you can still manage to include a parking area in your restaurant layout. Talk to your engineers on how they can incorporate a parking area in your restaurant. Is it possible to have an underground parking area? Or add some extensions to the location? Just be open and communicate all your concerns to your team.

5. Restaurant ordering software

After checking your competitor’s restaurant ordering software it’s time you evaluate yours. You should check the sustainability of your online ordering system and if it’s up to date based on industry development. Talk to your service providers and software developers on areas you can improve in your restaurant ordering software

Ethical hacking as a means of testing your restaurant ordering software

One way of testing the security and sustainability of your restaurant ordering software is for you to conduct an ethical hacking activity. An ethical hacking activity is done by a certified ethical hacker which will test your restaurant ordering software by initiating cyber-attacks on it with the end of finding a weakness in order to provide solutions later on. Your ethical hacker might program a virus to attack your restaurant ordering software to test whether it can resist such attacks or not? The key here is prevention rather than curative management of your software.

6. Visibility to customers

A business that’s not visible to its customer is a dead one. This runs true also in your restaurant business; customer visibility is a factor in choosing your new restaurant location. Ensuring that you’re visible to your customers is ensuring your survival in your new location. You should choose a location that will allow you to be noted immediately by your customer. The ideal location should be at the center of establishments and not on its corners. Choose a location that has lights and is a pathway for people.

7. Enhances your brand

Another factor that you should consider is a location that will enhance your brand. If your brand is a fine dining restaurant you should choose a location that is not cluttered and has a spacious parking area. If it’s a fast-food category a location that will allow you to have a drive-thru is perfect. Avoid a location that will compromise your restaurant brand as you communicate it in your media and restaurant ordering software.

8. Affordability

The last factor that you should consider in choosing your new restaurant location is affordability. Having a premium restaurant location should not cost you that much. You must be able to consider the rental or acquisition cost over your projected income. It is the same when you considered your online ordering system. You considered the cost of developing your restaurant ordering software over the cost of having a service provider like Taker manage it for you.

We already gave you the essential factors to consider in choosing your new restaurant location. It’s a guide for you to enable your sustainability and survival in your new location. It will help you also in checking your preparation prior to your restaurant operations. Again, prevention is better than cure in choosing your new restaurant location.

If your restaurant is looking for an online ordering system

contact us now.

How to Leverage Online Food Ordering: Restaurant Branding and Growth

Take advantage of online food ordering because instead of going to dine in restaurants many customers nowadays choose to order their food online. This changing customer preference is very helpful for any restaurant to take advantage in terms of its engagement, digital marketing, branding, and growth. In this post, we will help you on how you can leverage online food ordering for your restaurant branding and growth.

What leveraging is and is not for your online food ordering technology?

Leveraging is a concept that describes your actions to make use of your existing process, system, and technology in order to achieve another business goal. In our case, we want to achieve better branding growth for your restaurant by using your online food ordering technology. This is in direct contrast if you’ll install another system, technology or process say, for example, a SEO program. You do this in order for you to promote your branding and growth in the digital space. This is not leveraging because you’re using a new program in order for you to achieve a business goal.

Social media marketing

By using your online ordering system you can promote your restaurant brand and reach more customers in the different social media. Social media like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram will give you more exposure and potential customers and leveraging on it is what we call, social media marketing.

How can you do this?

You can do this by doing the following techniques:

Focus on your online food ordering service and technology in your postings

You can post in your social media account about your newest online food de service features and discuss on it being user-friendly. By doing this, you’re leveraging on your technology in promoting your brand. The message that you’re sending to your customers is that we care for you and we are updating our technology so that you can have an awesome dining and delivery experience with us.

Engage your customers more by creating your page

Letting your customers know that you want to engage them in social media about your menu, service and future plans will add value in your customer retention and prospecting task. It will keep your regular customers updated about your restaurant and your prospective customers aware that you exist in the industry. By doing this, you’re not only promoting your brand but ensuring your growth in terms of added customers.

Let your online food ordering speaks more of you

Coordinate with your service provider to enable you to add more features to your online ordering app. The more engaging and user-friendly the added features the better. This will enable you to engage more of your customers and promote your restaurant brand through your online ordering system.

