How would you like to get more orders online for your restaurant business?
The COVID-19 pandemic activated a massive shift in the restaurant industry and shot takeout and delivery from a nice-to-have to an essential part of any restaurant business.
For many restaurants, this has been a sizable change, and it’s taken a lot of adjustments to all the different elements that go into running a restaurant.
The restaurant industry is on the road to recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, but takeout and delivery are not going anywhere.
And for many, there is still room for improvement with building and promoting your online presence to boost your restaurant sales.
So what can you do now to improve your online presence?
In this article, we’re going to look at some ways that you can increase your online presence and boost your restaurant sales.
How To Get More Orders Online For Your Restaurants Business
Build A Website
A website gives your restaurant business a digital face.
It allows people to find out about your restaurant, learn about your menu items, and place orders.
It also makes it easier for customers to order when they want to.
Many restaurants have websites already, but if yours doesn’t, then you need to build one.
You don’t necessarily need to hire someone to create a website for you. You can use free tools such as Wix or Squarespace to make one yourself.
You will need to register your domain name so that people know where to find it.
If you want to put your website live, you will need hosting too.
There are lots of options available for both these services.
Launch Online Ordering
Online ordering is another way to increase your restaurant sales.
This means that instead of taking orders over the phone, you can let people order via email or text message.
There are two main reasons why you might choose to offer online ordering:
• Customers who prefer to buy online may be less likely to visit your restaurant.
• They may not trust themselves to carry out their food shopping safely.
There are plenty of companies offering online ordering systems, including Square, GrubHub, DoorDash, UberEats, Postmates, Instacart, and others.
Update Your Menu
It stands to reason that if you want to increase your sales through online ordering, your online menu should be a central component of your website.
Your menu should be easy to locate, it should be easy to read, include thorough descriptions and it should include a complete listing of all of the items that you offer.
The more descriptive, thorough and easy to read your menu is, the easier it will be for your customers to see what you have to offer, which will certainly increase your sales and make the entire ordering process more efficient.
Allow for Modifications
Not everyone likes food as it comes.
Your customers may want to 86 tomatoes from a sandwich, or they may want to change out a cheese.
Make it easy for your customers to modify their orders from your website and you’ll make them super happy and boost your sales.
People like to have things their way, and allowing them to modify what they order online will do wonders for your online ordering and your success.
It is usually easier to see custom orders through an online form instead of writing everything down over the phone.
Add Delivery And/Or Pickup Services
If your restaurant has the ability to do so, offer delivery of menu items.
Offering delivery makes the process of ordering food from your establishment even easier and stands to boost your sales even more.
If you do choose to offer delivery, make it easy for your customers to input the address where they would like the food to be delivered – this will not only make ordering online easier for your customers, but it will make it easier for you.
Offer An Estimated Time
Your customers will need to know when to pick up the items they have ordered online or when their orders will be delivered.
Once they place an order, offer an estimated time for pickup right on your website.
This only adds to the convenience of online ordering and makes your customers even happier.
You can give a time range or if you’re really good an exact time, but a range is perfectly acceptable.
Allowing your customers to pay for their online purchases on your website will simplify the process even more.
Your customers will appreciate being able to order and pay for their food right from their computer or portable device.
All that is left for them to do is stop in and pick up their order.
As we mentioned earlier, there are many different ways to go about doing online ordering.
Some restaurants use third-party websites to handle their online ordering while other restaurants prefer to keep their own system in the house.
Regardless of how you decide to approach it, the key to making sure your online ordering is successful is to make it as simple as possible for your customers.
Keep in mind that people don’t always have a lot of time to spend online shopping, so make sure that your online ordering system is as user-friendly as possible.
