- Key Takeaways
- What Does Online Ordering Mean For Your Restaurant?
- Advantage 1: Boosts Revenue and Increases Average Order Size
- Advantage 2: Enhanced Brand Control and Customization
- Advantage 3: Improved Order Accuracy and Fewer Mistakes
- Advantage 4: Full Control Over Profits
- Advantage 5: Valuable Customer Data Collection
- Advantage 6: Streamlined Operations and Staff Efficiency
- Advantage 7: Increased Reach and Accessibility
- Advantage 8: 24/7 Availability for Orders
- Advantage 9: Catering and Large Order Management
- Advantage 10: Enhanced Customer Convenience and Mobile Optimization
- Advantage 11: Building Long-Term Customer Loyalty
- Elevate Your Restaurant with Online Ordering
- FAQs
Key Takeaways
- Online ordering systems let customers browse menus at their own pace, often leading to larger orders.
- Custom online ordering platforms help restaurants showcase their brand with tailored menu designs and promotions.
- Digital orders minimize communication errors seen with phone or in-person orders, boosting customer satisfaction.
- Direct ordering platforms provide valuable customer insights for targeted marketing and personalized promotions.
- Mobile-friendly online systems offer smooth user experiences, boosting order frequency and customer satisfaction.
- Integrated loyalty programs and targeted promotions turn one-time buyers into loyal, repeat customers.
Imagine it’s a busy Friday evening. Your restaurant is full, phones are ringing, and staff are scrambling to keep up.
Now picture this: alongside the packed dining room, your custom online ordering system is quietly taking orders—error-free, payment-secured, and already queued for the kitchen.
No missed calls, no order mix-ups, just seamless service.
In this article, we’ll explore 11 advantages of having an online restaurant ordering system and how it can help your restaurant grow, increase revenue, and keep customers coming back.
What Does Online Ordering Mean For Your Restaurant?
Online ordering is no longer just an add-on; it’s a core part of restaurants’ operations.
Takeout and delivery now make up almost 60% of all restaurant orders, showing that these off-premise sales are becoming a major part of the restaurant business.
6 out of every 10 restaurant orders now come from takeout or delivery.
Source: Nation’s Restaurant News
Here’s why more restaurant owners are prioritizing it:
- Customers Expect Convenience: Today’s diners don’t want to pick up the phone or wait in line; they want quick, touch-friendly access to your menu from wherever they are.
- Increased Order Accuracy: With digital orders, customers input their preferences directly. This means fewer misunderstandings and a more satisfied customer base.
- Revenue Beyond Your Walls: Your dining room may seat 50 people, but an online ordering system has no limits. You can serve hundreds of customers from their homes with zero additional overhead.
By adopting online ordering, you can handle more orders with the same team, enhance the guest experience, and ensure your restaurant is equipped for the future.
Also, read:
- How to Increase Restaurant Sales With Online Ordering
- How To Get More Online Orders & Manage Them Efficiently For Restaurants
- Online Ordering Systems in Restaurants: How Do They Work?
- Building a Stellar Online Presence: Key Features for Your Restaurant’s Website
Advantage 1: Boosts Revenue and Increases Average Order Size
When customers browse your menu online, they have more time to make thoughtful decisions, leading to larger orders.
Without the pressure of a line or a rushed phone conversation, diners are likelier to add that extra appetizer, dessert, or drink.
Why It Works:
- Visual Temptation: Online menus can showcase high-quality images of your dishes, enticing customers to try new items or add extras.
- No Rush: Customers have the flexibility to take their time and explore, often resulting in upselling opportunities that might not happen during an in-person or phone order.
Key Insight: 20% of consumers say they spend more on off-premise orders compared to a regular dine-in experience.
Also, 34% of consumers report spending an average of $50 when ordering food online.
Source: SaveMyCent
Quick Tip: Highlight your best-selling items and popular add-ons on your online menu to encourage higher spending. Think of combo deals, featured dishes, or limited-time specials that customers won’t want to miss.
