Benefits of Online Ordering For Restaurants You Should Know

This is the era where pretty much everyone has a smartphone on their hand with an internet connection. With the rapid increase of the usage of smart devices, especially the internet, everyone is accustomed to leading a life in the online world. An online world where everyone is creating their presence. As an online presence brings countless advantages.

For restaurant business online presence is becoming a must have as it increases revenue and also helps reach more people. It brings new customers. Customers who would never know your restaurant existed. Online ordering system is a way to create a strong online presence. 

Online ordering system has a lot of benefits. First and most important one is not just creating an online presence. But giving facility to your customers to place orders online.

What is Online Food Ordering System?

An online food ordering system is a facility provided by a restaurant where customers can place their desired food orders from anywhere without even visiting the restaurant. They can simply place their order online. From their home, office, hospital or even a park. No matter where they are, they can place an order and by the time they arrive in the restaurant, the food will be ready to serve or take away.

Some restaurants even provide delivery service along with an online ordering facility. Some restaurants don’t. If restaurants provide both online ordering and home delivery service, it increases a large number of sales. Restaurants do have to spend a lot of money to bring these facilities in their restaurants. But the outcome is way bigger than what they had to spend.

An online ordering system is quick and simple, and it allows both you and your customers more control over everything related to placing an online order with minimal mistakes.

An Online Ordering System Vs Food Portals

Some restaurants opt to provide online ordering to their clients via a food portal. They believe that providing an online ordering service through a third party food portal will cost them less money.

The truth is that restaurants are receiving more orders by offering online ordering systems to their clients via food portals. Restaurants, on the other hand, are losing a lot of money that they are gladly giving away to a third-party food portal. If restaurants had their own online ordering system, they could have added that money to their revenue. 

Benefits Of Online Ordering For Restaurants

In the last decade, like everything else, the restaurant business also changed a lot. Some of these changes are brought about by customer demand. Some changes were brought to stay ahead from the competitors.

Restaurants were meant to be a place where people come to have food and enjoy their meal and then leave. But nowadays customers prefer to satiate their cravings in their very own comfortable pajamas. This is the reason restaurants are now offering their customers a new facility. Which is an online ordering facility. 

This facility is now becoming a must have for restaurants as customers are preferring to place online orders more and the ratio of online order is getting higher and higher everyday.

If you don’t have an online ordering system in your restaurants then check out our list of benefits of online ordering for restaurants. It will help you understand why online ordering is better and the value of having your own online ordering system.

Benefits of online ordering for restaurants are:

• Automation

Automation is a fantastic feature of online ordering. When you have an online ordering system in your restaurant you can enjoy the benefits of the latest technology. You don’t need any extra employee for answering phone calls of customers who want to order online. Instead customers can order in the online ordering system. And you can save money by reducing employee costs.  

Also when your employee is taking an order another customer is trying to make an order and finding the line is busy. So the customer called another restaurant to place an order and you lost a sale. These problems can be avoided when you have an in-house online ordering system.

• Better Customer Experience

With no doubt, your customers can get a better food ordering experience when your restaurant has an online food ordering system rather than a food portal. Whenever your customers feel like ordering food they will simply place an order with a couple of clicks. 

When you are not using a food portal but your own food ordering system to provide your customers online ordering facility. You can customize the whole process as you please. You have the power to make the process a lot easier. People have the tendency to place an order if the ordering process is easier.

You can customize everything. You can even add pictures of food on the menu. You can share the list of ingredients you are using. Sharing ingredients will help customers decide what they want to order better. Customers can check and see if the food contains any ingredients which the customer is allergic to.

All these facilities will give your customers a better experience of ordering food online.

• More Time To Peruse The Menu

When a guest or customer visits a restaurant for a meal, they occupy a seat or table. Many eateries have a long line of people waiting outside on occasion. So, restaurant staff have to ask guests who are eating to hurry up. That's why they feel rushed to place an order, eat, and clear the table for the next customer as soon as possible. As a result, clients don't have much time to peruse through the menu's details.

But when a customer is placing an order online, they can take their time as much as they please. Online ordering system allows you to add a lot of details about each item. Like, image and ingredients and many more. Which you can’t do on a traditional menu. Customers may explore and choose what they wish to order at their leisure. They are not rushed. 

• Better Menu Customization

You can face a situation when your supplies run out and you can’t restock them immediately. When you have an online ordering system, you can simply remove that item from the menu till you restock your supplies. An online ordering system allows you to have so much control over your restaurant menu. Benefits of online food ordering system are countless. 

• Well Organized Restaurant Operation

When you have your own online ordering system then your restaurant employees can concentrate on the core business functions, such as cooking. Restaurant operations will be more organized than before. As your staff don’t have to spend time on answering phone calls.

• Increase Order Rate

Online ordering systems significantly boost transaction volume. People sometimes crave food from their favorite restaurant but do not feel like going out. Maybe they're sick, or maybe the weather's awful, or maybe they're simply lazy.  People do place orders, when there is an online ordering system. Because you are going to deliver food to their doorstep. 

Simply calculate how many orders you would have missed if you did not have an online ordering system. Online ordering system increases your transactions. 

• Accurate Large Order

Customers prefer to avoid making large orders over the phone since several misunderstandings might happen. With an online ordering system you can take large orders from your customers without any confusion. 

• Less Mistake

Restaurant is a very busy place. Every minute there is a new order. Any order might be overlooked by your staff. Or the person in charge may overlook a minor detail. However, this might be a big reason for your consumers' dissatisfaction. 

You can help your team avoid making mistakes like these, when you have an online ordering system. Every detail will be kept in the system, eliminating the possibility of an employee overlooking something. There will be no errors, and clients will receive just what they desire.