To learn more about unlocking the power of your online ordering app read here.

Email marketing

Many restaurants got it wrong to say that emails are no longer helpful in both branding and growth since we have the advent of social media. They forget the fact that email marketing is an important tool in digital marketing because it will allow you to reach more customers. The customer reach that your social media account can give can be maximized by your email marketing. The following tips will enable you to leverage your online food ordering:

Brief, catchy and engaging email content introducing your online food ordering

Write direct, well-planned and attention-grabbing email content about your online ordering system that you can send to your customers. Remember that your customers are busy and they don’t have time to read lengthy email content. What’s important is that you’re able to grab their attention for the moment and they will click the link that you gave them going to your website.

Send an email to your customers during their special occasions and milestones

By sending regular emails to your customers you’re letting them know you better and allowing yourself to become a household name for them. Leverage your online food ordering by sending emails to your customers during special celebrations or milestones in their lives. You can send a congratulatory email with a link going to your online food delivery. By doing this, you’re able to have a subtle advertisement to your customers and can get a potential customer order.

Use email marketing to attract your customers to your restaurant

Leverage your email not only in introducing your restaurant to your customers but to attract them to dine with you or order online. You can do this by sending those attachments that showcase your restaurant interior, menu offerings, and loyalty program.

Website and app promotions using your online food ordering technology

There are many websites and app that offers free advertising mileage today you can search for them and take advantage of them. You can do this by first using your online food ordering technology as your initial offering to your customers. Website and app linking is another way for you to leverage on this free promotion. This is done by posting your restaurant profile to the websites or contributing significant content on the site. The website owner then publishes your content and your profile to their visitors and this is where you get your free advertisement mileage. Maximize website and app linking by discussing your restaurant online ordering system as well as emphasizing on your restaurant niche.

Paid advertisement

You can invest also in your online food ordering technology for your branding and growth by doing paid advertising on social media and other channels. This is done by considering your budget for your specific advertisement and the audience you intend to reach. Most paid advertisements allow you the freedom to choose your scheduled postings which is a great advantage for you. If your target customers are professionals then schedule your paid advertisement during the evening when these professionals are already at home and are checking their social media accounts. If your target customers are students then schedule your advertisement during weekends as students are busy during school days and they have minimal time in checking their social media accounts. It’s best to plan well all your paid advertisements and ensure that it is cost-efficient. Monitor it also to ensure that it will have a conversion for your restaurant.

We already gave you some of the pointers that you can use in order for you to leverage your online food ordering technology for your restaurant branding and growth. It’s important that you are able to make use of your existing resources in order to achieve your other business goal. We want you to take advantage of this trend and we want you to be successful in it.

If your restaurant is looking for an online ordering system

contact us now.

How a Website Can Boost your Restaurant’s Brand

In today’s growing market many restaurants are using website features such as online ordering software to build a customer base. But restaurant business like yours can benefit from a website more than building a customer base. .In this post, we share some effective ways to use your website in order to boost your restaurant brand.

Branding In a Nutshell

Branding is involved in creating a unique image for a product in the consumers’ minds. Advertising campaigns with a consistent theme are the most common avenue to execute this. It aims to establish a significant and differentiated presence in the market that attracts and retains loyal customers. Also, pay extra attention to emphasizing your online ordering software and restaurant technology on your website.

Tips on branding using your website

Consider the following tips in order to maximize your branding on your restaurant website:

Logo design

You should make a logo that’s awesome, great and unique to your restaurant. A logo is the first thing your customers associate your restaurant with. It’s your first branding channel so choose the symbols clearly and cleverly as much as possible.

Consistent message

You should create your message be it in your website content, blogs and copywriting consistent with your brand. If you want to be known for your delicious steaks, focus on building content around the areas of secret ingredients, cooking methods, and recipes. This message should reflect even in your online ordering software and restaurant technology.

Website promotion

You should include in your website plugins that enable your customers to share your content, advertisements, and updates. This is very helpful in promoting your website branding, especially in social media campaigns.

Have a call to action in all of your content

At the end of every message that you’ve written don’t forget to include a call to action. This is important so that you can lead your customer engagements into sales conversions.

