Why Online Ordering for Restaurants Is a Must

People ordering food from restaurants for takeout or delivery expect more than a simple transaction. They’re also seeking an ordering experience that’s convenient, seamless, and personalized. Customers want to find their favorite items easily, customize their order, check it for accuracy, and easily tap into loyalty rewards. If you aren’t delivering a holistic experience that makes customers feel taken care of, you’re probably losing out on potential business.  

Providing a positive online ordering experience may seem daunting and expensive to achieve, but with the right online ordering system it’s a lot easier and more affordable than you may think. 

In this post, we’ll explore how you can use a restaurant online ordering system to elevate your restaurant business, covering everything from how it can help you streamline restaurant operations to improving order accuracy. I’ll also share how one restaurant boosted its revenue with a restaurant online ordering system. It’s critical information that will help you gain a competitive edge. 

ADVANTAGES OF ONLINE ORDERING FOR RESTAURANTS

For starters, let’s look at three primary benefits of online ordering for restaurants: 1) streamlining restaurant operations, 2) increasing restaurant revenue, and 3) improving order accuracy. These are all critical aspects to maintaining a successful business that a restaurant online ordering system can help you with. 

Streamline restaurant operations 

Restaurant owners wear so many hats, so it’s critical to find ways to save money, resources, and time so you can focus on other aspects of your business. Centralizing your restaurant's online ordering system with one provider integrates various functions—such as ordering, payments, and menu building and optimization—into a single, easy-to-use platform. Here are the key benefits of choosing a centralized online ordering system: 

• Streamlined operations: Centralizing data and platform management under one provider simplifies processes, saving time and resources for both your team and your customers 
• Enhanced analytics and reporting: A unified system provides a consolidated view of guest data and clear reporting, which improves analytics and supports better decision-making and business planning 
• Exceptional guest experience: Integrating loyalty programs, mobile apps, and gift card options enhances the guest experience by offering seamless service across different touchpoints 
• Brand control: Centralization allows for more consistent branding across all customer interactions, ensuring your restaurant's image remains cohesive 
• Improved marketing efforts: With a centralized view of guests, marketing efforts can be more targeted and effective, leading to better engagement and customer retention 
• Optimized online menu management: The ability to create and optimize online menus within the same platform ensures that your offerings are always up-to-date and appealing to your customers 

By consolidating various functions into one provider, restaurants can enjoy enhanced operational efficiency, better customer insights, and improved control over their brand. 

Increase restaurant revenue

The second key benefit of restaurant online ordering systems is boosting revenue, which is essential in the highly competitive restaurant industry. Let’s break this down further.  

Saves money in the long-term 

First off, a scalable restaurant online ordering system provider can save you money in the long run by providing flexible solutions that accommodate future growth, so costs don’t outpace your business needs.  

Provides powerful analytics and reporting 

By offering a centralized guest view and clear reporting, restaurant online ordering systems also allow for analytics that support your decision-making and business-planning process. You can use analytics to identify trends and patterns in customer behavior that will help optimize everything from pricing to promotions—all of which will help improve profitability and revenue.  

Better analytics, better menus 

The analytics derived from a restaurant online ordering system can even inform how you present your menu. For example, hot dog chain National Coney Island needed a tech-first solution to increase online orders to provide relief for its short-staffed stores. They partnered with Paytronix to generate a new menu based on the most-ordered menu items that were shown to customers ordering through the mobile app, coupled with a $5-off coupon.  

After randomized customer testing between the classic menu and the new one, it was clear that guests ordered from the new menu more often. This simple, analytics-based menu tweak has resulted in a 19% online order lift, a 9.8% overall visit lift, an additional 13 orders per store per month, a 14.1% overall spend lift, and a significant boost to restaurant revenue of $300 per month per store. (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 result in unhappy customers who may leave a bad review or decide not to return. Restaurant online ordering systems can dramatically improve order accuracy, fortunately, and give them more control over their orders so they feel confident about your online ordering process.  

Increases customers’ control over their orders 

When customers can clearly specify their selections and preferences and are given the opportunity to add special instructions and modifications, they feel like they have more control over the ordering process. Order customization is key for many brands offering made-to-order items. One sandwich chain partnered with Paytronix to provide customized menu offerings, enabling customers to order sandwiches to their preferred specifications. That kind of personalization combined with a strong loyalty program drove online orders by 110%.  (Read the full case study for more details.) 

Tapping into the advantages of first-party online food delivery  

Using third-party platforms like Uber Eats and DoorDash can quickly start your delivery service and reach new customers, but they take 15–30% in commissions and limit your control over your brand. Alternatively, creating an in-house delivery service offers full control and keeps all revenue, despite its logistical and financial challenges. Managing first-party online food delivery through a unified restaurant ordering system also allows you to build direct relationships with customers and maintain brand consistency. 

Weigh the pros and cons of each option to determine the best fit for your restaurant, taking these factors into consideration before deciding:  

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

Additional advice for restaurants

Now that we’ve covered the benefits, I’d like to share a few tips that will help you get started as you navigate online ordering for restaurants. 

#1. Weigh your options: When choosing a restaurant online ordering system, make sure you consider factors like features, integrations, and cost. All restaurant online ordering systems are not created equal. 

#2. Follow best practices: After you choose your restaurant online ordering system, make sure to follow industry best practices for a successful implementation. When you optimize your usage, you will reap the rewards in increased customer satisfaction and higher restaurant revenue. 

#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. Offering an incentive, like a discount or free menu item for first-time online orders, is one effective strategy. 

Now is the time to launch online ordering for restaurants 

In today’s competitive landscape, restaurants need to differentiate themselves by satisfying customers’ demand for convenient, fast online food ordering Leading providers like Paytronix can help streamline restaurant operations, increase revenue, and improve order accuracy while boosting customer satisfaction.  

Learn more about how Paytronix can help boost your restaurant business by scheduling a demo today.