5 Key Benefits of Having Your Restaurant’s Own App

You finally decided its the right time to  install your own app for your restaurant order delivery segment or are you currently using one and seeking affirmation that you’re on the right path to business success? If you answered yes to any of these then this post is for you. The fast-paced development of technology is something every restaurant must keep up with. Thus, one way to get along the tide is to create a restaurant app for online ordering.

The past year we’ve worked with restaurants and seen their pain points before adopting restaurant technology. As we went along, we have come to see more benefits to creating a restaurant app while technology evolved. Aside from the obvious benefit of having full control of customer and user data. We’ve gathered 5 of the key benefits of having your own restaurant app.

 What’s a restaurant app?

A restaurant app is a technology that allows you to attract, engage and convert sales. It usually runs on a concept created to further your market reach. In order to create a restaurant app, the experts take into consideration usability, quality, and optimum performance.

1.      A restaurant app will help in your segment business growth

By the year 2020, it is projected that mobile users will grow to a booming 3 billion users. This gives you an idea of the importance and impact of having a restaurant app among other business considerations. If you have an app for restaurant ordering your segments will grow income for you. Let’s discuss each segment so that you can better appreciate this key benefit.

  • Dining

Your dining segment will be able to increase sales because your restaurant app will feature a waitlist that will allow your customers to reserve early. It is also expected that if your customers get a great experience using your app they’ll go into your store location and dine with you.

  • Delivery

Among your segments, your delivery will have an expected increase in sales because it is the segment that is directly integrated with your restaurant app. Just be sure to give a great and awesome delivery experience to your customers.

To learn more about how you can give a great and awesome delivery experience to your customers you can read this post.

  • Take-out

Your take-out segment will also grow in sales because your customers after experiencing both your delivery and dining segments would logically try your take-out service. It is common for customers after dining with you that they will order some take-out meals for their family members and house helpers.

Overall, if you let the experts create your restaurant app it will impact all your segments and contribute to your business performance. It acts as a multiplier among other technology and marketing initiatives in your restaurant operations.

2. Establish customer rewards and loyalty programs

The next key benefit of your restaurant app is that it is able to establish customer rewards and loyalty programs. It does by following this cycle of managing your customers:

  • Your restaurant app gives you customer attraction by its accessibility and features

Your restaurant app will help you attract customers to your company and provide for the initial connection to your service, reward program, and loyalty incentives as well as your menu offering. It’s important to note here that your app should be engaging. It should represent well your brand while keeping your customer’s attention to you and letting them enjoy your app experience.

  • Customer engagement through user-friendly device integrations in your restaurant app

Make sure that your app is user-friendly in all devices and also fully integrated. The benefit of these to your customer rewards and loyalty programs is the easy access and redemption of the customers of your rewards and incentives. As a result, customers will be encouraged to earn more by ordering more since they are incentivized.

  • Your restaurant app helps improves your customer sales conversion

The purpose of your rewards and loyalty program is to keep your customers and let them feel that you value them in your business. This engagement will then lead to another sales conversion which your app helps you to attain. Your customers can show your app to their friends and family members who are not yet your customers and this will lead to a new customer base for you.

  • It helps in customer retention by emphasizing on your rewards and loyalty programs

In your app, you can have a dedicated feature discussing your rewards and loyalty programs for your customers. Convey your appreciation to your customers and if possible you can include some loyal customer’s short profile and history with your restaurant. In this way, you’re conveying appreciation and value to your loyal customers.

 3. Brand booster

Boost your brand by letting the experts create your restaurant app. Having your own app allows you to do the following in your digital marketing efforts:

  •  Your restaurant app will serve as your brand multiplier

Given in today’s branding activities your app will let you multiply your branding activities by sharing it to your social media channels which will lead to customer engagements. It can be used as your landing page in your social media posts not only your website to give your customers some variations. 

  • A restaurant app will give you brand image in cyberspace

Apart from your website, your restaurant app is another tool for your branding in cyberspace. It will not only attract your customers but will give you instant engagements and sales conversion. Its features will allow you to give branding a practical view. Create a restaurant app with this branding booster in mind.

