Skip to the main content.

Platform

What is Paytronix CXP?

Combining online ordering, loyalty, omnichannel messaging, AI insights, and payments in one platform. Paytronix delivers relevant, personal experiences, at scale, that help improve your entire digital marketing funnel by creating amazing frictionless experiences.

A Complete Customer Experience Platform
Online Ordering
Acquire new customers and capture valuable data with industry leading customization features.
Loyalty
Encourage More visits and higher spend with personalized promotions based on individual activity and preferences.
CRM
Build great customer relationships with relevant personal omnichannel campaigns delivered at scale.
Artificial Intelligence
Leverage the most data from the most customer transactions to power 1:1 marketing campaigns and drive revenue.
Payments
Drive brand engagement by providing fast, frictionless guest payments.

Solutions

Paytronix CXP Solutions

We use data, customer experience expertise, and technology to solve everyday restaurant and convenience store challenges.

Contactless Experiences
Accommodate your guests' changing preferences by providing safe, efficient service whether dining-in or taking out.
Customer Insights
Collect guest data and analyze behaviors to develop powerful targeted campaigns that produce amazing results.
Marketing Automation
Create and test campaigns across channels and segments to drive loyalty, incremental visits, and additional revenue.
Mobile Experiences
Provide convenient access to your brand, menus and loyalty program to drive retention with a branded or custom app.

Subscriptions
Create a frictionless, fun way to reward your most loyal customers for frequent visits and purchases while normalizing revenues.
Employee Dining
Attract and retain your employees with dollar value or percentage-based incentives and tiered benefits.
Order Experience Builder
Create powerful interactive, and appealing online menus that attract and acquire new customers simply and easily.

Multi-Unit Restaurant

Loyalty Programs
High-impact customizable programs that increase spend, visit, and engagement with your brand.
Online Ordering
Maximize first-party digital sales with an exceptional guest experience.
Integrations
Launch your programs with more than 450 existing integrations.

Small to Medium Restaurants

Loyalty Programs
Deliver the same care you do in person with all your digital engagements.
Online Ordering
Drive more first-party orders and make it easy for your crew.

Convenience Stores

Loyalty Programs
Digital transformations start here - get to know your guests.
Online Ordering
Add a whole new sales channel to grow your business - digital ordering is in your future.
Integrations
We work with your environment - check it out.

Company

About Paytronix

We are here to help clients build their businesses by delivering amazing experiences for their guests.

Meet The Team
Our exceptional customer engagement innovations are delivered by a team of extraordinary people.
News/Press
A collection of press and media about our innovations, customers, and people.
Events
A schedule of upcoming tradeshows, conferences, and events that we will participate in.
Careers
Support
Paytronix Login

Order & Delivery Login

Resources

Paytronix Resources

Learn how to create great customer experiences with our free eBooks, webinars, articles, case studies, and customer interviews.

See Our Product In Action
E-Books
Learn more about topics important to the restaurant and c-store customer experience.
Webinars
Watch brief videos for tips and strategies to connect with your customers.
Case Studies
Learn how brands have used the Paytronix platform to increase revenue and engage with guests.
Reports
See how your brand stacks up against industry benchmarks, analysis, and research.
Blog
Catch up with our team of in-house experts for quick articles to help your business.

2024 Gift Card Trend Report

Are you overlooking these 8 reasons to sell mobile-first gift cards?

4 min read

Optimizing Your Restaurant Catering Menu for Profitability

Optimizing Your Restaurant Catering Menu for Profitability

Your restaurant’s catering services are an important driver of overall restaurant revenue and growth. When a restaurant catering menu works effectively, it encourages your customers to order catering services for their offices, weddings, and other special events.  

Adapting to catering services can open new revenue streams for restaurants in a challenging post-pandemic economy, where customers face tipping fatigue and may not have the disposable income available to dine out as much as they want to.  

Fortunately, offering catering can be as straightforward or layered as you’re interested in making it, as there are many different ways to add profitable catering services to your core business offerings. Read this article to identify which catering services you should consider offering based on demand and profitability.

Understanding Restaurant Catering Services 

If your restaurant doesn’t currently offer a catering menu, you’re missing out on a valuable revenue stream. Instead of taking orders through first-party and third-party ordering one by one, you serve large quantities of customers at once in the location of their choice. Serving many customers through catering is more cost-effective and creates less food waste.  

It also effortlessly introduces your restaurant to dozens or hundreds of potential new customers at once. It’s very common for special event attendees to try restaurants for the first time as a result of a catered event. 

They may even be so impressed that they want you to cater their own upcoming event. This improved brand visibility may increase revenue and foster a broader customer base. 

