Contactless ordering for Food Trucks - How does it work?

There are 35,512 Food Trucks businesses in the US as of 2022, an increase of 13.7% from 2021. The number of businesses in the Food Trucks industry in the US has grown 13.7% per year on average over the five years between 2017 - 2022. But how many are providing their customers with the convenience and flexibility of Direct Digital Ordering? A few thousand maybe, but that’s not the point. The point that I want to highlight today is that we’re at the cusp of digital transformation and food trucks can’t be left behind.

Pandemic has given rise to many new business formats, but contactless ordering with the ease of takeaway and curbside is something that has saved food businesses all over the world. But the same isn’t true for food trucks. A lot of them have had to shut down their wheels forever for the simple reason that they didn’t know how to adapt better.

It’s true that the world that we live in has changed dramatically, and now, people have become accustomed to certain behaviors - contactless, for instance.

Queuing up in front of the food truck has always been the biggest shortfall of a food truck business. The more popular the food truck is, the longer the queues and so the waiting times. But then customers didn’t have much choice.

This has changed post the pandemic outbreak.

Now we know better.

Food trucks can accept digital orders directly from the customers through digital ordering systems like web/mobile ordering, QR Ordering as well as Facebook Ordering. This not only allows them to maintain hygiene and safety, but also significantly reduces the wait time as customers no longer have to stand in never-ending queues.

Online Ordering for takeaway and curbside systems allow customers to place orders from their devices using a simple Menu Scanner that can be placed on the Standee outside the Food Truck They can also place their orders via the web portal or the mobile app, pay on the same app, and only visit the food truck once their order ready to dispatch. This augurs well considering the present scenario, which demands that people should maintain social distancing norms, even if there is no immediate health-related threat.

Here are some of the technological advantages that prove to be beneficial:

• For restaurants, the technology allows taking direct orders from the customers, substantially reducing errors in delivery. The customers also get the option to place the order in advance or use their Facebook account to connect with the food truck.
• The waiting time for a customer is substantially reduced,, which means that the staff can focus more on serving more orders than usual.
• With effective marketing, Food Trucks can also expand their reach and get more orders compared to being available only for takeaway at the site. They can set a radius for delivery as well to increase order count.
• The data that a food truck owner collects through online transactions can give them insights on demographics, most loved menu items, least ordered items, etc. that they can use to run operations more efficiently.
  

A lot of popular food trucks like Mac Mart Truck, Philadelphia have invested in the contactless ordering system and seen tremendous increase in the bottom line. There has never been a better time than now to change how the food truck business operates. Everyone has gotten used to the ease and convenience of ordering ahead online, or ordering online for delivery.

With the aid of online food ordering systems like Restolabs a food truck business can leverage the benefits it brings along. As millennials and generation-Z drive the digital growth, the future remains quite bright for food truck business owners that look forward to making the switch. The faster, the better it would be for the overall health of business.