Customer Reach vs Traditional Channels

We all know that when you’re able to target well and establish customer engagements on your website it will help you to have a branding edge over competitors. In this part, we will explore more on the comparison of customer reach versus traditional channels of your website in your branding. The following are the reasons that make your website very good in customer reach over traditional channels.

Your website can give you 24/7 presence

When you aim at brand retention of your customers your website can help you versus traditional channels. A website must be accessed anytime, anywhere, and on any device of your customers. Your online ordering software must be available and accessible anytime as well.

It caters to all generation types and genres.

Traditional channels are usually used to target a particular segment of your customers. Whereas, your website should be designed to cater to a lot of potential segments. In addition, have a support system to address queries and concerns from customers.

Your website can enhance your branding

The way your website is designed will let you advertise better and speak of your brand well. The best-designed website will give you branding that can far outweigh exposures compared to traditional channels.

Your website can easily be adjusted to your branding

If you choose to publish your advertisement in a newspaper you cannot edit once your advertisement is already published and in circulation. On a website, you can easily change your content, videos, pictures, and advertisements.

Competitive pricing like your online ordering software

We will now proceed regarding the aspect of cost. As any business should consider, choosing an online ordering system and other restaurant technology based on cost is the same standard when you launch branding campaigns in your website. If your website offers competitive pricing; you can choose to have your hosting for as little as $5 to $20 per year. Now it’s up to you and depending on your budget if you’ll get a premium hosting for your website. Your additional costs for your website branding depend on the following factors:

Custom-built website or website builder tool

A custom-build website offers you all the freedom to design it and have your own branding reflected on it. However, it is costly compared to a website builder. A website builder will give you the benefit of a template to design your site at an affordable price.

Brand retention

You need to exert extra efforts in ensuring that your website will optimize your brand retention in the market. You might pay the added cost on it such as SEO analytics and Google search ranking.

Innovative restaurant technology branding in your online ordering software

Your website offers you the kind of restaurant technology that is flexible, timely and modern in your branding. You can possibly do everything on your website in terms of branding. You can create twists and tweaks in your promotions as well as enhance the looks of your online ordering software to entice your customers. Here are some tips on twisting and tweaking content on your website for your branding:

Stay true to your brand

You can spin content; just make sure it stays with your branding strategy. This is to ensure that your customers will recognize that they’re dealing with you and not some start-up restaurants or your competitors. For example, if your restaurant brand is popular in your delivery segment you can twist your online ordering software content putting updates on your service. Don’t focus on your takeout or dining segments.

Brand engagements and conversions

You must maximize your website in order that your customers will be engaged with you and take your pitch. By doing these you’re successfully using your website branding in making your conversion or sales.

Establishing Brand Recall

Your website will give you an advantage when it comes to brand recall. Because of its accessibility and ranking, you’ll be able to effectively let your customers recall your brand. Consider the following questions so that you can make your customers recall your brand on your website:

What services do you offer?
Which of your menu is your signature in your place?
What are the things you can do to improve your brand recall?

After answering these questions you can build on to enhance your brand recall. Brand recall is a proven way to maximize your sales for your restaurant.

Delight your customers, execute well in your website

We have given you some insights regarding using your website to boost your restaurant brand. It will help you chart your restaurant technology and online ordering software features in your branding and sales generation.

If your restaurant is looking for an online ordering system

contact us now.

3 Questions You Should Ask Before Putting up Your Restaurant’s Website

We are living in the digital world and restaurant businesses are not exempted from this. The use of restaurant technology is becoming the norm. Thus, having a customized website is fairly critical to the success of your venture.

It is on your website that you can offer your menu and services to your target customers. You can also establish your initial engagements with your customers when you use a website for your restaurant.

So, if having a great website will help you gain more customers, how to do this exactly? The secret is when you endeavor to have an online ordering system within the website. There are many reasons to set-up your website and we can write pages about it under the restaurant technology niche.

But before putting up your own restaurant website, consider asking the following questions to yourself so that you will know the direction you’re going to as far as how it will benefit your business.

Question No. 1 Do I have the resources?

The first thing you should ask yourself is the availability of your resources in order to put up your website. The importance of knowing beforehand if you have the needed resources is for you to make the necessary adjustments. If you lack one of the resources you can tap providers or hire people to perform the work for you.