Advantage 2: Enhanced Brand Control and Customization
Your restaurant’s brand is more than just a logo—it’s an experience.
With an in-house online food ordering system, such as Orders.co’s, you can maintain complete control over how your restaurant is presented to customers.
You can display your restaurant’s logo, well-described menu, and other unique features and create an online presence that mirrors your unique atmosphere and style.
Why This Matters:
- Consistent Branding: Personalize your online menu, color scheme, and layout with our range of stylish templates. Our team will upload your logo and menu photos, creating a seamless experience that reflects your brand and keeps it top-of-mind for your customers.
- Tailored User Experience: The platform allows you to design your online site with features that suit your needs, such as showcasing popular dishes, special promotions, or loyalty programs that keep customers coming back. Orders.co also integrates secure payment systems, ensuring a smooth, trustworthy checkout process for your guests.
Quick Tip: Use Orders.co’s built-in marketing solutions to promote exclusive online deals or new menu items directly to customers. Incorporate special promotions via SMS & Email promotions, encouraging them to take advantage of limited-time offers or loyalty rewards.
Advantage 3: Improved Order Accuracy and Fewer Mistakes
One of the most common challenges with phone or in-person orders is miscommunication, leading to frustrated customers and wasted resources.
With a digital ordering system, these issues are significantly reduced. Pizza chains report that they have seen an 18% increase in customer spending from online/mobile orders vs. phone orders.
Orders.co’s platform ensures customers can input their preferences, special requests, or allergy information directly, leaving no room for error.
Why This Matters:
- Clear Customer Input: Customers have full control over customization when they place orders, ensuring that special requests and modifications are captured accurately.
- Streamlined Process for Staff: Instead of manually taking notes or deciphering phone orders during busy shifts, they can focus on food preparation using precise, printed, or digital order tickets generated by the system.
This enhances customer satisfaction and boosts overall efficiency, helping your staff work smarter and faster during peak times.
Advantage 4: Full Control Over Profits
An often overlooked benefit of using an in-house ordering system is the ability to keep more of your earnings.
Although Working with a third-party delivery service raises restaurant sales volume by 10 to 20%, an in-house food ordering system helps you to keep the order profits by 100%, boosting your bottom line without the additional costs.
Why This Matters:
- No Commission Fees: When you process orders through a custom-built platform, you eliminate the need for third-party aggregators and their steep service charges.
- Revenue Consistency: Knowing that every dollar from direct orders goes back into your business allows for better financial planning and sustainable growth.
Quick Tip: Promote your commission-free website by encouraging customers to order directly with incentives like a small discount or loyalty points, maximizing the use of your in-house system.
Advantage 5: Valuable Customer Data Collection
One of the most powerful benefits of an in-house online ordering system is the access to customer data.
When customers place orders through third-party apps, those platforms keep the data, limiting your ability to understand and connect with your customer base.
With a direct ordering website, you retain full access to valuable customer information such as contact details, order history, and preferences.
Why This Matters:
- Personalized Marketing: Use data insights to run targeted promotions, send personalized offers, and create loyalty programs that resonate with your audience.
- Informed Decisions: Analyze ordering trends to refine your menu, introduce popular items, and predict peak times for staffing and inventory management.
Example: Domino’s Pizza, one of the largest pizza chains in the world, integrated online delivery in 2007, which helped them collect consumer data and see their preferences, demographics, and other characteristics, helping them to make data-driven decisions.
“We have the ability to not only look at a consumer as an individual and assess their buying patterns, but also look at the multiple consumers residing within a household, understand who is the dominant buyer, who reacts to our coupons, and, foremost, understand how they react to the channel that they’re coming to us on.”
— Dan Djuric, Vice president of enterprise information services at Domino’s
Quick Tip: Use Orders.co’s built-in reporting tools to track and visualize key data, enabling you to make smarter, data-driven decisions. You can also generate custom reports segmented by location, brand, timeframe, items, and more for deeper insights.
