Growth in home delivery sales reported in 2015 by full-service restaurants.
Source: uktech.newsConsumers order food for delivery at least a few times per year. Out of these,12% order about once per week, while almost 6% order multiple times per week.
Source: aytm.comAdvantages of online ordering
It’s convenient for customers and restaurants alike
Online ordering now represents 30% of the daily takeaway ordering (Cowen and Company Research Report) and the number keeps growing. One of the main reasons for why this is happening is because it’s simply much easier for clients to order from their smartphones or tablet.
And without having to order via phones, this means no more misunderstood orders and no more busy lines. Not to mention kitchen staff can focus on other tasks.
It’s great for generating higher order values
The sky’s the limit here. You can create loyalty programs targeted at different customer segments. You can come up with ways to increase the average order value and proactively measure the impact & adjust.
Easier to manage for restaurants
Most solutions on the market right now offer the possibility to keep your online menu up to date without headaches. The standard up until recently was to have PDF menus slapped on websites. This meant that for each change (from price to menu items), someone had to do it manually & re-upload. For customers, it wasn’t quite the best experience. Now there are better ways for both parties.
The downside of online ordering solutions out there
They’re expensive
While giants like GrubHub get an average commission of about 13% per order (source: Quartz), others charge a monthly fee of 30+ US dollars. Some reach a whooping 119+ US dollars/month and add setup fees to the deal, as well.
For a newly opened business or a small restaurant, that’s quite a lot. Especially since you have other costs to consider, as well.
They take customers away from your website
Some online ordering systems are integrated with your website but lead the customer away to their own site to place an order. Not only is this disruptive for the user, but you’re basically paying a monthly fee to lead traffic away to another website.
Aggregators come with a hidden cost
Aggregators are great for customers because they can browse and pick what they like. For you? Depends. The exposure can definitely help to get you noticed the first time by customers.
However, once you delivered food to customers, they know you. If the dish & service was great, chances are they’re going to order again. From you. Why should you have to pay for those clients that you’ve already won? You can always apply customer retention strategies to keep them. All without the price tag.
How to get a sustainable online ordering system
Before every business decision you take, you should do your research first.
We’re also here to help. We created our solution based on experience and feedback. On multiple occasions we ordered food online and always thought of ways to optimize.
That’s why we built our own solution, and that’s why we made it free.
We believe you should focus on growing and your delicious food, instead of the price tag.
You can learn more about how our online ordering system works here.
We sustain our business through the premium services we offer. Online ordering will always be free.