There are many providers like designers for your restaurant technology for your online ordering system on your website. Having an inventory of resources will also help you as you start your project of putting up your own website.

Website Designers

You need to make your website look professional and engaging so you’ll need website designers. Ask your team who are graduates of information technology or computer science and is proficient in website designing. If none of your team knows website designing you can choose to search for freelancers or hire a full-time employee website designer.

Furthermore, we will round up the benefits of each as you go along this post. The key here is to hire a designer that can deliver great results at a minimum cost to you.

For more information on the qualities of a good designer read this post.

Comparative cost-benefit analysis of a Freelancer and Employee Website Designers

It is good to consider the benefits of your two options of work engagement on your website designers and have a cost-benefit analysis. Doing so will help you to decide later on which option is viable to help you in relating restaurant technology to your business.

Freelance Designers

You can find them in all job sites in the market today offering their services with their ready sample portfolio. They can create a restaurant app and food delivery app exclusively for you to help your website. Pay is dependent on their years of experience and expertise in website designing.

But most importantly, the advantage of hiring a freelancer is that you can save a huge amount of money. Why? Because then you won’t be tied down paying for insurance and holiday pay as compared to hiring in-house for a long-term employee.

Freelancers don’t have the same benefits as regular employees since they are independent contractors. When it comes to expertise they can even outwit a regular employee because of their exposure to different business niches and global clients.

Although, there is also a risk in hiring a freelance designer. Project continuity is always one of the major hiccups that come with hiring independent contractors. These freelancers may not be able to hold their end of the bargain with you because of personal circumstances that may arise as the project is progressing. They may also accept a better offer or a higher paying client. The possibilities are endless.

Therefore, always have a contingency in place. You’d want to be involved in the project, engage your contractor and make sure you have a fluid working relationship.

Full-time employee

Having a regular employee designer will let you have direct control of workflow and project delivery on time. You can contact your designer in real-time once clarification is needed or technical meetings for product development.

Your website design specifications can be changed immediately even at short notice.

The risk in hiring a regular employee is the limited website designing experience common to designers working in a firm. Sometimes their experience is on an entirely different business niche like pharmaceuticals or education.

Add also that you’ll be paying them their salaries and company benefits as well as once they are regularized you can’t easily terminate their services.

Digital marketing

This resource describes your capacity to manage your advertisement in social media, on your website and other forms in the digital space. You’ll also consider if your campaign advertisement will be an organic one or you’ll be paying for it. It’s important to have the technical resources before starting your website so that you can use it to get leads and eventually convert them into paying customers.

Here are some of the technical resources for digital marketing

SEO or search engine optimization

This is your google ranking search on your website. It’s important to compete for the top ranking since this will give you mileage over your competitors in the business.

Data-driven marketing

This is the use of your gathered data for your improvement in your digital marketing initiatives.

E-mail marketing

This is your way of informing your customers of your updates usually in the form of newsletters sent to their email address. You can include in your newsletter updates on your restaurant technology.

Content management

This is your strategic plan on how you can use your content in your websites for your improvement in your SEO and social media campaigns. It is reflecting your brand and product in your content while giving information to your subscribers.

Gamification

This is targeting your customers by offering interactive games that will engage them with your services and menu offerings in your restaurant.

Question No. 2 What types of customers do I have?

You need to identify your target market and their consumer behavior because this will help both the design and marketing of your website. The type of generation of your target customers will give you some idea on your proper approach in order to engage them in your website.

Here are the two types of generation of your customers

Generation X or Gen X

These are your customers who are born in the mid-1960s and the early-1980s. They’re the first generation that was exposed to computer technology and development. Expect that they are tech-savvy and more critical of your website. They tend to compare old with modern technology which includes a website. In order to engage this generation, you need to ensure that your website user experience is great and no glitches will happen to them as they are browsing.

Millenials

These are your customers who are born in the early 1980s and the mid-1990s. This generation was born with technology and gadgets like tablets and the iPad. They’re considered the techie generation. In order to engage this generation well, you need to ensure that your website look and feel on a computer will be the same quality to mobile devices like tablets and cellular phones. This generation is known to be always on the go and likes to enjoy apps. Check carefully your online ordering app for optimum engagement.