Advantage 6: Streamlined Operations and Staff Efficiency
Managing phone calls and manually inputting orders can slow down your workflow and cause disruptions during peak times.
An online ordering system helps streamline operations by automating the order process, freeing up staff to focus on preparing food and providing excellent customer service.
Orders.co’s platform ensures that orders go directly to your kitchen or POS system, minimizing the risk of bottlenecks.
Why This Matters:
- Reduced Manual Work: Staff no longer need to split their focus between answering phones and assisting dine-in customers, leading to faster and more accurate service.
- Simplified Order Management: Orders are displayed in an organized, easy-to-read format, making it simple for kitchen staff to manage and fulfill them efficiently.
Use the platform’s features like automated notifications to alert staff when a new order arrives, ensuring no order is missed, even during busy shifts.
Advantage 7: Increased Reach and Accessibility
An online ordering system opens the doors to a wider customer base than just those who visit your restaurant in person.
With it, you’re not limited by your seating capacity or store hours. Your restaurant becomes accessible to anyone with an internet connection, expanding your reach to new and existing customers alike.
Why This Matters:
- Serve More Customers: While your physical dining space might limit you to serving dozens at a time, an online platform allows you to reach hundreds simultaneously.
- Convenience for Customers: With a mobile-optimized system, customers can order from anywhere—whether they’re at home, at work, or on the go.
Quick Tip: Optimize your online presence by integrating local SEO tactics into your Orders.co website, making it easier for nearby customers to find and order from you.
Advantage 8: 24/7 Availability for Orders
Unlike phone orders or in-person visits, an online ordering system allows customers to place orders anytime, even when your restaurant is closed.
This means you can wake up to pre-scheduled orders ready to be prepared when you open, ensuring a seamless start to your day.
Why This Matters:
- More Sales Opportunities: Customers can order after-hours and schedule a pickup or delivery during your operating times, boosting overall sales (limited-time menus, such as breakfast or brunch, will be available only within specified hours).
- Better Workflow Planning: Pre-orders give you a heads-up on what to expect for the day, allowing your staff to prep efficiently and avoid last-minute rushes.
They could start their mornings with a clear plan, reducing stress for kitchen and front-of-house employees.
Advantage 9: Catering and Large Order Management
Handling large or complex orders over the phone can be time-consuming and prone to errors. An online ordering system simplifies this by allowing customers to place detailed, customized orders themselves, ensuring accuracy and saving your staff valuable time.
Whether it’s a catering request for an office event or a group order for a party, your system can handle it seamlessly.
Why This Matters:
- Efficient Order Handling: Customers can specify exact quantities, special requests, and delivery details without back-and-forth calls.
- Reduced Stress for Staff: Your kitchen team can prepare confidently and precisely with everything clearly outlined in the digital order.
Highlight your catering options to encourage more group orders, boosting your average ticket size and overall revenue.
Advantage 10: Enhanced Customer Convenience and Mobile Optimization
Customers expect ease and speed when ordering food, especially on their mobile devices. An online ordering system that is mobile-friendly ensures customers can place orders smoothly, whether they’re at home or on the move.
Orders.co offers a mobile-optimized design that makes browsing, selecting, and completing orders a seamless experience, a feature customers consistently praise in reviews for its ease and convenience.
Why This Matters:
- User-Friendly Experience: A well-designed mobile interface makes it simple for customers to explore your menu, customize their order, and check out without hassle.
- Improved Order Rates: Mobile convenience translates to more frequent and spontaneous orders from customers who value efficiency.
45% of consumers say they would use online ordering more often if mobile ordering or loyalty programs were available.
Source: Nation’s Restaurant News
Ensure your online menu is easy to navigate on all devices, with clear sections, item images, and intuitive buttons. This makes ordering more appealing to mobile users and boosts conversion rates.
Advantage 11: Building Long-Term Customer Loyalty
An effective online ordering system does more than just facilitate one-time purchases—it helps cultivate repeat business.