 4. Market expansion from active customers to prospects

In any business industry, adding loyal customers is an important feat to consider. This will ensure business sustainability and further growth. Your restaurant app will allow you to expand your market by the referrals your current customers will make to prospective customers.  By ensuring a memorable first-time experience to your app of your new customers it will turn them into loyal ones. You can also set your app with the goal to engage prospects and making them your customers. Just coordinate well with your experts or service providers on how to integrate it with your restaurant app.

5. Interactive mode for customer engagement and retention

Your restaurant app is an interactive way for you to solicit your customer engagement and retention. You can twist and tweak its features, content, and services to fit your current and prospective customers. It’s very important that you ensure that your app will address all potential concerns your customers might encounter as they enlist your services and order your menu in your segments. Always communicate to them your brand in a manner that is courteous, professional and engaging is the key for your continued customer engagements and retention.

If your restaurant is looking for an online ordering system

contact us now.

Why Your Restaurant Needs an Order Taker App to Increase Profit [infographic]

In the last few years, consumers have grown a remarkable interest in using an order taker app to do everything. From searching for a new place to eat, booking reservations in advance, to placing orders for delivery. In fact, it is becoming a new trend in the foodservice industry. This includes a considerable growth rate in the past couple of years.

Although, some restaurants have delayed joining the bandwagon due to several factors including budget and time constraints. Because of this, these establishments without an order taker app have been put at a disadvantage.

This gave way for competitors to gain a market share that is growing at a rapid pace. The wide use of an order taker app proved to be profitable for restaurants. Adapting this piece of restaurant technology also helped brands save time and money in advertising and operations.

Know if it’s the right fit for the business

To give you a headstart, we’ve put together a checklist. This post tackles how restaurant owners can do a self-assessment on adopting restaurant technology. After this, they can then decide if acquiring an online ordering system is the next step to achieve success for their brands. Developing an order taker app for your restaurant takes your brand to a whole new level of competitiveness.

If you’d like to know why you need to create an order taker app for your restaurant, check out our some astounding figures we’ve put together below:

order taker app

Change is constant in restaurant technology

The figures illustrated in this infographic will change over time as the concept of the online ordering system evolves. If you’re one of those restaurant business owners who are on the fence about developing an order taker app, take heed.

If you want to keep up with the winning restaurant trends, see the opportunity that restaurant technology brings to businesses. Create a restaurant app to maximize your earning potential – with the help of these tips. As the number of tech-savvy customers rises, so does the demand for a modern approach to online food ordering increase as well.

If your restaurant is looking for an online ordering system

contact us now.


Online Ordering System: 7 Tips on How to Choose One for Your Restaurant

After you decide to take the opportunity of restaurant technology, the next challenge you need to sort out is choosing an online ordering system for your restaurant. It’s not easy to choose one, since there are many service providers offering this system in the market today. Therefore, you need to have a set of criteria or lists in order to be guided and eventually be able to choose the best among the rest.

In this post, we will provide you 7 tips in choosing your online ordering system for your restaurant.

1.  Be Budget-conscious

Finding your online ordering system need not cost a fortune or a big chunk of your capital. Consider the cost of your online ordering system before engaging the service of the provider is important and our number one tip for you. Check if the cost of purchasing and maintaining it will outweigh the promised benefits to your restaurant.

The general rule is that your online ordering system should give you the benefits you want for your restaurant at a minimum cost. Don’t get an online ordering system that will cost you much but is not able to give your targeted benefits. This is not a practical and good business decision. Your restaurant technology cost should meet your business goals.

Free versus subscription paid online ordering system

There are many free online ordering systems that are being offered today. You might be tempted to take one for your restaurant. Who would not want to avail of a free system, right? However, these free online ordering systems might not guarantee to be responsive to your needs. Your provider might not be readily available to respond whenever you’ll experience some technical problems while using it. Some of these systems offer added services for a fee say for example integration of payment mode of cash or by credit card every time you receive orders.

