Online ordering has become the norm for, well... everything at this point. With a click of a button you can virtually order just about everything from the comfort of your home. It’s no surprise that restaurants have jumped on the online ordering train now more than ever. There's a wide variety of third-party apps for ordering food from restaurants; Doordash, UberEats, Eatstreet, Grubhub, etc. It can be a challenge for small businesses to manage the influx of online orders. On top of regular in-house orders and call ins, restaurants now have more online portals to keep track of. It can become hectic and stressful for waitstaff and kitchen staff to keep up with all the lines of ordering. As a former server, the ding on the iPad from incoming orders is the sound of nightmares during a rush.
Sometimes, the addition of online apps result in unhappy customers. Restaurant workers might miss things like order modifications, and if your restaurant offers different daily specials, it's hard to continually update the menu and advertise them on the apps. It also might cause longer wait times for customers that come in and customers that are ordering pick-up or delivery. These third-party apps also carry heavy fees for not only the customers ordering on them, but for restaurant owners to have their business offered on the apps.
How Online Ordering Can Make your Restaurant More Money
If these online apps bring all of this added stress onto restaurant workers why even have them at all? Well, because the world of online food ordering is booming. Many restaurant owners have found that after implementing some form of online ordering, their revenue has increased. 42% of food purchases are done online. Back in 2017 the volume of off-premise food orders placed online surpassed the volume of phone orders and, orders placed online are significantly larger than orders placed over the phone. In 2020 food delivery revenue surpassed $26 billion and is predicted to grow to $43 billion by 2025. A Wallstreet Journal study found that out of all off-premise restaurant sales, 53% were carry –out orders. 23% of restaurants say that their customers are more engaged with their online offerings now, compared to pre-pandemic.
Millennials and Gen Z are spending a huge amount of money on food delivery or at restaurants, it's their second highest monthly spending category. A recent survey shows that 64% of millennials say that food delivery and take-out are “essential to the way they live.” But they’re not the only ones, The National Restaurant Association found that 60% of baby boomers had ordered take out or delivery in the last week. The reality is, online ordering can make your restaurant more money. A lot more money, and restaurant owners know it. It would be foolish for them to nix the idea of online ordering all together despite the problems that may arise.
Online Food Ordering Solutions
If you’re a small business and you’re either drowning in third party orders, fees to have your restaurant on the app or, if you’re wanting to take advantage of all the revenue you could be bringing in with the addition of online ordering, there’s good news! Your restaurant can now have its own online ordering portal.
Clover Machines
If your restaurant has a Clover machine, get the Smart Online Order app. This is the perfect online food ordering solution. With Smart Online Orders, you can easily integrate your inventory to show on your website in real-time. This will allow you to accept online orders from your website and have it sent to your Clover POS and kitchen printer or both. There are options for specialized coupon codes and money is deposited into the bank account associated with your Clover. It allows customers to order online or pickup from your store. It's also simpler for your delivery drivers if you already have a delivery system. On top of that, no more crazy high fees. Two thirds of customers prefer to order food via restaurants own online ordering platform, rather than using a third party. Out of that group, 61% said it was because they wanted to support the restaurant.
VMS can help you get your hands on a clover system, set up your restaurants website, and get your online ordering portal up and running. Online ordering doesn’t have to stressful; we will make it easy and help your restaurant succeed!