How to Reduce Restaurant Costs with Online Ordering

Online ordering is celebrated for its ability to boost restaurant revenue and drive personalized customer experiences, such as customized menus and exclusive offers. Its benefits, however, extend far beyond these aspects. Online ordering is also instrumental in reducing operating costs, particularly for the biggest expense category: labor.

Online ordering systems also facilitate savings in marketing, operational expenses, and third-party delivery fees. If you want to learn how to reduce restaurant costs with online ordering while growing sales volumes, keep reading.  

UNDERSTANDING RESTAURANT LABOR COSTS 

Labor is right behind food in restaurant costs, typically taking a 25% to 35% cut of sales­­—and these costs increased 18.3% between 2019 and 2022, according to the National Restaurant Association’s 2023 industry report. In 2024, the NRA found that a staggering 98% of operators cite labor costs as a major concern, up from 89% in 2023. 

These figures are being driven up by increasing minimum wages, the struggle to retain staff, and post-pandemic operational changes. Fortunately, an online ordering system can help you reclaim some of that cost by streamlining workflow and reducing labor pressure.

REDUCE RESTAURANT LABOR COSTS WITH A FIRST-PARTY ONLINE ORDERING SYSTEM 

Implementing your own first-party online ordering system can dramatically optimize your restaurant's operations and diminish labor expenses. By automating order processing, payment transactions, and inventory control, such a system not only conserves staff hours but also minimizes the likelihood of mistakes.

Having your own online ordering system means a cohesive platform that streamlines staff tasks, making their daily responsibilities more manageable by eliminating the necessity to juggle multiple systems. Consequently, your team can dedicate more attention to strategic efforts such as enhancing guest interactions, upselling, and bolstering loyalty programs, thereby contributing significantly to your establishment's success. 

replace printed menus with digital ONES

Digital menus facilitate substantial cost savings for restaurants. Take, for example, Toastique, a boutique gourmet toast and juice bar with 20 locations offering a fresh, chic, rustic experience. With Paytronix Online Ordering and Order Experience BuilderSM, Toastique saves three hours on every adjustment to the mobile app’s online ordering menu, aesthetic, or functions. 

Paytronix centralizes menu management across locations, enabling operators to make a change once and sync it everywhere. That saves Toastique time and restaurant labor costs and provides the brand with nimble and complete control over its guest engagement strategy. 

In addition to saving time and labor costs, online menus offer several cost-saving advantages over their paper counterparts: 

• No cost for replacement or reprints: On top of replacing lost and damaged paper menus, the cost of reprinting menus after updates is significant. Online menus permanently eliminate 80% of menu-related expenses, on average. 
• Quick and easy menu adjustments: With digital menus, you can quickly and easily update items or prices, even for minor changes, without the need for reprints. The average restaurant menu is updated three times per year, saving you and your team potentially dozens of labor hours and hundreds of dollars. 
• Visual appeal: As 1st-century Roman gourmand Marcus Apicius is purported to have said, “you eat first with your eyes.” An online platform offers opportunities to increase your menu’s instant visual appeal with mouthwatering images and tantalizing descriptions, enticing customers the moment they’re interested and often driving higher order values. 
• Sustainability: Going digital minimizes paper use and reduces the environmental impact of paper waste accounting for about 26% of landfill volume (The World Counts). 

easily update your online ordering menu

Regularly updating and optimizing your online ordering menu is crucial for maximizing revenue and minimizing costs. A well-crafted online ordering menu is one of the most powerful sales tools when it’s current, optimized, and enticing. An integrated online menu and ordering system offers many advantages and opportunities, including: 

• Efficient menu management: For operators with multiple locations, Paytronix Enterprise Menu and Setting Management allows you to make edits across groups of restaurants simultaneously or customize menus for specific locations.   

Four menu optimization strategies:  

1. Test menu variants: Create multiple digital menus and test them to see which items, promotions, and placements pay off. 
2. Highlight popular items: Showcase your best-selling dishes and promote them with strategic placement and descriptions. 
3. Leverage upselling opportunities: Recommend complementary items based on customer choices, encouraging them to spend more. 
4. Real-time inventory management: Ensure items on your online ordering menu are always available, avoiding waste and customer dissatisfaction by syncing inventory with online ordering availability.