Question No. 3 What is/are my goals?

Goal setting is another key to the success of your website. Identify your goal in having your website if it’s for sales generation, your digital presence or business growth.

Sales generation

If your goal is to increase your sales in setting your website it is advisable that you do the following on your website:

The design and content should focus more on your menu and services (online ordering system, waitlist, and the loyalty program).
Interactive tools that will lead to sales conversions like party package reservations or online orders in your ordering app.
Your website should include a chatbot for customer inquiries.

For more information on using your website for sales generation read this post.

Digital presence

To establish your brand and restaurant in the digital space, consider the below factors:

Emphasis on your about page, history and affiliates (if any)
Your restaurant interior and exterior are your backgrounds on your website.
Your customer user experience and browsing are that as if they already entered your physical restaurant.

Business growth

Business growth in setting a website is for restaurants that are offering the sale of their brand franchise. Your focus should be the following on your website:

Your brand and why you’re different from your competitors
Sustainability of your business
Success stories of your franchisees.

Your website is your key to the world of countless opportunities

Take advantage of websites in order to tap customers and business opportunities that traditional markets cannot give you. Expand your horizons and make your goals your achievements. We are always here to be of service to you.

We have already given you some lists to consider before setting up your website. Also, check our blog regularly for more tips on how to run a successful restaurant business.

If your restaurant is looking for an online ordering system

contact us now.

How to Generate More Orders on Your Restaurant’s Website?

Did you know that ordering online isn’t just a luxury but a necessity nowadays? The goal of setting up your restaurant website is not only for increasing brand awareness, but also for your restaurant to generate more orders. Why? This is to convert traffic and audience into paying customers when they learn about your latest offering or be intrigued by your technology – say, an online ordering system.

Establishing your restaurant’s online presence is one thing, but generating additional revenue from this stream is another. Wouldn’t if be awesome to get the best of both worlds? Check out these key factors that contribute to generating more orders from your website:

Engaging website

Remember, you’re trying to offer a great ordering experience even online. Traffic is generated by how your website looks. Is it visually appealing? Is it engaging? The way your website looks speaks loudly of your brand, your product, and services. So, your website will do well to look professional, but not boring. Therefore, your customers have to get a feel of what dining at your place, or trying out your menu, is like. They should feel the need to satiate their hunger with your offering.

Below are three things to consider when planning your website:

Design

First impressions last, they say. And to drive traffic to your website, your ideal customers must be attracted to it. Why? For the simple reason that the way, your website intrigues your customers will most likely depend on what they see on your website. The way your website is arranged and feels as they browse will matter.

So make your website stand out from the rest.

Your website design must be user-friendly and the experience it gives to your customer is superior. You can consult or hire a User Interface and User Experience Designer to help you in attaining this goal. It’s very important that your design will show your unique brand image. It needs also to have a tone that’s conversational and is functional. Functional means that all your plug-in have content on it. Avoid putting plug-ins without any content. It will leave a bad impression on your customers, and ultimately, their ordering behavior.

Content

Images or videos alone cannot fully engage your customers. You also need to create content that’s conversational, informational and engaging. Provide your customers with new ideas about your restaurant. You can allocate a blog to discuss your thoughts. An example is discussing some dining etiquettes to follow in a restaurant. Other related information on the restaurant industry is welcome to be written in your blog.

The content of your site – like your company profile, menu, or investment opportunities (if any), must be written in a conversational tone, and informative. Not in an academic style or similar to a business plan. Your services like your online ordering system must also have a short content. You can choose to have an infographic about your system. This is to show to the customers how it works and the steps they should take to place their orders.

Choose your content wisely and with relevance. Unrelated content should never find its place on your website. It will confuse your customers and they might leave your website.

You would not want this to happen, right?

Interactive Tools

You know how boring it is to stare on black content and watch videos without any tools that will let you do some related stuff. Don’t let your customers feel the same too on your website. If you are aiming for more orders, you need to put interactive tools together with your content or videos. Some of these tools are a calculator. You can let your customers compute for themselves the discount they will get if they will order your bundled menu. Also, you can embed a calculator or a cost estimator that instantly produces a quote for bulk orders or party packages. Therefore, your customers can plan on their budget more efficiently.

