Online Ordering
April 27, 2024
In This Post
The way people order food has changed. In today’s fast-paced world, online ordering is essential.
Customers want convenience, and restaurants need efficient solutions to increase profits.
Online ordering system has become crucial for restaurants. It benefits both you and your customers by eliminating the hassle of phone calls and busy takeout counters.
Customers can browse menus, customize their orders, and schedule pick-ups at their convenience. This means happier customers and a more successful business.
With the entire menu available, customers are more likely to try new options, which boosts your revenue.
Are third party online ordering solutions worth it?
While third-party delivery apps have opened doors to a wider customer base for restaurants, they come with a set of hidden costs and drawbacks that can significantly impact your bottom line and control over your business.
Here are some of the reasons to consider:
These services take a hefty chunk of your profits, often ranging from 15% to 30% per order.
For restaurants with tight margins, this can be a major financial strain, especially on high-value orders.
Imagine a customer ordering a $50 steak – a 30% commission translates to a $15 loss for your restaurant.
You’ve crafted the perfect dish, but its quality deteriorates during delivery managed by a third party.
Late arrivals and lukewarm food can lead to unhappy customers and negative reviews that reflect poorly on your restaurant, even though the issue lies with the delivery service.
Customer data collected through third-party platforms often belongs to them, not you.
This valuable information about your customers’ preferences and ordering habits is locked away, hindering your ability to directly target and engage them with personalized promotions or loyalty programs.
Your restaurant’s unique identity can get lost in the shuffle.
Customers may associate their experience more with the delivery platform’s logo plastered on packaging and marketing materials, rather than your own brand.
Being listed on a third-party platform means competing with a sea of other restaurants in your area.
Standing out and attracting customers becomes a challenge, often requiring you to invest heavily in promotions and discounts offered through the platform, further squeezing your profit margins.
Customers ordering through a third-party app may prioritize convenience and deals offered by the platform over loyalty to your specific restaurant.
They might not even remember your restaurant’s name – just the platform they used to order.
The increased sales volume generated by third-party apps might seem attractive, but when you factor in the high commissions and other costs associated with these services, your overall profitability might actually decrease.
Carefully analyze the numbers to see if the additional sales outweigh the financial drawbacks.
Imagine a customer receives an incorrect order or experiences a food safety issue due to the delivery service’s negligence.
Even though you’re not directly responsible, your restaurant’s reputation takes a hit.
Managing orders across different third-party platforms can become a logistical nightmare.
Keeping track of orders, menus, and promotions on various apps can lead to errors and inefficiencies.
While third-party delivery apps offer undeniable convenience for both restaurants and customers, it’s crucial to weigh the benefits against the potential drawbacks.
By understanding these hidden costs and challenges, you can make informed decisions about whether these platforms align with your long-term business goals and profitability.
Consider going for your own online ordering service?
Your restaurant thrives with a single, powerful platform. There is no need to juggle different systems for POS and online ordering.
Why go through the trouble of updating two menus and managing orders for dine-in, takeaway, and delivery?
Choose a single solution that does it all.
Here’s where Vouch POS can tune it down for you. It offers a compelling alternative, letting you control your online ordering experience.
Keep your hard-earned profits intact.
With all tickets on one screen, your staff avoids the confusion of prioritizing orders.
Updating the menu becomes simple, as one menu works for both dine-in and online orders.
This allows your staff to focus on what matters most: cooking great food and serving customers. No more order mix-ups.
With the integrated loyalty program, customer preferences, trends and valuable insights can be gathered.
This can help you fine-tune your offerings, promotions, discounts and get more orders.
Online Ordering with Vouch POS
If you have already mapped the menu in the Vouch POS backend, you can use the same for online ordering as well.
Choose what works best for your online ordering needs with Vouch POS:
1. Choose between three layout to display menu items
2. Easily customize the theme color based on your logo.
3. Control everything right from:
- Geo-fencing
- The packaging charges
- Delivery charges
- Minimum Delivery Bill Amount
- Service Fee Applicable
- Website Loyalty Applicable
4. In terms of order taking as well, you can control everything right from auto-accept order and ability to take future orders.
5. Easily customize your order alerts on email as well as SMS.
6. Navigate your customer behavior and preferences with Google Analytics, Hotjar, Smartlook, and Google Tag Manager.
How does Vouch POS online ordering make it worth it for you?
Be in loop with your customer
It’s about understanding their ordering habits and preferences to provide a more personalized and ultimately more profitable experience.
Here’s how Vouch POS can help you track your customers:
Order History: Gain insights into what your customers typically order, how often they order, and their preferred pick-up or delivery times.