This is very different from a subscription paid online ordering system because for a fixed monthly fee with a contract you’ll get the same benefits with an assurance of customer service helping you out when you encounter technical problems. You might be charged for a minimal fee if you opt to add more features like a loyalty program in your system. Another advantage of a subscription paid online ordering system is that your provider will continue to develop its features and make it updated to current restaurant technology. This is something a free online ordering system cannot give you.

An example of these systems is Taker which offers many features that you need in your restaurant for a monthly subscription fee. For other types of online ordering systems available today you can read this post.

2.  Consider device compatibility

When you’re searching for an online ordering system, consider the device compatibility so you would know how to use it as part of your restaurant technology marketing. Your system is considered a food delivery app by your customers so it must be compatible with common and widely-used devices. Here is another tip you need to conduct a test first on your system in all types of devices from a website-based app to a mobile app. It should be functional and with the same user interface in all apps.

Your chosen provider must create a restaurant app like your online ordering system well in all devices and conditions. Once you notice that your system does not work well in some devices, it is best not to continue your subscription. It pays to be vigilant when it comes to adapting to restaurant technology.

3.  Be mindful of user integration

Your online ordering system should be integrated with your other restaurant technology. It should be in sync with your existing restaurant app and restaurant technology. Your point of sales or POS should be able to be integrated into your online ordering system. 

The following are important things to consider in terms of user integration:

  • Full user integration

Your system should integrate with your existing restaurant technology at a 100% rate. Here’s another tip on full user integration there should be no downtime and technical errors during the testing period and actual operation of your system.

  •  It should equal or beat the existing food delivery app in your area

One of the reasons you want to have your own system is to increase your delivery sales so it must equal or beat the existing food delivery app in your area. Your customers should find your system easy to use and navigate like their food delivery app. (more on this when we go to our tip number 7).

  • Positive user experience and engagement

Your system should let your customers feel important and engaged them well in your brand. It should promote a positive user experience like responsive customer service or customer rewards for their loyalty to you.

4.  Have outstanding delivery features

Another important tip to consider is having a useful and beneficial delivery features that your online ordering system can offer to customers. You can choose a provider that will contain all these features in their system:

  • Location navigation

This may seem an obvious tip but you should check this out with your provider. Your system should have this delivery feature in order to point the exact location of your received inquiries and orders. This is to be sure to deliver your customer’s orders on time without delays. Delays can happen if you’re online ordering system fails to detect your customer’s exact location.

  •  Menu display and updating

You should be able to put your menu in your system and be able to update it anytime without any hassles on your part. This is the essence of having an online ordering system for restaurants.

  • Payment mode

It should offer all possible payment modes in your area so that your customers will be able to pay conveniently without the need of spending significant time figuring how they can pay you.

  • Order tracking

Like all good food delivery apps, your online ordering system should have an order tracking feature. This is to help your customers to expect the exact time of the delivery of their orders. It will help them greatly when they are hosting a celebration at their home with their guests.

5.  Data collection is crucial to any online ordering system

Your system should provide a way in which you’re able to collect customer data for your use in your business. This restaurant technology should provide for the analytics of your customer’s data. Being able to extract data will help you evaluate your strengths and weaknesses in your operations. Our tip for you is that some of the important customer’s data you’ll need to have are the following:

  • Demographics

This data includes age, race/ethnicity, gender, education, and profession among others.

  • Customer transaction

Your customer transaction data will help you gauge the buying behavior of your customers so that you can create a program on them.

  •  Advanced analytics

It should provide you analytics on the data you collected from your customers for your decision-making.

6.  Marketing extension is a must-have

When you subscribe to an online ordering system choose the one that is able to articulate your brand, it should speak about and promote your brand well. The ability to serve as your marketing extension is an added value for you.  Promotions and loyalty programs to reward your customers should be available.  It should not look generic but unique and is custom-built for your brand and restaurant technology.

7.  A user-friendly ordering system is key

Your system should be user-friendly both for you and your customers. Its features should be easily used and provide a great experience. Avoid an online ordering system that is not easy to navigate and hard to understand. Remember that if you’re not able to fully understand your system much more of your customers. Aim to the goal of being able to understand and use well your online ordering system. 

