The Benefits of Online Food Ordering for Restaurants

The food delivery industry as a whole is constantly changing at a rapid pace. As a restaurant owner, you need to have an online presence, since it puts your restaurant in front of people who otherwise wouldn’t know about you and your business.

Let’s take a look at the reasons for ordering food online & why it’s a service you should provide to your customers… if you want to increase your sales.

Advantages of Online Food Ordering Systems for Restaurants

There are many advantages of online ordering systems to consider. Some of them benefit you, and some of them benefit your customers. Some even benefit everyone involved. Let’s start by looking at the benefits for your restaurant.

Customers Prefer Ordering from Restaurant Websites & Apps Than Through Food Portals

According to recent online food ordering statistics, 70% of people say they prefer ordering food directly from the restaurant. They would rather have their money go directly to the restaurant and take out the middle-man. On top of that, over half (52%) of American diners prefer using the branded app or website of a restaurant to order food instead of a food portal app.

But there’s another benefit involved, which concerns you directly: usually, on different third-party food platforms, customers are also shown the appealing menus of other competing restaurants. This means that if one customer checks out your profile, but then decides to see what other restaurants have to offer and finds something else instead, then you’re the one that’s at a financial loss. This also happens when the big players buy sponsored ads promoting their discounted menus. So, by using your own restaurant website system you actually increase your customer’s retention rate.

Using a Responsive Online Ordering System is Key to Unlocking Higher Sales

Thanks to the advent of tablets and smartphones, more people than ever order food straight from their own smartphones. In fact, studies conducted by the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) and Viggle show that around 69% of people prefer to order online through their mobile devices.

Online Orders are Higher in Value than Phone Orders

Looking at mouth-watering images of food can actually trigger your visual hunger. You may have noticed that you buy more food from the grocery store when you’re hungry. The same applies to hungry people who order food online. This usually happens because eating is also a visual process. We always take the first “bite” of food with our eyes.

Therefore, having plenty of food images included in your online menu up is going to convince people to order more food than they would normally do over the phone. In fact, latest research suggests that hungry people tend to order up to 64% more than those who aren’t hungry. So, make sure you include mouthwatering images in your online menu.

Advantages of Online Food Ordering System for Customers

Now that you understand the advantages of using online food ordering system for your business, let’s take a look at why more and more customers choose online ordering in detriment of the traditional ways.

It’s Fast and Easy

One of the main reasons why clients order food online is because it’s just so convenient and easy to them. Everything is at their fingertips. Just about anyone who has a smartphone can use it to order food online. According to a Harris Poll, Millennials are the most important audience for any business to have, particularly a restaurant.

These days, restaurant dining accounts for nearly half (43%) of the average household’s budget allocated for food. And millennials are one of the driving forces behind that statistic. Almost all millennials (97%) use their smartphone for just about anything, including ordering food.

Less Order-related Misunderstandings and Client Frustrations

One problem with taking orders over the phone is the potential for misunderstandings and miscommunication. Whether it’s because of the background noise at the restaurant, the noise at home, or a thick accent, just one mistake can ruin things for both parties involved.

One of the key home delivery benefits is that customers are able to specify exactly what they want. There’s almost no risk of miscommunication through an online food ordering system. Customers are happier, and happy customers are good for business.

They Can Order Whenever They Want

Just because a restaurant isn’t open doesn’t mean their online food ordering system isn’t. Online food ordering allows customers to make orders whenever they want and choose a specified delivery or pickup time for when the restaurant is open. If a customer knows they want to eat food from a restaurant in a few hours, they can make a pre-order and pick up the food when it’s ready.

Summary

There are plenty of benefits to allowing customers to place food orders online on your website. As a business owner, this is important because it puts your restaurant in front of more people. It broadens your potential audience and increases your bottom line. For customers, it’s great since it allows them to easily and conveniently place orders whenever they want. Plus, they can be sure that there will be no misunderstandings when they place their orders.

Having a restaurant website with online ordering included can do wonders for your business. The main thing to realize is that, for all the benefits of having an online food ordering system in place, there are absolutely no benefits to not having one. If anything, it even works against you. However, having your own online ordering system enables you to interact with customers directly and so much more.