With people from different parts of the world discouraged from going out, food deliveries are on the rise. Even before the pandemic, food delivery sales have already been growing, rising 20% higher while the overall volume of deliveries spiked to 10% over the last five years.
Third-party online ordering apps are thriving, helping restaurants gain exposure and reach new customers. As such, there’s no better time than now to offer online ordering.
But other than partnering with a third-party vendor, more technologies are available to help improve your restaurant’s customer service. You can implement any of them in your business through the aid of a top-rated restaurant IT services provider.
That said, here are the technologies you can adopt for your restaurant:
1. In-house Online Ordering System
While partnering with a third-party vendor is helpful, it can be more advantageous to offer an in-house online ordering system. That’s because relying on third parties take a portion of your revenue, affecting your profit and ultimately hurting your business.
Third parties ask for commissions, which grows as food orders increase. Hence, by letting them go and avoiding hefty commissions, your restaurant’s profitability can go up to 35% higher.
Furthermore, the majority of consumers prefer online ordering. Be that from a delivery app or an in-house menu; they find the process simpler and more convenient. It gives them real-time updates of food availability, resulting in higher satisfaction, as proven by positive reviews.
To convince you further that you need an in-house ordering system, 70% of consumers prefer it over a third-party app. They’d rather have their money go straight to the restaurant, rather than to a third-party company.
True enough, you’re losing more than you realize with a third-party vendor. Their average commission fees range from 15% to 35%, racking up your daily expenses. So if your monthly revenue is $1,000, you can lose $250 every month.
Therefore, eliminate this cost driver by offering an in-house online ordering and delivery system.
2. Mobile/Tablet POS Systems
Current POS systems may have the technology to improve customer retention. Still, if you want to reduce your upfront costs while optimizing the customer experience, you should invest in a mobile or tablet POS system.
As its name suggests, such as a POS system, you can operate from your smartphone or any mobile device. It has lower setup costs because you only need to download an app or work with your POS provider to install the system on your mobile devices.
That improves your customer service because you can process transactions quicker, and allow for paperless options, meaning you can issue email or text receipts. Also, customers can pay using your restaurant’s device from their tables.
3. Customer Relationship Management (CRM)
CRM tools allow you to record valuable customer information, such as the orders they make in your restaurant. That supports a rewards and loyalty program, where you can reward a customer for reaching a certain level of frequency in ordering a specific item.
CRM also lets you observe how well each of the items in your menu sells. If your waiters have a quota, the CRM tool will keep track of their sales goals. Moreover, it provides you a map of your customers’ journey, from their first contact up to the purchase. It lets you predict what they would order again when they return.
What’s more, since it records valuable information, you can send birthday greetings to your customers, prompting them to remember your restaurant and consider dining there on their special day.
With these exceptional technologies, you can expect a revenue surge in your restaurant business, driving it to expansion despite a pandemic. Your success can even be greater after the crisis, so invest in these technologies now to reap immense benefits later.