You and your customers should enjoy and have fun using your online ordering system. The feeling of being served comfortably and optimum convenience should be you and your customer’s experience with your system. Otherwise, leave your provider and find the one that deserves you and your customer’s time.

Final Tip: Your online ordering system should be aesthetic and functional

Any restaurant technology whether it is a website, an app and an online ordering system should show art and function. These two should be present and also appreciated by end-users. We have given you the 7 tips on choosing your own restaurant online ordering system. Enjoy your shopping for your system and have fun.  Choose only the best online ordering system for your restaurant.

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.

Restaurant Online Ordering System: A Beginner’s Guide

Planning to have your own restaurant online ordering system is a great way to expand your business and provide superior customer experience. Let’s start the process and put together the system in your restaurant.

If you’re a beginner, you’re in luck. We put together a quick guide to setting up a restaurant online ordering system for busy entrepreneurs who like to get their restaurants online:

Check Your Market

In checking your market, consider the following:

  • Your goals

First, you need to identify your goals in setting up your restaurant online ordering system. Is it to drive more sales to your restaurant or offer another option for your loyal customers? Choosing your goals will determine the actions you will take. It will guide you to the right path leading up to your priorities and evaluation later on.

  • Restaurant location

Your location will help you to identify the kind of customers you currently have and who you’ll be targeting in your online ordering system. Your customer demographics are very important so that you can personalize your system to suit their needs. Remember, an effective online ordering system should, first and foremost, answer the needs and even wants of your customers.

Your location will also determine the hit rate you will target for your team. Your hit rate is the measurement of the time you’re able to deliver your customer’s order from the time you received orders

  • Competition

Check your competition. How many restaurants are there in your area that already have an online ordering system? What app or platform are they using? How long have they been in operation? Consider researching out to your target market as well. Conduct surveys or interviews with a few people. After you get all the data, examine them and include them as your reference to your next course of action.

  • Engagement

Assess your current engagement with your customers. Check on how many customers dine in your restaurant on a daily, weekly, or monthly average. Compare this with your competitor data (those who already have established their presence online). From there, you can project your reach when you set up your online ordering system. Your current engagement rate will give you an idea about the improvements you need to make in order to get more customer engagements. Remember your customer engagement is critical to the success of your online ordering system.

Choose a Great Provider

After considering your market you need to look for a great provider to help you set up your restaurant online ordering system. You should choose a provider that offers an affordable yet reliable technology. The app should also suit your type of restaurant and can be flexible. It should be flexible that you can add some features later on like a waitlist or a loyalty program.  A great provider that also has a reliable customer service hotline that you can contact should there be any issues as you implement your system.

Great news for you!

 Taker is one of these great providers that can help you in your online ordering system.

Prepare Your Restaurant Profile

You need to complete your restaurant profile. Why? It will help you to see areas where you have to improve and your strengths over your competitors. It will also tell you if you’re ready to have your online ordering system.

Your restaurant profile consists of the following:

  • Restaurant category

Are you a portion of fast food, casual dining, family dining or a fine dining restaurant? Your restaurant category will determine your approach to your online ordering system. For example, if your restaurant is fast food your hit rate should be less than 30 minutes for orders made near your location. If your category is casual dining you need to add more minutes. Likewise, the looks of your system will also follow your category. If you’re a family dining restaurant your app should show it.

  • Management team

You must consider the members of your management team and that includes you.  Put the profile of your Restaurant Manager and Assistant Restaurant Managers as well as Supervisors (if any). This will help you determine their skills and the involvement they must take in the success of your system. If one of your Assistant Managers is a graduate in information technology he can help you in understanding the basics of your system. He can also collaborate with your provider development team.

  • Sales performance

You need a quick analysis of your sales performance for the past year and months. This is to project your sales target to your team once your system is in place. Your sales should increase after implementing your online ordering system. Project your sales target on a monthly basis, quarterly and yearly. In this mode, you also need to make a review and take action.

Your online ordering system will be a great help in increasing your sales performance.

There are other things to consider under your restaurant profile. You can add them as you see fit we just provided the major things you need to consider.

