Todays’s trends

Today’s trend is plain to see: customers are increasingly receptive towards online ordering. 

Almost one person in every two had at least one meal delivered to their home. What is the reason behind such popularity?

• The comfort and practicality of ordering from home (even more so when online ordering is available)
• The limited margin for error
• The possibility of easily personalizing orders

More generally, the restaurant industry is moving towards consumption modes that are increasingly nomad and “uberized”. In response to these trends, offering an online ordering facility along with a Click & Collect or home delivery service will potentially provide an additional source of income for your establishment, one that will help you to obtain a higher average basket and offer a better experience to your customers.

Should your restaurant offer online ordering?

In most cases, the answer is Yes! In fact, you may already use one of the various platforms or solutions available that take care of this service for you. If so, it’s a strategy that is fully compatible with offering this service yourself to your customers (i.e. without any intermediaries or fees). However, to successfully ensure that your LivePepper online ordering site prospers, you must fully understand how customers behave, and take all the necessary measures to effectively organize your order-taking.

The reasons why some online ordering sites fail

Simply providing your customers with an online ordering facility will not guarantee your success. There are a number of reasons why some online ordering sites fail:

• Time: the difficulty involved in updating – in real time – your presence on third-party sites or on your online ordering site,
• Stock management/dealing with unforeseen events: missing products or ingredients, finding replacement products, offering a suitable response when you are unable to meet an order that has just been made, etc.
• Complexities in anticipating and managing the mass of incoming data: preparing your available dishes, choices and options, managing additional/replacement products or ingredients requested by customers, upsells, etc.
• Poor communication in relation to this new service: encouraging your customers to use this new service so that is actually works, even if it means offering promotions exclusively available online, either at the time of launch or beyond.

Adding an online ordering service to your restaurant’s “traditional” service thus means carefully anticipating your customers’ needs and your own abilities to respond to these needs.

Successfully developing your online orders by giving all due consideration to the human factor

It is easy to forget: even if online ordering is a “de-materialized” process, what actually happens on both sides of the screen (i.e. between two real people) is all-important. Consequently, you must train your personnel so that they are fully familiar with the online ordering process (a good method is to get each employee to try to place an order him or herself). And that’s not all: during the first weeks or months, it may be a good idea to offer a limited online menu (in terms of dishes or options) to that you can suitably adjust your stock and better understand your digital customers’ needs. You can always widen your offer at a later date.

Remember to promote this service

To make the most of this extension to your online restaurant, effectively promoting your online ordering facility “live” with your customers is key. This goes both for existing customers and local consumers. Obviously, it involves your digital marketing strategy, but it also means directly exchanging with your customers and your fans. You can also create promotional offers that are available only on your site, which means being more attractive than on the third-party portals that represent your establishment. So, what do you think? Have you managed to make the most of your online ordering facility?