The restaurant industry has changed at an accelerated pace in the last decade. With a surge of guests moving towards online ordering, it has become vital for restaurants to expand their services beyond traditional dine-in and take out. A website and online menu are no longer nice-to-haves, customers now expect the ability to view your menu, and place orders, online.
The increased use of mobile devices has fundamentally changed the way consumers choose their next meal. Restaurants who provide the ability to order on mobile devices have seen a direct benefit due to the increased convenience. This is especially true during COVID-19, where online ordering has become the primary source of revenue for many restaurants. If you are still wondering whether it is worth having a website and an online ordering system, we’ve put together a list of benefits below on why you should consider an online ordering system for your business.
Once you learn how online ordering can help you accelerate your business, you will understand why so many of your competitors are already serving their customers with online ordering.
Depending on your restaurant, customers may call, dine-in, or take-out in person. These are the traditional forms of revenue generators and will always be for many restaurants. However, ordering habits and expectations have significantly changed with the surge of mobile phones. Customers now expect to see, ahead of visiting your restaurant, what you have to offer either by reading reviews or looking at pictures.
The best solution is to create a website with an online ordering system that enables your customers to browse your menu on their smartphone, tablet, or computer. This allows your customers to take their time to read your menu without feeling rushed. They can share your menu, discuss it with their colleagues and friends, and decide what to order all at the palm of their hands. With an online ordering system, customers can make an order and pay at the comfort of their own home or while in transit. Simply put, it is a convenience for customers that you should not overlook in today’s busy lifestyle.
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Online ordering is contactless and safe. As restaurants move towards reopening, the traditional methods of ordering and picking up food are not ideal for maintaining social distancing guidelines.
With an online ordering system, your customers can place orders ahead of arriving at your restaurant. You will be notified of the order and your kitchen staff can immediately prepare the order for guest’s arrival. This whole process is completely contactless. Additionally, you can further minimize contact by setting up a designated pick up station near the front of your restaurant for when your guest arrives to pick up their order.
Without feeling pressure to order quickly, customers are more inclined to browse your menu in its entirety compared to ordering in person. As a business owner, you have the opportunity to drive up-sell and cross-sells to boost order sizes. What if a customer wants extra cheese and an extra patty? By providing this convenience with the tap of a button, customers can customize their order to their liking without having to speak to anyone.
Customers who are looking to place takeout or delivery orders will always choose the easiest option. What if they have large and complex orders? It is much easier to place an online order for 10 people online than it is to order over the phone. It is more convenient for your customers and saves your employees valuable time away from more important tasks.
With no line ups and no pressure, customers are more willing to explore all their options and go for that extra item.
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Online ordering significantly increases operational efficiencies and saves you time. Instead of receiving orders on the telephone, you can receive 2x-10x as many orders within the same amount of time than you would with a phone call or in person. Your staff can focus on their duties and spend less time answering phone calls and processing orders. Order processing can all be done in the background while your employees are managing more important tasks.
With a self-serve online ordering system in place, customers will have greater control of their orders. Everything is captured before checking out, improving order accuracy while minimizing miscommunication and errors for your employees. Less mistakes equal less food wasted and less time spent dealing with errors.
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Instead of chasing after your customers, bring the customers to you with an online ordering system. By enabling an online ordering option, you will be able to reach customers beyond your physical location. Seating capacity can limit the number of customers you can serve at a time. With online ordering, you can reach and serve hundreds to thousands of customers at a time. Your biggest challenge would be managing order volumes rather than customer reach.
You could scale your business overnight and reach more customers without having to hire additional front of house staff. All you need is a well-integrated online ordering system on your website.
Stop losing out on potential customers with Ritual ONE.
Capturing and having access to customer data is invaluable. It can help you understand what your customers like and dislike, their ordering patterns, habits and more. This information can help you quickly identify trends and in return allow you to make better business decisions.
For example, if you learn that your customers are choosing vegan options more often, perhaps you can use this information and expand your vegan offerings further and provide more of what your best customers want.
Having access to this data will help you make more meaningful business and marketing decisions. Customize your menu, promotions, and offers based on data rather than guesswork.
Start capturing data today with Ritual ONE.
Building a loyal customer base takes time, trust, and repeated visits. New customers are important, but the customers who you’ve developed long lasting relationships are the ones that help strengthen your bottomline.
One way to build relationships with your customers is to reward them with an appealing loyalty program. Whether it is discounts or free food, loyalty programs help your business stay top of mind when customers look to make their next order. Online ordering systems can help you manage and automate your loyalty program and turn customers into regulars. What are you waiting for?
Start building a loyal customer base.
With some third-party online ordering systems, you are paying a commission cost for every order, sometimes up to 30%. There are many benefits to integrating a third-party app like the free marketing exposure to new customers in highly saturated markets.
With Ritual ONE you will get a commission-free online ordering system built for your restaurant, with your branding. Use Ritual ONE as your premium online ordering system to accept take-out and delivery orders directly on your website. You keep all your profits.
It only takes a couple of minutes to register for Ritual ONE. From there you'll receive a dedicated onboarding expert to help support you with all your needs during the onboarding process.
Maximize your bottom line and your customer base. Take the next steps with your business and set up an online ordering system.
