In 2023, the Orders.co team dedicated itself to enhancing the dining experience for our restaurants and their customers. We rolled out numerous updates throughout the year across all our product suites.
These enhancements were meticulously crafted to address the prevalent challenges restaurants face today while paving the way for their future success. Here’s a glimpse into some of the key advancements we made this year!
Marketing
Local Business Listing Synchronization
Problem: Disjointed and inaccurate business listings with old menus and hours are customer turn-offs.
Solution: Automate business listing updates to dozens of platforms simultaneously.
Benefit: Ensuring accurate business hours, menus, and more; boosting customer satisfaction and search engine visibility.
Loyalty Program
Problem: Food availability via online ordering has made customer retention and repeat business difficult for restaurants. With so many options, customers are increasingly less likely to order from the same business twice.
Solution: Loyalty Rewards allow patrons to generate rewards for completed orders and receive discounts on future purchases with a specific business.
Benefit: This provides an additional incentive for customers to engage in repeat business rather than going elsewhere. It also provides valuable data on ordering habits and item preferences for future promotions and marketing.
Automated Marketing Campaigns
Problem: Online ordering has exposed a new field of competition for restaurants, and many struggle to reach and attract
Solution: Website customers who sign up for Loyalty Rewards are automatically enrolled in text and email marketing campaigns. Periodically sending point updates, discount codes, and new promotions.
Benefit: Restaurants that promote their Loyalty Rewards programs will build a customer list at the same time. Automatically reaching out to customers with AI-assisted messaging on promotions and discounts. Increasing the likelihood of repeat business and building direct relationships.
Guest Feedback Monitoring
Problem: Restaurants often struggle with managing their online reputation, as negative reviews on public platforms can significantly impact their image and customer perception.
Solution: Our guest feedback system collects responses at order placement, completion, and post-experience, directing negative reviews to owners for immediate action and positive feedback to public sites like Google and Yelp.
Benefit: This proactive approach protects the restaurant’s online reputation and fosters greater customer satisfaction and loyalty by showing that their feedback is heard and valued.
Website & Integrations
Updated Ordering Website UI
In conjunction with a multitude of other functionality updates, we went ahead and overhauled the look and feel of our ordering websites. Improving the user experience and providing a more modern touch.
Online Payment
- Credit card
- Apple pay
- Google pay
Problem: Many online transactions are lost due to inadequate consumer payment options. Specifically for restaurants, potentially losing sales in such a competitive market can be exceptionally harmful.
Solution: We’ve expanded our online transaction processing to include Apple Pay and Google Pay alongside all major credit and debit merchants in the US.
Benefit: Restaurants can rest assured their customers will find their preferred payment method at checkout. Eliminating the possibility of lost business due to such a preventable reason.
Catering Support – Website
- In-site menu & ordering support
Problem: Many restaurants have found additional revenue streams in offering catering solutions, but customers want the same online convenience as regular ordering, yet many ordering platforms do not support catering.
Solution: Orders.co’s ordering websites have expanded to include catering support. Allowing restaurants to offer their full catering menu within the same ordering site and managed by the same menu management suite.
Benefit: Going to the same website is comforting and familiar for customers. This increases the odds that they’ll order catering online and eliminates the need for a separate interface for management.
Multi-lingual interface & menu support
Problem: Restaurant operators and customers alike speak a variety of languages. A language barrier is a surefire way to stop a potential order or inhibit a business from taking full advantage of a software/feature.
Solution: Orders.co has expanded its multi-lingual support to include Spanish and Mandarin Chinese.
Benefit: Restaurant operators can now fully take advantage of our full suite of services without needing a translator. And customers that that prefer their native language, can order from their favorite restaurant without any hesitation or hassle.
Marketplace360
2023 marked the release of our unique Marketplace360 solution. Empowering restaurants, ghost kitchens, and cloud kitchen organizations to create a custom, unified marketplace. Where customers can enjoy the convenience of ordering from multiple eateries in one central location.
QR Menu Maker
Problem: Restaurants have few options for sharing their menus outside business listings, apps, and traditional print. Leaving a potential hole in customers discovering a dish or cuisine type they may be interested in.
Solution: The QR Menu Maker App is 100% free and allows restaurant operators to create, update, and share their menus digitally with anyone, anywhere.
Benefit: You never know when you might encounter a potential customer interested in viewing your menu. Sharing a link or QR code directly is an excellent way to offer an alternative menu to a potential customer.
Tableside & QR Ordering
Problem: Consumer convenience and self-checkout options are prevalent in modern-day shopping. Customers increasingly opt to save time over convenience, while many restaurants remain traditional in order processing.
Solution: QR and Tableside ordering give flexibility to staff and customers to take or process orders at their leisure. Without the direct need for a server, orders are processed directly into the Orders.co system.
Benefit: Servers and customers have flexibility in ordering and paying. Freeing up staff to focus on other tasks and eliminating customer wait times. This also allows for quicker table turnover and faster order processing, with orders going directly to the kitchen.
AI Website Builder
Problem: Many restaurants understand the need for a modern ordering website, but with so many options, it can be difficult to decide on a product. Let alone have a comprehensive understanding of its features and capabilities.
Solution: The Orders.co AI Website builder allows restaurants with an existing online presence, to generate a fully functioning demo site in 30 seconds that is fully populated with their menu.
Benefit: This lets operators know exactly how their business’s site will look and function with little to no effort. The demo site is also saved as a template, making onboarding a breeze if they sign up.
Integrations
Ordering Integrations
Grubhub v2 update
Ordering service integrations are the bread and butter of our business. With each new addition, we expand our client base and offer new opportunities to existing customers.
POS Integration
POS integrations are integral to our service, as many restaurants utilize them as a cornerstone of their management process. Expanding our supported POS partners allows more restaurants to utilize our service without needing new hardware or employee training.
Dispatch Integrations
Self-support (other/in-house)
Dispatch integrations are a component of our ordering website service. Enabling restaurants of any size to offer delivery without hiring staff. As our Dispatch partnerships expand, so does our customers’ delivery availability.
Reporting
Customer
Subscriber
Weekly performance
Z report
Problem: Customer data is a coveted commodity for restaurants and, in many cases, can be hard to come by. Gathering reports and spreadsheets across multiple platforms is tiring and difficult to make sense of.
Solution: We’ve expanded our reporting suite to include daily sales data, weekly performance reports, loyalty subscriber data, and more!
Benefit: The more information we can give our customers on theirs, the better they can optimize their business. Information is king in this new digital restaurant era, from planning staff schedules to tailoring menus; the more data, the better.
If you’re already an Orders.co customer, connect with your Customer Success Manager to determine how to implement these features. If you’re not yet a customer and want to discover more, contact our team on our website.
