Online ordering for restaurants is a requisite for a successful restaurant business. Due to the convenience of ordering food online, customers prefer online ordering over phone ordering.
And with the growth potential of the delivery market, online ordering is eventually going to outperform take out.
However another point is the number of customers who want to order from the restaurants that provide online ordering is constantly increasing, and if your restaurant doesn’t have online ordering then your restaurant is not even considered by these customers.
To put it simply, if someone is going to order food online, and your restaurant doesn’t provide online ordering then you have lost a customer by simply not having an online food ordering software.
As we have previously discussed in our blogs, online ordering for restaurants is a tool that you need to have, if you want to be in business in the future.
Although online ordering has been in the game for the past few years, still there is an air of uncertainty around it. Without having complete knowledge of online ordering many restaurants choose an aggregator (like GrubHub, Eat24) instead of investing in their own online ordering system.
This is a huge mistake as these aggregators work on a system of incremental revenue that makes it very difficult to run profitably as the business from online orders increase.
This is a fact: The more orders that come through these portals, the more money you pay from your margin.
But the most important thing is that these portals lead customers to you via their channel. Even your regular customers might end up coming to your restaurant through these channels. This means as you expose yourself to competition and 2 things can happen:
- You can get more customers but that is completely dependent on these aggregators, and in future, if you don't want to do business with them you will definitely lose out on these new customers.
- There is a great risk that you might lose your own customers to the competition, forever.
Here are 3 general misconceptions that might have withheld you from having your own online food ordering system.
False: Online ordering software is very hard to implement
This feeling runs deep amongst restaurant owners that online food ordering systems are very difficult to implement into their existing restaurant. They think they would need to hire new IT staff. The orders will come in a completely different way which will reshuffle their entire work pattern.
True: You don’t need to hire new staff or change your work pattern at all.
A good software provider will take care of everything from setup to smooth running of the software at a very minimal expense. (Yes, lesser than those commissions you pay to aggregators!)
False: Online Ordering Software needs Extra Spending for the Purpose of Staff Training
True: This might have been true with the older online ordering systems.
But the new online food ordering software are very easy to work with. They have a simple User Interface that allows your staff to learn their usage very quickly and eventually it helps them to work more efficiently.Owing to a better User Interface you will figure out the usage of the online food ordering software by yourself but a good software provider will provide free training for you and your staff.
False: Requirement for New Hardware
It is very wrongly believed that an online ordering system will lead to unnecessary expenses in procuring newer and powerful systems.
True: A good online ordering system will seamlessly integrate into your current hardware setup.
It will combine with any Point of Sale platform that you are currently using. And when it comes to printing orders received from the customers. Online Orders will be directly printed at the kitchen.
Conclusion
Contrary to popular belief, online food ordering system won’t cost you a fortune. They also won’t take a large chunk from your profits like the portals or aggregators. A good online ordering software will help you to retain your customers, develop loyalty, run customised promotions, update your menu, send newsletters and so on…
Most of the restaurant ordering system work on a subscription basis. It doesn’t depend on how much items you sell. The software providers only charge a monthly flat rate and don’t charge anything else. Not offering online ordering is not a wise decision and completely relying on an aggregator like GrubHub or Eat24 will eventually bankrupt your business.
For a 30 days free trial of your own restaurant ordering system click here and for any further information or suggestions, you can reach us info@restolabs.com.
