The reality is that things have changed in the restaurant industry. In 2024, ordering and delivery platforms have essentially taken over the market, with more and more customers choosing to have delicious food right to their door via online ordering. According to a 2023 report by the NPD Group, a leading provider of market research in the food service industry, online ordering now represents 27% of all restaurant orders in the United States. If restaurants want to survive in this new environment, they need to adapt and use methods that will allow them to succeed in ordering and delivery.
Optimizing Your Online Presence
Your online profile is the ‘shop window’ of your restaurant today. Here’s how to make the most of your profiles on ordering and delivery platforms:
Accurate and current information: Your restaurant name, address, phone number, operating hours, and cuisine type should be up-to-date at all times on all of the ordering websites. For example, if the name of the restaurant that you posted has extra spaces, many customers would call an incorrect phone number, get very frustrated, and cancel the order immediately.
Drool-worthy Dish Photos: The importance of high-quality food photos cannot be overstated. Focus on illuminating your dishes using professional food photography or a food-obsessed member of your staff. Create dishes that will provoke full sets of drool when customers get to feast their eyes on these images. Customers shouldn’t order your food exclusively based on the fantastic description on the menu. The ambiance of your restaurant also plays a crucial role in their decision-making process. And don’t underestimate the power of that opinion piece published by the food critic from the local newspaper.
Unabridged Menu: While writing with brevity is important, ensure your menu remains unabridged. The customers shouldn’t have to request a copy rather than receive the entire menu upon seating. The more information available to your customers, the better. This means listing ingredients and even allergens for each dish. Other critical information, such as the type of utensils offered (knives and forks, chopsticks, or a spork) and the opportunity to provide feedback, should also be emphasized.
Menu Mistakes: Make sure your grammar is proper, and your punctuation is in check, so you don’t end up with a menu that sounds like “A menu with several items, including a shrimp platter, atopic Miglet Donettes surprise — in a most pleasing matter.” Check out the first blog in this series: How to Design Your Restaurant’s Customer Service Flow.
User-Friendly Menus: Your online menu should be easy to browse and understand. Make sure all food descriptions are clear, flag your best sellers, and price all items accurately. Don’t complicate your online menu with too many selections, as this can be confusing to customers and slow them down when placing orders.
Delivery Strategies
When it comes to ordering and delivery, restaurants have several options to consider:
Third-Party Delivery Services: Door Dash, Uber Eats, Grubhub, and other delivery apps provide a long reach and a large customer base, but commission is usually deducted from each order, significantly affecting your profits. (Check out our full blog post on the pros and cons of using third-party delivery apps for restaurants.)
Providing In-House Delivery: It allows you to have more control over the delivery time and customer experience, but it’s also an extra investment in staffing and logistics
Hybrid Approach: A hybrid model often proves successful for many restaurants, analogous to dual citizenship, as they use third-party platforms for wider reach and in-house delivery for closer relationships with customers and the ability (potentially) to retain higher profit margins on those orders.
Enhancing the Customer Experience:
From a customer’s perspective, the online ordering and delivery experience should go without a hitch. This is important in securing repeat business. To ensure a smooth experience, have a look at the following areas:
Clear Ordering Instructions
Express the ordering and delivery model in a way that makes ordering intuitive and easy for your customers. Describe the ordering process step by step (e.g., selecting menu items, customizing options, choosing delivery time and location) to maximize the chance of customers placing an order.
Real-time order tracking
Providing customers with details regarding their order is the minimum you should offer. Implement a system that allows orders to be tracked in real time so that customers can follow their orders from the point of purchase to the time they open their packages.
Customer Expectations
Provide clear target dates for shipment delivery times. Customers mostly grumble about late shipments rather than long waits for products. Since the shipment of goods you sell has a business impact on you, it is better to ensure that the delivery time expectation is set up well. Our blog post can provide guidance information on instant fish bowl fish photos, creating customer-centric online ordering and delivery.
Presentation: Presentation is key, so try to find great packaging to ensure that food stays fresh, spill-free, and comes to the customer as incredible as it left the kitchen.
Conclusion
Embracing the Ordering and Delivery revolution is no longer just a nice-to-have; it’s becoming imperative for restaurant survival in 2024 and beyond. By increasing your net present value overall, optimizing your online ordering presence, and refining your strategy around delivery and takeout, while prioritizing customer experience, you’ll be well on your way to helping your restaurant thrive in this evolving market of smart economic behavior. May the fan be with you! Let us start experimenting and track our results to improve continuously while creating less waste and making more friends. For further assistance or to explore tailored solutions, contact us today!
