Everyone is talking about the New Normal. Life during the Covid-19 outbreak. Life after the outbreak.

What is it going to be like?

A lot has been said and written on the impact of Covid-19 on the restaurant industry. We did too. But now, we want to change our focus to helping restaurants find solutions to adapt to the “New Normal”.

We understand that the situation is uncertain for everyone, more so for the industry that majorly relies on social gatherings. With social distancing being the new way of life, customers will continue to rely more on online ordering and food delivery.  

In the New Normal people are going to order food online for delivery or takeaway. Dine-in is definitely going to take a backseat.

So now that everyone is making a shift from offline to online, the next set of challenges would include but not limited to increasing average order value to make the business profitable again.

How do we do that? After all, the new normal would require you to work on new strategies to reach customers and entice them into buying from you, over and over again.

A quick tip before we proceed: You must prepare your business for varied situations, catering to a diverse audience.

How to increase average order value for online ordering

Trim the menu

First things first, you don’t need a 10 page featuring all kinds of cuisines, from Chinese to Italian and Mediterranean. If you really want to succeed in the online space, you must create a niche for your business.

Having a limited number of dishes on the menu will assure your customers that you specialize in your offerings and hence, they won’t be reluctant in trying a new dish with every regular order. This, perhaps, increases the opportunity to sell one more dish per order, contributing a minimum of 10% increase in total sales per day.

Offer bundled deal

In the new normal, families are spending more time together, most importantly, eating together. For a restaurant that has just entered the online space or have been struggling to breakeven for a while, providing customers with bundle deals can drive larger orders that can increase your profits.

For example, You can offer a four-course family meal that includes soup, entrée, non-alcoholic drink, and a dessert for $20 per person.

By offering such strategic meal bundles, you can entice customers looking for a discount without having to suffer losses.

Set a minimum for free delivery/packaging

Every restaurant, food delivery app, charge costumers with a small convenience, packaging and delivery fee. In most cases, the amount depends upon the cart value, but there are some who believe in charging a flat fee regardless of the cart size.

But the word “Free Delivery” has its own magic when it comes to online ordering. That said, you don’t need to offer free delivery on every order as it’s not an effective way to increase AOV. What’s effective is that you set a minimum order amount for free delivery eligibility.

For instance, you can set the system to waive delivery charges for orders above $70. So if a person plans to spend $50, and is getting charged $10 for delivery and packaging, he/she would be more inclined to add additional items to the cart. Why pay for shipping when you can get extra food for the same amount? Right?

Make sure you remind your customers on the checkout page that orders over $50 are eligible for free delivery.

So here you are, the new normal demand new strategies, carefully planned deals and a lot of promotion. So be out there and let your customers know that you are taking orders for delivery, takeout, and curbside. For tips on restaurant marketing in the new world, check out this article here.