Another interactive tool is a short quiz that you’ll give to your customers after they read your blogs. Customized puzzles that relate say for example to your new menu offering content or videos is another interactive tool. The key here is that your customers will be busy with stuff while reading or viewing your website contents. Letting them have fun while at your website is awesome way to connect with them.

If you can give them some small treats (pastries, discounts, loyalty points) after engaging with your interactive tools the better. It will not provide you more orders in your online ordering system but your dining segment as well.

Sounds very good, right?

Customer orders feedback system

This is another interactive tool but because of its importance, we separated it for you. Always let your customers feel that very important people’s status or royalty treatment is a rule of staying in the business. This rule does not exempt your digital presence. Your website should have a separate customer feedback form.

Your customer feedback form is not only used in resolving customer complaints. This is probably one of the most important parts of your website. This is so you can learn what’s going on in the mind of your customers while experiencing your website. You can learn on their feedback on the level of satisfaction they had with you. And why they chose to order from your restaurant. In this way, you can generate more orders from them.

Structure your customer feedback form based on the information you need from your customers. Say, for example, to get a good grip of what your customers think of your offering – include a feedback form within your contact page.

Another rule is that make your customer feedback form short, direct to the point and simple.

Menu presentation

The way you will be presenting your menu on your website will determine if your customers will place their orders with you. Make sure that your menu is presented in a palatable but professional way. Remember that the way your menu is printed in your menu cards is different in how it looks in your digital presence. Choose your menu photographs well; put those menu photographs that will entice your customer’s appetite. The idea is that upon looking at your menu they will feel hunger. They would want to order to you.

Another tip on your menu presentation put your menu in order starting from your appetizers, main course, side dishes, and desserts. Your beverages must also be presented in order from your sodas, juices, and wines.

Locator app

Let your customers easily know where your locations are. On your website, place a locator app that’s easily seen so your customers know which location is accessible should they prefer to reserve a table and dine in. This is also helpful for your online delivery orders because your nearest branch to your customer’s location is identifiable.

Your next step – online ordering system

After learning some of the things you need to do to make your website generate more orders, what’s next? Tip: list down the above as action items on your next planning session. Consequently, evaluate and discuss this list with your team.

Check out how we can help you with all of this!

If your restaurant is looking for an online ordering system

contact us now.

How Can Your Restaurant Benefit from A Plant-Based Diet?

In today’s changing world, many customers do not only look for delicious foods but they are also considering a plant-based diet. They’re looking at having a healthy lifestyle that will help them reduce the chance of getting diseases from unhealthy eating habits.

“The number of new US food and drink products that mentioned plant-based grew 268 percent between 2012 and 2018 (The Washington Post, 2019)”

The trend of having this kind of lifestyle of customers should be considered by food establishments especially restaurants. They should come up with meals that satisfy the taste and needs of this kind of customers. Therefore, they should consider offering a plant-based diet in their list of offerings and that includes you of course.

Plant-based diet in a nutshell

Plant-based diets are foods that come from plants and do not contain ingredients that come from animals or meat. It is mainly offering natural plant-based products like fruits, vegetables, tubers, legumes and whole grains in your menu. But how can your restaurants benefit from offering a plant-based diet in your menu?

Here are some of the benefits that restaurants can get from offering a plant-based diet:

An additional variety of product offerings

Offering plant-based diet food products will increase the variety of product offerings in your restaurant. Customers will not only choose products from the limited offerings in your restaurants but they can choose from a plant-based menu that will satisfy their tastes and preferences. With these in mind, if your restaurant will have a plant-based diet on your list of offerings, it will give you an advantage over your competitors.

By promoting a plant-based diet menu in your restaurant, your customers are not just limited to choosing the same meal over and over again. Whenever customers see new menus like a plant-based diet in your restaurant, customers will be curious about it and they will try to taste it. Say for example, of offering a plant-based patty instead of meat in your burgers. Or perhaps a plant-based rolls in your menu. Who would not want to try a new menu such as those mentioned right?

Increase in your target market

Employing or adding a plant-based diet in your menu will help your restaurant to cater to a new market segment. Segments like customers with health problems and those who are health conscious. It’s a trend that many people are becoming conscious of the food they eat. And you should take this to your advantage.