With Orders.co’s built-in loyalty programs and marketing tools, you can effortlessly reward customers for their continued support. Set them up once during onboarding, and they’ll continue to run hands-free, helping you build loyalty with minimal effort.
Offering points, discounts, or exclusive deals through your direct ordering site creates a personalized experience that makes customers feel valued and encouraged to return.
Why This Matters:
- Strengthened Customer Relationships: Loyalty programs and personalized promotions show that you appreciate your customers, turning occasional visitors into regulars.
- Higher Lifetime Value: Repeat customers bring in consistent revenue and often spend more per order than first-time buyers.
Quick Tip: Use customer data from your Orders. co system to segment your audience and send tailored promotions that cater to their preferences and order history.
Elevate Your Restaurant with Online Ordering
Integrating an online ordering system is not just an option—it’s a necessity for staying competitive.
The right platform does more than take orders; it enhances your brand, streamlines operations, and fosters lasting customer relationships.
Orders.co stands out as an all-in-one restaurant growth system, currently supporting thousands of restaurants across the U.S.
With Orders. co’s online ordering system, you can build a branded, user-friendly site tailored to your restaurant needs.
The integrated marketing solutions, PR, and SEO features ensure your restaurant ranks higher in local searches, attracts more direct traffic, and keeps customers engaged.
This seamless combination of tools empowers you as an individual restaurant brand and maximizes profit by keeping more of your revenue in-house.
Ready to take your restaurant to the next level?
Schedule a quick, free demo today to see how Orders.co can transform your restaurant’s online presence and fuel growth.
FAQs
What are the main advantages of online food ordering systems for my restaurant?
Online food ordering systems offer numerous benefits, including increased revenue, improved order accuracy, and streamlined operations. They help boost customer satisfaction, facilitate larger order sizes, and enhance brand control.
How does an online ordering system increase revenue for my restaurant?
One of the advantages of an online food ordering system is that it allows customers to take their time browsing the menu, leading to larger orders and upsell opportunities. This translates to higher average check sizes compared to phone orders.
Is a custom online ordering system better than using third-party platforms?
Yes, one of the key advantages of an online food ordering system you own is that you keep full profits without paying commission fees to third-party platforms. Plus, you have full control over customer data and brand representation.
How can I use customer data from an online ordering system to improve my restaurant’s marketing?
An in-house online food ordering system gives you access to customer insights like order history and preferences. This data can be leveraged for targeted promotions and personalized marketing strategies to boost customer loyalty and repeat business.
Does an online food ordering system improve customer satisfaction?
Yes, a major advantage of an online food ordering system is the reduction of errors in orders. Customers input their preferences directly, ensuring accuracy and faster service, which enhances overall satisfaction.
Why is mobile optimization important for an online ordering system?
A mobile-friendly platform ensures that customers can easily place orders from any device, increasing order frequency. Mobile optimization is one of the top advantages of online food ordering systems, as it caters to the growing trend of on-the-go users.
How do online food ordering systems support customer retention?
The integration of loyalty programs and data-driven promotions is a standout advantage of an online food ordering system. These features help you create personalized incentives, turning first-time buyers into repeat customers.
What kind of support does Orders.co provide for setting up an online ordering system?
Orders.co offers a comprehensive solution with marketing and SEO tools to support your restaurant’s growth. The system provides an all-in-one platform that includes order management, performance reports, and integrated loyalty programs to maximize the advantages of online food ordering systems.
Can online food ordering systems handle large or group orders efficiently?
Yes, handling detailed and complex orders is one of the operational advantages of an online food ordering system. Customers can specify their needs clearly, making it easier for restaurants to manage and prepare large or catering orders accurately.
How does using an online food ordering system impact my restaurant’s branding?
A custom system allows you to maintain a consistent brand experience. With features like tailored menu designs and personalized promotions, you can strengthen your brand presence, which is an often-overlooked advantage of online food ordering systems.
