Why Online Ordering for Restaurants Is a Must

People ordering food from restaurants for takeout or delivery want the process to be:  

• Convenient 

• Easy 

• Personal 

Customers want to:

• Find their favorite items easily

• Customize their order 

• Check it to make sure it is right  

• Use loyalty rewards

If you aren’t doing those things, you are losing business. 

Starting online ordering may seem difficult and expensive. But with the right online ordering system it’s easy. 

In this post, we’ll tell you how to use a restaurant online ordering system.  I’ll also share how one restaurant boosted its revenue with a restaurant online ordering platform.

ADVANTAGES OF ONLINE ORDERING FOR RESTAURANTS

Let’s look at three benefits of online ordering for restaurants:

• Improving restaurant operations 

• Increasing restaurant revenue 

• Improving order accuracy

A restaurant online ordering system can help you with these. 

Improve restaurant operations 

Restaurant owners do a lot. They need to find ways to save:

• Money 

• Resources  

• Time

Make sure your restaurant's online ordering system is with one provider. That improves: 

• Ordering 

• Payments

• Menu building

Here are the benefits: 

• Streamlined operations
• Enhanced analytics and reporting
• Exceptional guest experience
• Brand control
• Improved marketing efforts
• Optimized online menu management

By doing everything with one provider, restaurants can see  

• More efficiency 

• Better customer insights 

• Improved brand control

More revenue

The second benefit of restaurant online ordering systems is boosting revenue. Let’s break this down.  

Saves money 

A restaurant online ordering system provider that grows with you can save you money.  

Provides data 

Restaurant online orderings systems collect customer data. You can use it to find trends and patterns in customer behavior that help you make better promos.  

Better data and menus 

The data that comes from a restaurant online ordering system can help you create a menu. For example, hot dog chain National Coney Island needed a solution to increase online orders. They partnered with Paytronix to make a new menu based on the most-ordered items.  

After customer testing between the classic menu and the new one, guests ordered from the new menu more often. This menu change created:

• 19% online order lift 

• 9.8% overall visit lift 

• Additional 13 orders per store per month 

• 14.1% overall spend lift 

• Boost to restaurant revenue

• Read the full case study for more details

Helps increase guest retention 

By improving the customer experience, online ordering also fosters customer satisfaction and loyalty. Integrating your loyalty program can help personalize the order experience through marketing campaigns and rewards suited to individual customer preferences.  

Saves your staff time 

As mentioned earlier, restaurant online ordering systems can save your team much-needed time, which ultimately benefits your bottom line. For example, integrations with third-party delivery services can streamline delivery logistics and expand your reach, so you can benefit from the advantages of online food delivery. Marketing automation tools can automate tasks and schedule promotions to save time and resources. And inventory management systems can help optimize inventory levels and reduce waste to improve restaurant revenue and profitability. 

Promotes upselling 

Lastly, online ordering systems can expand your opportunities for upselling. For example, you can promote recommended menu items and combinations, which encourages customers to spend more per order. You can also highlight limited-time offers and seasonal specials to generate excitement and drive sales. Another option is to offer bundle deals and packages that provide value and incentivize larger purchases. 

Improve the online food ordering process

Next, let’s take a look at the third key benefit of restaurant online ordering systems: improving the online ordering process, which, in my experience, can make or break your reputation.  

For one thing, orders taken over the phone and entered into a system manually have a greater likelihood of being inaccurate, a legitimate complaint for many customers. They may also get frustrated when they can’t easily communicate simple modifications, like ordering their burger without onions.  

These problems can make unhappy customers. Restaurant online ordering systems can improve ordering and give them more control over their orders.  

Increases customers’ control over orders 

When customers can can customize, they feel more in control. One sandwich chain partnered with Paytronix to provide custom menu offerings. That drove online orders by 110%.  (Read the full case study for more details.) 

The advantages of first-party online food delivery  

Using third-party platforms can start your delivery service and reach new customers, but they take 15–30% of sales.

Creating an in-house delivery service offers full control. Managing first-party online food delivery through a  restaurant ordering system allows you to build relationships with customers. 

Weigh the pros and cons of each option. Think about these:

• Commission fees 
• Delivery radius 
• Customer experience  
• Brand control 
• Insurance 
  

More tips for restaurants

I’d like to share a few tips that will help you get started. 

#1. Know your options: When choosing a restaurant online ordering system, make sure you consider factors like features, integrations, and cost.

#2. Follow best practices: After you choose your restaurant online ordering system, make sure to follow industry best practices.

#3. Promote your online food ordering platform: Finally, to ensure your online ordering program is successful, create a marketing program to raise customers’ awareness about your new online ordering capabilities.

Now is the time to launch online ordering for restaurants 

You need to be different to stand out. Paytronix can help:

• Improve operations 

• Increase revenue 

• Improve order accuracy

• Boost customer satisfaction  

Learn more about how Paytronix can help by scheduling a demo today.