Comprehensive List of Profitable Catering Services 

There are so many different types of catering services that your restaurant can incorporate and market to that are profitable and in-demand, such as:  

  • Corporate Catering: Provide food for office lunches, corporate event catering, and regular meal programs for businesses. 
  • Social Event Catering: Cover catering for weddings, birthdays, anniversaries, family reunions, and private parties. 
  • Full-Service Catering: Charge more to manage all aspects of event dining from setup to cleanup. 
  • Buffet Style: Offer a buffet-style meal for a premium per person price, using some of your restaurant’s most popular dishes. 
  • Boxed Meals: Add boxed meals to your catering menu for the ultimate convenience at conferences and outdoor events. 
  • Specialty Catering: Offer menu options or complete menus for niche markets like vegan, gluten-free, or culturally specific catering, such as Jewish cuisine for bar mitzvahs. 

While you don’t have to use all of these catering ideas in your business plan, it’s worth noting how the market for each type of catering service can change. If you can incorporate different types of catering into your offerings, you can reach different revenue streams and markets, protecting your business against changes in local economic conditions. For instance, if fewer weddings are booked, it doesn’t mean that you will have fewer corporate events. 

How to Offer Catering Services 

Adding catering services to your restaurant’s offerings doesn’t have to be costly and difficult. You can start offering catering services on a small scale to gauge customer interest, ironing out the details, and soft-launching marketing initiatives. Once your services have gained some traction, are fulfilled profitably, and there’s growing demand, scale it.  

Using online ordering tools, such as our online ordering platform, makes it easier to manage catering orders effectively. What you don’t want is to overburden your staff with manual processes on top of their existing duties. Implementing a system designed to process and organize catering orders reduces frustration and makes it easy to integrate catering into your operations.  

Depending on the type of restaurant catering menu you plan to offer, your packaging and serving needs will change. For full-service catering operations, you likely will need large, reusable catering pans and a method for serving hot food and keeping it hot through transport. If you offer boxed lunches, you need packaging for each boxed lunch and a way to package set numbers of items so customers can pick them up.  

Logistics and Delivery 

One of the most pivotal decisions when it comes to a restaurant catering menu and the type of packaging you’ll need is the logistics and delivery for your services. The good news is that there isn’t a right or wrong answer here. Other restaurants have set the precedents about delivery, pickup, and minimum delivery orders, so you can pick what truly works for your restaurant.  

Maybe you don’t start offering delivery until you’re able to get proper transportation like a catering van, but customers can pick up their orders from your restaurant. Some restaurants charge delivery fees while others deliver orders of a certain size or within a certain radius. Be sure to have a clear and consistent policy in place that’s fair to customers.

online ordering digital storefront webinar cta

Marketing Your Catering Services 

The type of catering menu you offer will determine your target market. If you plan to offer corporate lunches, who are the largest employers in your area? Which office buildings have the most employees? 

These are the kinds of businesses that most likely need corporate lunches. Delivering a corporate catering menu to receptionists with a few samples of popular pastries can go a long way toward winning their business. 

On the other hand, if you want to offer full-service buffet dinners, it probably makes more sense to reach out to event planners, venues that do not have their own on-site catering, and expo centers. Partnerships with these key contacts may lead to more catering gigs. 

Create a robust catering marketing plan and let customers know about your restaurant’s catering services through social media and email marketing. If they already know and like your business enough to subscribe to an email list or follow your social media page, they’re great candidates for potential catering customers. Many of them work for companies that use corporate caterers or plan events and are incentivized to recommend you. 

Streamlining Operations with Technology 

Remember to harness technology whenever possible to make each process simpler. You don’t have to reinvent the wheel; you simply need to find technology that works. For instance, our online ordering system simplifies first-party ordering and keeps your restaurant operations streamlined. 

Ensure that any new tech you implement for catering integrates well into your current restaurant tech stack, including your point of sale (POS) software, payment system, gift and comp software, and restaurant loyalty software. You want to choose systems that work with your existing processes instead of having to check a new, additional platform each day. 

Legal and Compliance Considerations 

Every state has laws in place for restaurant and catering operations. In many cases, the health and safety regulations and the licensing and permits required for catering might be different than for restaurant operations. 

Before taking any steps, it’s wise to consult with a local business lawyer and business resource centers to ensure that you understand any applicable regulations and are compliant. Prepare as early and often as possible to minimize the risk of unexpected fees or having to cancel or delay services. 

The Bottom Line 

Catering can absolutely become an unstoppable driver of revenue and brand recognition for your restaurant. It’s time to slowly add catering offerings to your business. By starting slow and methodically, success is practically inevitable. 

Explore our tools for expanding your restaurant’s offerings into catering. Schedule a free demo now to discuss your specific needs and watch your revenue take off. 

paytronix online ordering demo cta

Managing Operations with Restaurant Back Office Software

Managing Operations with Restaurant Back Office Software

Restaurant back-office software is critical to streamline the administrative tasks associated with being a restaurant operator. While restaurant...

Read More
12 App Store Optimization Best Practices You're Overlooking

12 App Store Optimization Best Practices You're Overlooking

When the Apple App Store launched in 2008, it popularized the concept of the app store (short for application store). App developers could now create...

Read More
How to Advertise Your Catering Business: 7 Smart Moves

How to Advertise Your Catering Business: 7 Smart Moves

In the catering world, having a one-of-a-kind menu, delicious standout food, and even top-notch service won’t be enough to get you fully booked for...

Read More