You’re adding a new segment in your restaurant which will generate income to you. We will discuss this more in the next part of this post. Your restaurant is building a good image for promoting a healthy lifestyle by the offering of your plant-based menu.

You can also include your plant-based menu as an addition to your online delivery offering. By using an innovative, reliable and user-friendly delivery app like Taker, you touch base with your delivery segment and market.

Adding a plant-based diet in your menu is key for your restaurant growth to learn more about menu management, read this post.

Lower production cost and an increase in sales and profit

This is the thing every restaurant owner and manager like the most. Let me tell you a secret, when you add a plant-based diet on your menu you will bring a positive impact on your sales. Yes, let me show you how.

When you expand your target market, there will be an increase in your sales. Given your proper management, it will turn into an increase in your profits. You will benefit because the cost of production of a plant-based menu is lesser than the animal-based diet food products.

Plant-based diets raw materials can be seen everywhere and there will be adequate raw materials in producing such a product. With the low cost of production, your restaurant will be benefited as they will increase their profits especially in the introduction stage of plant-based diets wherein customers will try new products just for the sake to know more of that new product.

Increase in brand image and lower promotional cost

With the introduction of plant-based diets of your restaurants comes social responsibility. Restaurants having plant-based diet meals will be socially responsible as it helps customers who have major illnesses to be more physically fit as it offers products that will give them nutrients. Customers will patronize the business itself because of its advocacy to promote a healthier choice of food products.

With plant-based diet meals as one of the offerings of your restaurants, people will promote it by themselves and this will cause a lower promotional cost on your business. Customers will talk about the restaurants’ plant-based products to their friends and colleagues and this will turn into an increase in the number of customers.

These are some of the benefits we can derive from offering plant-based diet meals in our restaurant. Let us try to widen our perspective and let us try to introduce plant-based meals in our list of menu offerings. This will not just benefit your business by having lots of customers, an increase in sales and profits, an increase in brand image and lower promotional costs but also it will benefit the most important person of your business, your customers.

If your restaurant is looking for an online ordering system

contact us now.

Are Customer Complaints Good or Bad?

All businesses, whatever industry they belong to, don’t want to encounter customer complaints. Why? simply because it has a negative impact that it’s hard to recover from. In other situations, it even can become very costly to settle a single customer complaint. Some businesses also closed down and declared bankruptcy because they could not handle the number of complaints they received.

In this post, we will help you understand customer complaints better and its impact on your restaurant.

If You Fail To Listen, Customer Complaints Happen

Once your customer enters your restaurant, he expects to be treated well, respected and have a good dining experience. This is the expectation that every restaurant owner, manager and staff member needs to ensure. If this is not met, customer complaints happen.

Listening is both an important skill and human gift that your restaurant team should learn and practice.

The sensitivity to listen to potential customer concerns and the ability to respond in a timely and correct manner is a quality each restaurant team member should possess. For example, you overheard one of your customers complaining about the food, what you should do is to approach him to understand his problem. Once you finish listening, take the necessary actions. You can replace his food or compensate him with a discount in an attempt to make him satisfied. What’s important is that your customer will feel that his voice was heard and his complaint was taken care of. This will help you avoid losing him.

Customer Complaints Are an Opportunity to Build Loyalty

Yes, you read it right even. Customer complaints, which are very negative, can become an opportunity for you. It entirely depends on how you can turn it to be in your favor.

When a customer complaints about your product or your service, take it as an opportunity for improvement. This is because, after the ranting and gestures of the customer, some of them will give their suggestions. Those suggestions are valuable and free so why not take them and study their implementation in the restaurant. This will also give the complaining customer a sense of ownership of your restaurant. Show them that their suggestions are taken seriously and, believe me, they will be loyal to you.

For more tips on how you can build customer loyalty read this post.

Customer Complaints Have a Cost

We are living in the digital age in which everything can be recorded and shared in social media including customer complaints. In this situation, immediate customer recovery and crisis management must be implemented.

Customer experience will overtake price and product as the key brand differentiator (Customers 2020)

There are three costs of customer complaints in your restaurant, and these are the following:

Image Built-UP Cost
Settlement Cost
Productivity Cost

Image Built-Up Cost

This is the amount of money your restaurant spends to recover the bad image that the customer complaint has brought you. You are paying this cost to minimize the impact on your brand. It will also ensure the patronage and sustainability of your restaurant despite the complaint.

