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6 Ways Digital Ordering Systems can Improve a Restaurant’s Profitability (and How to Choose One)

Ben Beddow — Sun, 28 Nov 2021 18:24:26 +0000

6 Ways Digital Ordering Systems can Improve a Restaurant’s Profitability (and How to Choose One)

Ben Beddow

Published November 28th, 2021

In the restaurant business ROI is one of the defining factors as to whether an investment is to be made or not. Digital ordering systems have long been an optional extra that supplement a restaurant's dine-in and phone order business. However, in an ever more digitized, post-pandemic world it is becoming clearer and clearer that digital ordering systems are an integral part of a restaurant’s success.

Recent digital ordering data is skewed by the pandemic but, before early 2020, digital ordering was predicted to continue growing at an average rate of 20% per year. This rise was only accelerated by the conditions of 2020, and those conditions normalized digital ordering much earlier than predicted. Now, consumers are comfortable placing digital orders and eating all forms of food in the comfort of their own homes.

Digital ordering systems provide another, now popular and normalized avenue for orders to come into a venue. But digital ordering systems have a much greater effect on a restaurant’s profitability than just increasing order volume.

6 Ways Digital Ordering Systems can Improve a Restaurant’s Profitability (and How to Choose One)

6 Ways Digital Ordering Improves Restaurant Profitability

Create More Dine-in Customers - Studies have shown that customers who have placed an online order with a restaurant are 67% more likely to visit that location and dine-in. So, having a digital ordering system doesn’t only put tickets on the rail, it also puts people in seats.

Streamline Ordering and Reduce Labor - Digital ordering systems remove the employee middleman from the order and expedite an orders progress to the kitchen. In turn, this frees up the employee’s time for other duties and guests. This has the potential to reduce the amount of hours worked and to maybe even reduce the amount of employees required on a shift. Resulting in a saving on labor costs.

Reduce Errors, Reduce Costs - Phone-in orders are clunky and error prone. Digital ordering systems for restaurants remove one human step from the ordering process, meaning that the order reaches the kitchen exactly as the customer wanted it to. This can reduce costly, and sometimes embarrassing, errors.

Increase Check Averages - Customers spend more when they place digital orders and it has been found that introducing and encouraging digital ordering over phone-in orders can increase check averages by as much as 18%.

Increase Sales - 60% of restaurant operators say that offering delivery has driven up their sales and it has been recorded that offering a POS integrated digital system for delivery and takeout increases sales volume without a negative effect on dine-in business.

Guest Tracking - A properly integrated online ordering system allows a restaurant to track their guests’ journey from beginning to end. The insights this information can provide are invaluable when it comes to informing multiple areas of restaurant management, including: promotions, guest engagement, how to increase customer spend, and successfully increasing a menu’s profitability.

Why Is an Online Ordering System Important?

The world is seeing an increase in digitization, and customers are now more likely to find a new restaurant online than through any other medium. With restaurant discovery happening online it makes sense for a restaurant to present guests with the convenient option to order there-and-then. An online ordering system for business makes it easy and convenient for the customer to place and pay for their order, whilst also delivering the above profitability benefits to the restaurant.

Factors to Consider When Choosing a Digital Ordering System

Digital ordering isn’t just about having a platform to present to guests and to bring more orders in through the door; it is also about how you do digital ordering. 58% of consumers will skip delivery aggregators, like Ubereats or Doordash, and order directly with a restaurant instead. So, what to consider when choosing an online ordering system for a restaurant?

3^rd Party or Proprietary? - Whilst not having to worry about an online ordering system is good, 3^rd party “plug-and-play” systems do come with drawbacks.

POS Integrations - If a digital ordering system is integrated into a location’s POS system it means customers can be tracked from start-to-finish and the employee workload can be reduced, not just re-distributed to new tablets.

Google Integration - Google sees over 1 billion searches for food each month and 1.5 million searches for the term “delivery near me”. Google now offers Google Food Ordering and every restaurant should seriously consider integrating with Google to offer the best possible digital experience to their guests.

Costs - Many digital ordering system providers operate on a commission basis, meaning that when a location makes more sales they make more money. Finding a provider that operates on a flat fee basis means that a restaurant operator will always know what their costs will be each month, and can plan their venues finances accordingly.

Delivery - Delivery is a tricky beast to manage and it is for this reason that many location’s outsource their delivery to 3^rd parties, but that isn’t right for all businesses. A online delivery management system allows for intelligent delivery management, facilitating a professional and profitable delivery service.

Dedicated App - To stand out from the crowd a restaurant shouldn’t be listed alongside its competitors, it should have its own standalone, customizable space where it can send its message to its customers in its own way.

Branding - A digital ordering service should align with the location’s brand to make it instantly identifiable to the customer. Having a branded digital ordering system also allows a restaurant to present themselves to the customer how they want to be presented.

Versatility - A digital ordering system should be as flexible as the physical location it represents. The manager should be able to add promotions, specials, and make changes to items simply, quickly, and, most importantly, be able to push them live immediately.