Menu Planning

Accept the fact that before putting your online ordering system you need to review your menu. Put your best and trademark menu in your system and add more if you can. Quality menu and being able to improve it will help in your success. You need to collaborate with your research and development department so that you can suggest new menu offerings.

A tip on menu planning is that you need to arrange your menu based on your restaurant category.

Check Your Logistics and Supplies

You will be expecting that you will have additional orders once you launched your online ordering system. Check your logistics and supplies. For your delivery orders, make sure that your motorcycles are in good running condition. A motorcycle checklist will help in checking the condition of your motorcycles. Check your supplies inventory, you should add and order your stocks before launching your system.

Train Your Team

Not every one of your team is knowledgeable in your online ordering system. You need to conduct a quick training to your team about it. You can request help from your provider on your training. This is important so that once your system is implemented, everybody can execute well.

Take a Dry Run

In order to validate if your team understand well your training, a dry run needs to be done.  A dry run is implementing your system in your restaurant in a controlled environment. This is done to check the level of understanding and correct mistakes of your team before full implementation. You can make a dry run 1 day before the implementation of your online ordering system.

Your next step

Take advantage of an online ordering system with every benefit it has to offer.

Begin your journey today!

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.

What are Virtual Restaurants?






Virtual Restaurants, also known as “Ghost Restaurants”, are online-only restaurants that serve customers exclusively through delivery. In other words, it does not have dine-in or pickup options. So virtual restaurants prepare the food from a location that does not have to be apparent to people, just a kitchen. This concept has started to grow in popularity since prepared meal market is eating out a large share of the grocery market. That is probably due to the nature of the society and business conditions where people just don’t have time during the day.

 

Digital Expansion

Studies showed that %60 of restaurants fail within the first five years because they are capital-intensive. Therefore, selling online is the only alternative as it is a great way to increase sales. However, that is not the only reason why restaurants should sell online. It is also a great expansion strategy where you expand digitally through an ordering app and website not through brick-and-mortar branches. So virtual restaurants do not have to spend so much money each time when opening a new location to cover new areas. All they need is just replicating the existing kitchen and preparing delivery vehicles and drivers.

 

Benefits of Virtual Restaurants

There are many benefits of having virtual restaurants and because of that the concept is growing in popularity specially in busy cities. They don’t require a prime location which means you’ll be spending a lot less money on the rent. Since there is no walk-in customers, you don’t need fancy decorations that are of the highest capital expenditures. Also, no need to hire waitstaff which means no managers to manage them which means less operational expenses.

Moreover, Your website and app can reach a larger set of customers than your physical branch. Not only that, it has a very easy call-to-action where customers can make an order within a few clicks. Compared to the physical branch, the ease to respond to the call-to-action can be the biggest factor in your strategy to increase sales.

 

Using Data in Virtual Restaurants

Since virtual restaurants are tech based businesses, it means customers have to provide their identifying data. This includes name, email, number, delivery location …etc. in order to be able to process their orders. Their data is your treasure because you can use it in way that helps your business grow.

Being tech-based enables as virtual restaurants owner and manager to answer critical questions about their business such as:

  • How many customers downloaded your app?
  • How many visited your website?
  • How many of those signed up?
  • How many actually made an order?
  • How many repeated their order? and during which period?
  • How many made an order but never repeated it for 3 months?
  • Which  area is generating orders the most?
  • Which item is is the most popular in respect to areas?

Those insights are essential to understand your business. Without them, you will miss out what gets ahead of your competitors. Once you have the answers, you can apply some techniques to retain customers as well as re-engage them.

 

By now, it is very clear why restaurants should have an online ordering system. It is actually to take the restaurant to the next level and keep up with new era of the food industry. So if you need to have your own branded ordering app and website, contact us

Should Restaurants have Online Ordering System?






Today, food lovers have become attracted not only to good food, but also to a good food ordering experience. In the past, the expectations of customers were mainly good physical experience and decorations. This is because it was mostly dine in. Today, the whole game has changed due to the advent of advanced technologies. Due to that, customers expect a good digital experience, easy ordering and an excellent and unique service. That is why having an online ordering system has become as crucial as serving a delicious food for restaurants. Here is the top reasons why restaurants should have it.