This allows you to identify loyal customers and tailor promotions or special offers to their preferences.
Purchase Behavior: Vouch POS can track what menu items are frequently ordered together.
This valuable data can help you identify upselling opportunities, suggesting complementary items that customers might enjoy with their usual order.
Best Selling Items: Learn which items are your best sellers and what is not working on your menu so you can improvise and leverage on what is working.
Understanding what your customers love (and what they don’t) allows you to continuously improve your online ordering system and menu offerings.
Your restaurant thrives with a single, powerful platform. There is no need to juggle different systems for POS and online ordering.
By effectively tracking your customers, Vouch POS empowers you to:
Increase Customer Loyalty: Personalized recommendations and targeted promotions based on their preferences can create a more satisfying experience, encouraging repeat business.
Boost Order Value: Upselling opportunities based on purchase behavior can increase the average order value, leading to higher revenue.
Stay Ahead of Trends: Tracking customer data allows you to identify popular menu items and adapt your offerings to cater to evolving customer preferences.
Vouch POS goes beyond just processing online orders – it equips you with the tools to truly understand your customer base and build stronger relationships, ultimately leading to a thriving online ordering business.
Track, analyze and grow your business
With the online presence of your website, you would naturally want to learn more about the behavior of the customers while on the website so you can refine your offerings.
Vouch POS offers you the ability to use Google Analytics and Techtrack to analyze your website traffic and use behavior
How does Google Analytics help?
It gives you hands-on details right from website visits, page views, user demographics, traffic sources (e.g., organic search, social media), user engagement metrics (time spent on page, bounce rate), and conversion tracking.
This gives the restaurants a broad view of your online presence, understanding where customers are coming from, what content resonates, and how effectively your website drives online ordering.
Most importantly, you will easily be able to track the usage of payment modes via online ordering be it cash, card or gift cards. That way, you can know what is working best for your restaurant and leverage it accordingly.
Hotjar- Heatmap Analytics
In the world of online ordering, understanding how customers interact with your website is crucial. Here’s where Hotjar comes in.
Unlike Google Analytics or Techtrack, which focus on data and numbers, Hotjar provides a visual understanding of user behavior on your restaurant’s online ordering platform.
Heatmaps: Hotjar generates visual heat maps that show exactly where users click on your online ordering page.
This helps you identify areas that are getting a lot of attention (like popular menu items) or areas that might be confusing (like unclear buttons).
Session Recordings: Watch actual recordings of how customers navigate your online ordering process.
This allows you to see if they’re facing any difficulties, where they might be getting stuck, or if there’s a smoother way for them to complete their orders.
Surveys and Feedback: Hotjar lets you integrate short surveys and feedback forms directly into the online ordering process.
This allows you to gather direct feedback from customers about their experience, pinpointing areas for improvement and identifying what they love about your online ordering system.
Optimize Your Ordering Flow: By seeing how customers interact with your online ordering platform, you can identify and eliminate any roadblocks in the process, leading to a smoother and faster experience.
Boost Conversion Rates: By understanding what users are drawn to and where they might be getting confused, you can optimize your website to encourage more online orders.
Improve Customer Satisfaction: By addressing any pain points in the online ordering process and understanding what your customers value, you can create a more user-friendly and satisfying experience, leading to repeat business.
While Vouch POS streamlines online ordering and analytics tools provide data insights, Hotjar offers a visual perspective, allowing you to see exactly how customers interact with your online ordering system.
This combined knowledge enables you to create a truly optimized and user-friendly online ordering experience for your restaurant.
On a final note
The landscape of online ordering has shifted. While third-party apps offer convenience, they come with hidden costs that eat into your profits and limit your control over the customer experience.
Vouch POS offers a smarter solution, empowering you to take control of your online ordering and unlock its true potential for your restaurant’s success.
We equip you with the tools to not just process online orders, but to truly understand and connect with your customer base. This translates to a thriving online ordering business and a loyal customer following.
Don’t wait! See how Vouch POS can help your restaurant thrive in the competitive world of online ordering.
Setup a quick call with us at info@vouchpos.com to give your business another push with our revenue driving online ordering system.
Smit Nebhwani is a tech entrepreneur with expertise in successfully building SAAS based products. Boasting over a decade of experience in the startup sector, he takes pleasure in sharing valuable insights on all facets of SAAS products. His extensive experience in the digital signage sector has established him as a reputable authority in the industry, and he channels this expertise through some valuable content. In his free time, Smit enjoys music, travelling and spending time with his family.
- 1. Run Your Business
- 2. Quick Service Restaurants
- 3. Full Service Restaurants
- 4. Marketing