Integrated Loyalty - Restaurant loyalty programs help to retain customers, provide the venue with richer guest profiles, create more guest referrals, and can even greatly increase profitability.

Integrated Payments - Facilitate quicker and more streamlined delivery and takeout ordering by having guests pay when they order, not when they pick up.

3^rd Party or Proprietary? - Whilst not having to worry about an online ordering system is good, 3^rd party “plug-and-play” systems do come with drawbacks.

POS Integrations - If a digital ordering system is integrated into a location’s POS system it means customers can be tracked from start-to-finish and the employee workload can be reduced, not just re-distributed to new tablets.

Google Integration - Google sees over 1 billion searches for food each month and 1.5 million searches for the term “delivery near me”. Google now offers Google Food Ordering and every restaurant should seriously consider integrating with Google to offer the best possible digital experience to their guests.

Costs - Many digital ordering system providers operate on a commission basis, meaning that when a location makes more sales they make more money. Finding a provider that operates on a flat fee basis means that a restaurant operator will always know what their costs will be each month, and can plan their venues finances accordingly.

Delivery - Delivery is a tricky beast to manage and it is for this reason that many location’s outsource their delivery to 3^rd parties, but that isn’t right for all businesses. A online delivery management system allows for intelligent delivery management, facilitating a professional and profitable delivery service.

Dedicated App - To stand out from the crowd a restaurant shouldn’t be listed alongside its competitors, it should have its own standalone, customizable space where it can send its message to its customers in its own way.

Branding - A digital ordering service should align with the location’s brand to make it instantly identifiable to the customer. Having a branded digital ordering system also allows a restaurant to present themselves to the customer how they want to be presented.

Versatility - A digital ordering system should be as flexible as the physical location it represents. The manager should be able to add promotions, specials, and make changes to items simply, quickly, and, most importantly, be able to push them live immediately.

Integrated Loyalty - Restaurant loyalty programs help to retain customers, provide the venue with richer guest profiles, create more guest referrals, and can even greatly increase profitability.

Integrated Payments - Facilitate quicker and more streamlined delivery and takeout ordering by having guests pay when they order, not when they pick up.

3^rd Party or Proprietary? - Whilst not having to worry about an online ordering system is good, 3^rd party “plug-and-play” systems do come with drawbacks.

POS Integrations - If a digital ordering system is integrated into a location’s POS system it means customers can be tracked from start-to-finish and the employee workload can be reduced, not just re-distributed to new tablets.

Google Integration - Google sees over 1 billion searches for food each month and 1.5 million searches for the term “delivery near me”. Google now offers Google Food Ordering and every restaurant should seriously consider integrating with Google to offer the best possible digital experience to their guests.

Costs - Many digital ordering system providers operate on a commission basis, meaning that when a location makes more sales they make more money. Finding a provider that operates on a flat fee basis means that a restaurant operator will always know what their costs will be each month, and can plan their venues finances accordingly.

Delivery - Delivery is a tricky beast to manage and it is for this reason that many location’s outsource their delivery to 3^rd parties, but that isn’t right for all businesses. A online delivery management system allows for intelligent delivery management, facilitating a professional and profitable delivery service.

Dedicated App - To stand out from the crowd a restaurant shouldn’t be listed alongside its competitors, it should have its own standalone, customizable space where it can send its message to its customers in its own way.

Branding - A digital ordering service should align with the location’s brand to make it instantly identifiable to the customer. Having a branded digital ordering system also allows a restaurant to present themselves to the customer how they want to be presented.

Versatility - A digital ordering system should be as flexible as the physical location it represents. The manager should be able to add promotions, specials, and make changes to items simply, quickly, and, most importantly, be able to push them live immediately.

Integrated Loyalty - Restaurant loyalty programs help to retain customers, provide the venue with richer guest profiles, create more guest referrals, and can even greatly increase profitability.

Integrated Payments - Facilitate quicker and more streamlined delivery and takeout ordering by having guests pay when they order, not when they pick up.

A Final Word: ActiveMenus for the Win!

ActiveMenus’ suite of digital ordering and delivery solutions has been designed by experienced restaurant professionals to help those running restaurants increase their profitability by working smarter not harder. Here at ActiveMenus we understand that a business’s brand is an important part of who they are, and being able to represent that to the customer in the digital world is integral to that business’s online success.

Our digital ordering systems are beautifully customizable and we offer integrations into over 40 different 3^rd party systems, preventing the fragmentation of the restaurant’s technology stack and increasing their data capture. Commission free ordering allows our customers to know exactly what they will be spending on our services each month, meaning that they can properly plan their location’s finances.

With ActiveMenus you can integrate into the world’s biggest search engine with Google Food Ordering, create loyalty programs, custom offers, and change menu items on the fly. ActiveMenus does all this and allows multiple brands to live comfortably together under one digital roof. Finally, our integrated or externally managed delivery resources are at your fingertips should you choose to use them. Reach out to us today to learn more about how ActiveMenus can transform your restaurant’s profitability with a state-of-the-art digital ordering system!