 

Unlimited Growth

If you’re selling online, you’re not limited to how many orders your call center’s agents can take and walk-in customers you have everyday. Your potential is unlimited because you can receive as many orders as you can handle. Simply calculated, if you digitally target only your neighborhood, you find yourself reaching thousands of people instead of a couple of dozens calling or walking in.

Worldwide, Online food ordering revenue is growing by %17.1 year over year and expected to be $137 billion industry by 2023. That is definitely happening because today’s generation is moving towards high tech restaurants that provide easy online ordering system and excellent experience.

 

Branding Necessity

It is a fact that there is 3.5 billion google search per day which means today’s people’s first brand investigation is online search. The question is, what do they find when they search your restaurant’s name? Chances are either they find you, or someone else talking about you in reviews or so or your competitor targeting google search with your name. So if you don’t have a good digital presence crafted according to your branding guidelines, then this will have a big negative impact.

 

Customers under Control

Once you acquire a customer, hola, you got his data forever. This is important for your restaurant to analyze them and their behaviors interacting with your online ordering system (website and app). The primary goal of this analysis is to increase retention and revenue through applying some digital marketing techniques. Believe it or not, the probability of selling to an existing customer is 60 – 70% whereas the probability of selling to a new prospect is 5-20%.

Things you can know about your customers are countless. You can know how frequently they order from you, who are the biggest customers, who hasn’t ordered for a while …etc. Those insights offer a great help to understand your customers in order to apply the marketing techniques to increase your revenue.

 

Keep your Commissions

No doubt, every restaurant has its loyal customers and lovers who order more regularly. So if you don’t simplify the ordering process for them to directly order from you, then they’ll go to the food aggregators who’ll charge high commissions. Therefore, it’s a very strategic step for restaurants to have their own online ordering system to keep their own margins from flying out of the window.

 

Online Ordering System with Taker

To stay ahead in your highly competitive business, you must have your own branded online ordering system that includes a website and an app, contact Taker now.

Online Ordering, what is it?

Centuries back when online ordering wasn’t known and things were simple and basic, the way food was looked at was just to feed the body to stay alive. So feeding people was (and still is) considered a good act because it definitely is the reason for them not to cease. Then, after economy improved and the quality of life got better, people started to perceive food not only as way to sustain but also as a joyful experience.

Food as a Business

Later on, people saw food as a business opportunity. So people came up with the idea of selling it which -in turn- developed the concept of eating out. This has today become a conventional social behavior which announced the birth of restaurants.

When the industrial revolution struck, people got jobs and had to spend most of their day out busy working. Also, they would get home mostly in the evenings. With such busyness, some of them just did not have time to cook or go out to eat. Therefore, another business opportunity was found which was food delivery ordering.

So instead of online ordering or taking orders at cashier desk, restaurants equipped themselves with phone technology. So started taking orders through it for those who can’t come. With that, they also designated employees to deliver the food to the locations of the busy customers who ordered through the phone. So phone orders have become something that is taken for granted when it comes to restaurants.

Consequently, cashier desk and phone had been the only and most effective ways for restaurants to take orders. Of course, that was to increase sales and provide customers with a joyful experience to make them loyal. That was before the era of online ordering.

Online Ordering

If you think about the traditional ways to take orders, they greatly pose an efficiency problem. The reason is that they greatly limit the number of orders that can come at a given time. For example, if you have 4 call center agents and each order takes 5 minutes to be completed, then it means you can’t take more than 48 orders an hour -assuming back to back calls. This means, if you have 3 hours daily as a peak, then you can’t take more than 144 in peak hours. That is obviously a problem that does not exist in online ordering.

As a result, online ordering concept was developed where customers can order by themselves through a website or an app. This basically frees the restaurants from the traditional order taking capacity constraints that they had suffered from for a long time. With no doubt, that has may benefits to restaurants such as an increase in sales and efficiency in order preparation.

To have your own branded online ordering system, contact Taker now.