Settlement Cost

When your customer complaint reaches the level of the courts or any regulatory bodies, then expect some costs to resolve it. That path is proven to be costly because customers will let your restaurant shoulder all their expenses in the case including attorney fees, transportation, and civil damages. However, if you settle the case early between you and the customer, it’ll be a huge money and time saving for you. This is because the more professional people, like lawyers, are involved, the higher the cost will be. On top of that, you will avoid any other impacts that the case has against your restaurant and its reputation.

Productivity Cost

This cost is often neglected because it goes unnoticed. Remember that once a customer complains at your restaurant, all the team members and managers will exert their efforts to recover the customer. The time and attention you give to solve the complaint will be at the expense of taking additional orders and doing marketing.

Avoiding Customer Complaints

In order to avoid customer complaints, it’s better to be proactive in looking at your restaurant operations. For sure, there are some aspects you should consider to avoid customer complaints. One of the aspects you should look into is your restaurant systems and technology. For example, you should choose a reliable, quality and state-of-the-art ordering system in order to satisfy your customers like Taker. The online food delivery segment of your restaurant needs an ordering app like Taker which is not only user-friendly, innovative but affordable. To learn more about how you can create a great food delivery experience to your customers read this post.

Although customer complaints are a negative thing, they be can be turned into an opportunity to build up strong customer loyalty. Also, being proactive to those complaints can save you lots of costs and time as well as help preserve your restaurant’s reputation.

If your restaurant is looking for an online ordering system

contact us now.

How to Maximize Restaurant Profit Margin

Any business that is in the foodservice industry understands how competitive this space is. So they continuously keep finding new good ways to improve the restaurant profit margin. If they don’t, they’ll either not be able to compete with pricing while preserving quality or their margins will be squeezed out. Either way, it’s not good.

What is Restaurant Profit Margin

Along with other parameters, the profit margin is the biggest key indicator of whether or not the restaurant will survive in the long run. So it’s crucial that every restaurant understands it precisely. In a simple definition, profit is the remaining money after deducting all expenses from gross revenue. Whereas profit margin is actually the percentage of profit in relation to revenue. Here is the equation to calculate the profit margin:

Profit Margin = Profit / Gross Revenue * 100

The whole game here is how to control costs, either operating or food costs.

How to Improve Restaurant Profit Margin

Below are some tips that will really help you improve your restaurant profit margin.

Reduce food cost

While it seems obvious, but it is really one of the most effective ways to improve restaurant profit margins. There are ways to get good prices from suppliers and each gives you a certain negotiation power.

First, go with bulks as suppliers always give good competitive prices if you buy in bulks. Second, if you are a small restaurant and can’t buy bulks, try allying with other restaurants. So this will give you the power to buy in bulks so you can get good prices. Third, if this does not work, many restaurants have found working directly with farmers and producers much more effective. The reason is that you get rid of the middle man that always tops up the costs. The downside here is supply security as one day the farmer might run out of products. To mitigate this, always have a backup plan in cases like that. One more fact, buying food from locals can notably cut the cost as there is the cost for the shipping.

Control Servings

No doubt, customers would not like insufficient food if they paid for it but for sure they are ok if more food is served. So your restaurant must be able to know the exact portion to serve, not too much and not too little. That helps you really control the food cost to maximize your restaurant profit margin.

Upselling

One trick that can notably increase your sales is upselling new items to current customers. This, of course, requires you to train your waitstaff the techniques to use in order to succeed selling more items. The most important thing you always need to keep in mind is which items to upsell?. Always try to upsell the high margins items as they, for sure, can have significant differences. Doing so really helps with increasing the overall restaurant profit margin on the long run.

Have an Online Ordering System

It’s so obvious that every restaurant wants to increase sales as much as possible. Today, technology just has become so much advanced more accessible that it can create a whole online ordering system almost instantly. A good one will help you with selling and upselling because they’ll optimize the ordering process. Optimizing the ordering process is key when it comes to online sales as it requires fine-tuning every single step.

If your restaurant is looking for an online ordering system

contact us now.