The post 6 Ways Digital Ordering Systems can Improve a Restaurant’s Profitability (and How to Choose One) appeared first on Online Ordering For Restaurants | ActiveMenus.

Digital Ordering is Here to Stay Post-Pandemic

Ben Beddow — Wed, 07 Apr 2021 16:34:53 +0000

Table Of Content

The global pandemic drastically changed how consumers interact with restaurants around the world. Face-to-face interactions suddenly made customers feel uneasy and, for the safety of their employees and the peace of mind of their customers, restaurants quickly pivoted to digitizing their offerings with takeout and delivery focused models as “contact-free” and “curbside pickup” became the buzzwords that gave consumers comfort.

The pre-pandemic norm of dine-in restaurant service from smiling servers and cashiers, longed for by so many for so long, is now gradually returning, but the widespread adoption and use of digital-type ordering brought forth by the pandemic are not going to subside along with it. Many restaurants learn this and positions themselves for a new, more digital reality as they look toward the post-pandemic future.

Digital Ordering is The New Normal

Having spent the better part of a year using only digital platforms to discover a restaurant, view menus, and place orders customers are not going to just switch back to old habits. Restaurant news discovery was a process that has happened online for years, but the pandemic brought forth the need for eateries to not only have an online presence but to now bolster that presence with accessible, easy-to-use ordering subscribe platforms that provide restaurant convenience as well clarity for their customers.

Most of these restaurant systems, be them online ordering through Google website, a 1st party app, a 3rd party service, or just simple list viewing, hit bumps in the road over the past year as we all adjusted to our new way of living. At first, consumers were willing to persist and give the restaurant the benefit of the doubt when using restaurant ordering methods that were awkward to use or clunky in their design. Now, a year on, consumers have used many apps and web ordering systems that are excellently designed and well thought out, so they’re much less likely to preserver with clunky, poorly designed online restaurant menus data and ordering via digital platforms.

Selecting the digitally ordering provider which not only best suits a venue’s visitors and brand, but one which also provides a streamlined, user-friendly experience management innovation is paramount to the success of elevating the digital-type restaurant ordering experience and providing an online restaurant ordering service that the guest would be happy with to return to use again and again.

In-Store Digital Online Restaurants Ordering

The customer-facing element of any restaurant has largely avoided the digitizing impact of technology of recent decades; with physical menus and physical checks still omnipresent across the industry. Last year, however, the pandemic quickly moved this element of restaurants into today's 21st-century news.

Some locations opted for single-use menus, whilst others took the digital root and have ditched paper menus altogether, replacing them with digital versions. These have come in many forms: QR codes, which customers use to pull up menus on their personal devices management, digital menu screens integrated throughout venues, booths for self-ordering, and apps allowing customers to browse, order, and payments for their order at their table with minimum contact.

These changes are here to stay and, whilst consumers may not demand them as highly as they will seamless ordering, these digitized options are becoming more commonplace as customers continue to strive for convenience and contact-free API data service.

Not only can these digital delivery options reduce wastage but these products can be updated with just a few clicks of a mouse, whilst also giving customers the freedom to browse digital menus at their leisure. This freedom to browse offers more opportunities for sales as a guest needs not to ask servers for menus once they’ve been removed after the initial order has been placed- allowing for more spontaneous ordering and, potentially, higher ordering check totals.

Be Mindful of Order Costs Incurred for 3rd Party Service

It has been no secret that the growth of 3rd party ordering and delivery systems have, whilst being great for the consumer, not been the greatest advances for eateries themselves. Some 3rd party services take up to 30% of the cost of the order, eating into the razor-thin margins that restaurants run on.

When choosing how to bring seamless digital ordering to the largest possible audience eateries must select whom they use and partner carefully, because the costs of these services, if not properly analyzed, can have a damaging effect on a venue's financials.

Options besides 3rd party partners include integrating with Google or having someone design and host a proprietary app for a venue or restaurant chain. Both of these ordering data system services have a much lower cost basis that can be a set amount per month, entirely unrelated to, or skimmed off the top of, a location’s sales. These options may not suit everyone but they are another option alongside the consumer-focused 3rd party services.

A Final Word

Digital ordering is an exciting prospect for restaurants that are looking to remain relevant and instill confidence in their customers. With a wide range of options out there each restaurant can choose the platform which they believe best suits their brand and their customer’s needs, whilst continuing to make every effort to keep their employees and guests' solutions safe.

Digital ordering, online and inside venues, offer new revenue streams for some restaurants that were slow to adopt these ordering functionalities management because they didn’t see their model as suited to takeout and delivery service. The pandemic has made everyone: proprietors, shareholders, and, most importantly, guests; see takeout and delivery as something universal, which they will now all expect to be a part of a location’s offerings.

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