- How Online Orders Can Increase Restaurant Profits
- Why Partnering With Multiple Third-Party Delivery Apps Is Crucial
- How To Get More Online Orders From Third-Party Platforms
- How To Efficiently Manage And Prepare For Online Orders
- Tips On Reducing Food Waste Due To Online Orders
- Easily Manage Your Restaurant’s Online Orders From One Platform With Orders.co
Getting more orders from customers is the primary goal of any restaurant offering online food ordering and delivery options.
It provides an opportunity to increase sales and helps build a strong rapport with customers.
Online ordering and delivery have grown 300% faster than dine-in traffic since 2014.
Additionally, the U.S. online food delivery market is projected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 9.76% from 2024 to 2029.
However, due to inefficient restaurant order management, even the best restaurants sometimes struggle to get online orders or manage them effectively.
Addressing these challenges is crucial to fully leveraging the potential of online ordering.
How Online Orders Can Increase Restaurant Profits
Online orders can significantly boost a restaurant’s profitability by expanding its customer reach and increasing order volume.
They often lead to higher average order values through upselling features and reduce labor costs by streamlining the order process.
Additionally, online orders provide valuable data on customer preferences, enabling targeted marketing and menu improvements.
The convenience of 24/7 ordering caters to demand beyond regular hours while also lowering overhead costs, especially for ghost kitchens.
Lastly, integrated marketing tools and loyalty programs further enhance customer engagement and drive sales, making online orders a key factor in increasing profitability.
Why Partnering With Multiple Third-Party Delivery Apps Is Crucial
If you want your potential customers to order from you, they need to know that you exist.
Make sure you know how to partner with food delivery apps and that your restaurant is listed on all of the major online ordering platforms, and promote your online ordering options on your restaurant’s website and social media.
Partnering with different third-party delivery apps offers several benefits that can significantly enhance your restaurant’s online ordering capabilities:
Increased Visibility: Each delivery app has a unique user base, so by partnering with multiple platforms, your restaurant gains exposure to a wider audience.
This expanded reach helps new customers discover your restaurant, increasing brand awareness and market presence.
Higher Sales Potential: Listing your restaurant on multiple delivery platforms can significantly boost your sales potential.
By being accessible through various apps, you can capture a larger volume of orders, increasing your overall revenue.
Access to Promotional Tools: Each platform offers unique promotional opportunities such as discounts, featured listings, and loyalty programs. Leveraging these can boost your restaurant’s visibility and attract more orders.
Reduced Dependency: Relying on a single delivery platform can be risky if there are changes in policies, fees, or service quality. Diversifying across multiple platforms reduces this risk and ensures a steadier flow of orders.
How To Get More Online Orders From Third-Party Platforms
Here are some helpful tips to get more online orders from third-party delivery platforms:
Use High-Quality Photos and Descriptions
Customers often decide what to order based on how appetizing the food looks. Invest in professional photography to showcase your dishes in the best light.
Each menu item should have a clear, mouth-watering photo and a detailed description highlighting key ingredients and flavors.
Consider adding videos that show dishes being prepared or plated to engage customers further and increase their interest.
Ensure Your Prices Are Competitive
Restaurant pricing is crucial. Research your local competitors to ensure your prices are competitive while still covering costs and maintaining profitability.
If your prices are too high, customers might choose a cheaper option, but if they’re too low, you could miss out on potential profits. Balance is key.
Additionally, consider offering special deals and discounts, such as first-time customer discounts or bundle offers.
Promotions like “Buy One, Get One Free” or discounts on specific days can attract more customers. Clearly display these deals on your online menu and through the platform’s promotional tools.
Optimize Your Menu for Delivery
Not all dishes travel well. Optimize your menu by focusing on items that maintain quality during delivery.
Offer a selection of popular and easy-to-prepare items, ensuring quick delivery times and consistent quality. Also, consider offering exclusive items or combos that are only available for delivery to entice customers to order online.
Engage with Customer Reviews and Feedback
Customer feedback on delivery platforms can influence new customers. Actively monitor and respond to reviews, thanking customers for positive feedback and addressing any issues raised in negative reviews.
This not only helps improve your service but also shows potential customers that you value their input and are committed to quality.
Leverage Analytics and Insights
Most delivery platforms provide analytics on customer behavior and sales trends. Use this data to refine your menu, adjust pricing, and identify peak ordering times. Tailor your marketing efforts based on these insights to better meet customer needs and preferences.
By following these tips, you can increase the number of online orders and ensure that your customers are happy with their experience.
How To Efficiently Manage And Prepare For Online Orders
When done right, online ordering can be a breeze. But if you’re not prepared for it, it can quickly become a nightmare. These tips will help you efficiently manage and prepare for online orders:
Create a Dedicated Online Ordering Area in Your Kitchen
If you want your kitchen staff to take online orders seriously, you must create a dedicated area for them to work. This can be a separate counter, prep area, or even a section of your existing counter. Effective restaurant order management starts with an organized space.
Ensure this area is well-stocked with all the supplies your staff will need to prepare orders, such as utensils, plates, and containers. It would be helpful if you also ensured that your staff is familiar with your online ordering system and knows how to use it.
Prepare Food in Advance
One of the biggest mistakes is to prepare each order as it comes in. This will easily lead to chaos in your kitchen and delays for your customers.
Instead, you should prepare food in advance. Cook extra portions of popular dishes and keep them stored in the fridge or freezer. Then, when an order comes in, you can quickly reheat and assemble the dish without having to cook it from scratch.
This will help keep your kitchen running smoothly and ensure your customers get their food as quickly as possible. Plus, it will also save you money in the long run, as you won’t be wasting food that’s not ordered.
Tips On Reducing Food Waste Due To Online Orders
Food waste is a common issue in the restaurant industry, but there are effective ways to minimize it:
- Know How Much Food to Order: Track your restaurant’s sales for a week or two to gauge the right amount of food to order, preventing excess.
- Plan Menus That Use All Ingredients: Design menus that incorporate ingredients across multiple dishes. For example, use leftover vegetables from a soup in a salad.
- Store Food Properly to Avoid Spoilage: Properly store food, keep track of expiration dates, and use older items first. Refrigerate or freeze perishable items and seal them well.
- Educate Staff on Proper Food Handling and Storage: Train staff on correct food handling, storage, and portion control to ensure they make the right amount of food for each dish.
- Implement a Recycling Program for Food Waste: Recycle food waste by composting, donating to food banks, or feeding animals to reduce environmental impact.
Easily Manage Your Restaurant’s Online Orders From One Platform With Orders.co
You already know the benefits of partnering with different delivery apps, but to manage all your orders efficiently, you need a strong, unified platform.
That’s where Orders.co comes in. Managing online orders across multiple platforms can be rewarding but also complex, especially when juggling different devices and ensuring consistency.
The constant switching between tablets to handle orders accurately and efficiently can overwhelm your staff, leading to potential errors and delays.
Currently, one of the most effective all-in-one solutions to consolidate your online orders from several platforms is a restaurant order management system.
Being one of the best restaurant order management systems , Orders.co integrates with all popular food delivery platforms such as Uber Eats, GrubHub, DoorDash, ezCater, and more to make your restaurant’s online ordering easy and manageable from a single device.
This restaurant order management system reduces the time spent switching between different tablets by consolidating orders in one place, eliminating errors, and making management stress-free.
In addition, with its AI-powered menu management options Orders.co helps restaurants optimize their menus from one device, create custom pricing for third-party marketplaces, change items anytime, and generate dish descriptions with the AI. Schedule a FREE DEMO to see how Orders.co can revolutionize your order management and drive your restaurant business forward.