• Less Order Cancellation

An online ordering system can help you deliver orders on time. Which is the reason your customers don't have to wait for a really long time and cancel orders out of frustration.

An online ordering system can help you see which customer ordered first and how long the customer is waiting for their food. You can keep track of both who ordered first and how long your customer is waiting. You can work according to this report and ensure your customer satisfaction.

• No Scam Order

A client making an order over the phone and not responding afterwards is a big problem that almost every eatery experiences. The ordered item is cooked and ready to be delivered, but the client does not receive it. When you try to contact your consumer, he or she does not answer the phone. You may even find that the phone number is unavailable.

Your kitchen staff, on the other hand, has already worked extremely hard to prepare that food, using ingredients that cost you money. Most importantly, your team spent valuable time preparing the food. Time is the most important asset in the restaurant business. As another customer was waiting for their food to be served while your kitchen staff was preparing the order from the scam call. Now it's all in vain.

But when you have an online ordering system these scams can be reduced. As you can track your customers' information on an online ordering system. You can also add a prepaid payment system where customers have to pay while ordering with mobile banking to reduce the scam. And you can ensure you get payment for your every order.

• Contactless System

In today’s world, consumers expect to be able to order food at the touch of a button. That’s why many restaurants now offer online ordering. Online ordering has become a part of many consumers’ lives. It has made many tasks faster and easier. With an online ordering system customers can place online orders and also pay through mobile banking or other digital payment systems. Which is the reason an online ordering system is completely a contactless system. According to a new survey, people prefer online ordering platforms because they avoid having to make personal contact. Especially after the pandemic people prefer contactless services over anything else.   

• Fast Delivery

One of the biggest advantages of online ordering is the ability to deliver food faster than traditional delivery services. This reduces the amount of time customers have to wait, which improves their experience and increases the likelihood that they will return. It also saves on staff time, which allows restaurants to increase the number of tables they can service.

• Serve More People

An online ordering system allows you to serve more people than your restaurant’s seating capacity. No matter how many people can dine in your restaurant, you can serve 100 to 200 hundred times more people at a time.

You don’t need to recruit more staff or rent a bigger space. All you need is an online ordering system.

• Honor Loyal Customer

Online ordering system keeps track of every customer. So it gives you information about every new and old customer. It also can give you the ordering history of every existing customer. Such as what items they parched before, what item they ordered multiple times, which item is their personal favorite, whether they canceled an order before etc.

You may evaluate your customers' order history to determine who your most loyal customers are. Then you may reward your regular customers with many exciting discounts and promotions. This will improve your relationship with your customers. They'll keep coming back.    

• Expense Tracking

An Online ordering system keeps track of every transaction of your daily sales. You don’t have to count every penny of your register but an online ordering system can work for you as an artificial accountant. And give you the overall report of your day to day transaction. 

• No Commission

With an in house online ordering system both you and your customers don’t need to pay any commissions. So you can save some expense and it is easy on the bill of your customers as well.  

• Profit Calculation

You may determine your spending based on the basic materials used in each meal, as well as other costs such as kitchen labor and delivery fees. An online ordering system can calculate your profit after deducting all expenses for each order. It may also show your annual profit for each day, week, month, and year.

• Safe

An online ordering system comes with an online payment system. So it makes sure you get payment for your every sale. This reduces the amount of fraud and theft and increases safety of your transactions.

• Be Trendy

The restaurant industry is one of the most competitive. As a result, everyone is doing their best to remain ahead of the competition. And we are living in an era of automation and digitization. What if your competition is aiming to keep ahead of you by being the most technologically advanced, but you are still wondering whether or not to implement new technology in your restaurant? Staying ahead of the competition is easier with an online ordering system.

So get an online ordering system for your restaurant and be trendy. An online ordering system is not just an advanced ordering facility for your customers but also a strong digital presence of your restaurant.

• 24/7 Marketing

An online ordering system strengthens your online presence. And having an online presence is a fantastic way of marketing your business. As an online presence ensures 24*7 marketing.

An online presence puts your restaurant in front of new potential customers who would never know it existed otherwise. It is like knocking on the doorsteps of your customers and introducing them to your restaurant.

When Did Online Ordering Became A Thing

During Covid-19 customers started to place online orders more than ever. Also it was the only source of income for most of the restaurants. But it’s true that even before the pandemic people used to place orders online at a large rate. Pandemic just boosted the growth of online ordering on a larger scale.

Even after pandemic people are still ordering food from online at a higher rate. Because in today's fast-paced world most people are lacking time. People who don't have the time or energy to prepare from their grandmother's recipe book can simply buy meals online and enjoy it.

Statistic Of Online Ordering

The worldwide online food delivery industry was worth $126.91 billion in 2021. Globally online food delivery services have grown by 67 percent, with the United States seeing the most growth at 123 percent. As a result, it is predicted to grow to $192.16 billion by 2025.

Looking at the above statistic one question arises, why online food delivery is popular? Simple answer to this question is millennials. The online ordering rate is skyrocketing every day thanks to millennials. Millennials tend to use their phone for almost everything. They make online orders because it’s just a few clicks away. 

Conclusion

When it comes to ordering food, many people prefer to do so in person. That’s especially true for the larger orders and for meals that require a certain level of personalization. But for those times when you don’t have the time to swing by a restaurant, ordering online can be a great alternative.

Over the past decade, the restaurant industry has experienced unprecedented growth. Many restaurants have turned to online ordering as a way to increase efficiency and keep their customers happy. Online ordering has many benefits for restaurants, such as saving time and money on labor, while still delivering the same great experience that customers have come to expect. The biggest benefit of online ordering is the ability to keep customers happy. By offering online ordering, restaurants are able to stay open later and serve more of their customers.