The number of orders placed online, via mobile, or website, has seen a staggering increase in the last few years. According to an intricated report on the Restaurant Industry & Market Evolution, 52% of foodservice operators placed their bets on setting up a Cloud Kitchen or a delivery-only outlet of their brand. Whereas, 44% expressed interest in technology solutions to digitize their restaurant operations. Online Ordering system has become a popular choice for customers. Not only is it convenient for customers, but it also a marvelous way for restaurants to increase their sales and provide better customer support and engagement. In this article, we will discuss how you can make the best of your restaurant’s Online Ordering system and double your sales.
How to Double Your Sales Through Online Ordering System
Follow these steps to run a successful Delivery and Online Ordering food business.
1. Use Technology for Online Ordering
You should leverage technology to accept and increase the volume of Online Orders exponentially.
(i) Get Your Restaurant Registered
If you haven’t already, partner your restaurant business with the popular Online Ordering and Delivery Portals such as Swiggy, Zomato, and Foodpanda. These portals usually charge a registration fee and around 10-15% of the order value per every order placed online. By partnering with these platforms, you automatically become discoverable to potential customers and improve your visibility. Find out the steps to partnering with online food ordering platforms here.
Also, ensure that you choose Point of Sale software that is compatible with third-party integrations, and automatically processes orders accepted from the various Online Ordering platforms. This would save you the extra manual effort of calculating orders from multiple sources.
(ii) Have a Mobile Optimized Website
Having your restaurant’s website is essential as it is the first step to your restaurant’s branding. It is common for customers to Google your restaurant before ordering from it. Thus, ensure that the website is updated, along with all of your restaurant’s vital information such as menu, contact details, reviews, etc. A website that features mouth-watering images of your food is quite likely to trigger the hunger pangs of your customers further.
Add to this an “Order Online” button where it is easily visible and clickable, and the potential customers would suddenly convert to ordering customers.
Add the Order Online button at the top right corner of your website and in the website’s navigation and make sure both look clickable. This will not only make the work more manageable for the customers but will also increase your profit.
Also, ensure that the website is mobile optimized. A staggering 85% of all online orders are placed via mobile. Since not all your customers would be likely to install your restaurant’s Online Ordering App, it is essential that your restaurant’s website is mobile optimized for a smooth Online Ordering experience of the customers.
(iii) Use an Online Ordering App
You can go an extra step ahead to appease your loyal customers by providing them with the option of ordering online right from your restaurant’s app. An app improves the speed and ease of online ordering of food. Repeat customers can stay logged into the app, save their details such as contact details, most ordered food items, etc., and place their order in just a few clicks. Read the benefits of mobile ordering apps and how you can use them in your restaurant here.
2. Right Marketing
Marketing is essential to the success of your Online Ordering business. Try these tips to market your restaurant’s Online Ordering.
(i) Use Social Media to Boost Your Online Orders
In the twenty-first century, social media has acquired a predominant position, and this makes it essential for restaurants to make their presence felt on them. Read a detailed article on how to make the best use of Social Media for marketing your restaurant here.
(ii) Update the necessary information regularly
You should update the menu, the holidays and the changes in the online ordering timings religiously and regularly whenever the need arises to make sure that the customers have all the relevant information online. Ensure that all the Online Ordering Portals, your website, and your Social Media pages reflect these changes.
(iii) Advertise with the Online Ordering Portals
Advertising with the Online Ordering and Delivery helps in increasing the visibility of your restaurant. You can advertise your restaurant’s banner and target your customers within a specific area and segment.
(iv) Send Promotional SMS and Emails
Increase your repeat orders by keeping your customers updated about your restaurant. Send regular SMS and emails to your customers about the latest offers running at your restaurant. Remember to put a shortened link for Ordering Online along with it, or a phone number if you accept telephonic orders as well.
(v) Monitor the Restaurant Listing and Review Sites
Before ordering food online from any restaurant, customers usually check for their reviews and their ratings. Thus, it is essential that you monitor these reviews, and take the time to respond to them. Encourage positive reviews from your happy customers by asking them to leave feedback. Handling negative reviews can be tricky, and you must address them with care. Read how to handle bad customer reviews here.
3. Ensuring Proper Delivery
The second, although just as important part of Online Ordering is the Delivery of the food. Unless you ensure that Online Ordered items are delivered to your customers properly, the Online Ordering of your restaurant is going to fail.
(i) Maintain Timely Delivery
Nothing displeases customers more than their food order delivered to them late. Not only late delivery of food is a major turnoff, but more time taken to deliver the food is also likely to affect the quality of the food.
Online Food Delivery platforms such as Zomato, Swiggy, etc. provide their delivery boys and maintain the time taken to deliver the order. Still, you should monitor the average time taken to deliver the food.
In case you have your Delivery Boys, it is best that you automate the process of assigning delivery orders. Use Posist’s Delivery Rider’s App that helps you to assign the delivery orders to your riders based on their availability and location, and also track them. It also enables you to monitor the average time taken to deliver an order.
Also, keep your customers updated about their order status by sending them SMS updates, and allow them to track their order status through GPS tracking.
(ii) Correct Packaging of the Food
Often, restaurants lose out on repeat customers by not sending out food for delivery with the right packaging. Once the food is ready, it needs to be made and then prepared for delivery, which includes bagging the food, putting them in proper containers, providing necessary utensils or condiments, and checking to make sure all of the components have been placed in the bag. The Delivery Boy usually has several deliveries at once, so all orders need to be placed in the hot case to keep hot foods warm, and then get them delivered to the customer who ordered. Similarly, you also need to ensure that the Delivery Boys are equipped with dry ice and proper containers for delivering ice-cream and cold drinks.
It is also an excellent idea for diversifying your Online Ordering Menu. Restaurants often lose out on business by only having limited items for ordering online. Considering the recent trends, you can introduce healthy items to your menu.
Apart from just implementing the tips mentioned above, you must also take the time to measure your efforts. Keep track of the number of Online Orders you receive in a day and the sources from where you receive them.
You must also monitor your website’s analytics to see how customers are accessing your Web page and online ordering system. Set up Google Analytics for your website and keep track of the number of daily, monthly visits.
Implement these tips and see how it bolsters your sales. After trying out these Online Ordering tips for your restaurant and let us know how they worked out for you in the comments below!
I want to start an app for online food app what is the procedure to start this business how to register online tell me the details sp that it may help to me to start it i am waiting for you reply
These are some really great tips for online ordering business. Focusing on the quality of the food, and packaging is just important for ensuring a great online ordering and food delivery service.
Mastering online ordering system for restaurants is the need of the hour. People are shifting towards ordering food and having it in the comfort of their house.
The online food ordering system needs to be made much more accurate and efficient looking at the consumer demands and the competition. Very informative and comprehensive article, well done Restaurant Times.
Very informative article. Thanks.