Many restaurant operators were forced to implement online ordering solutions on the fly during the pandemic, and now, they are rethinking how to optimize these services for the future.
Research from DoorDash shows that online ordering has become an integral aspect of doing business, as consumers appreciate the convenience of being able to order food whenever and however they choose, whether it’s for dine-in, takeout or delivery.
In this environment, having the right systems in place to gather and fulfill online orders is critical. Operators can follow these three tips to ensure they are getting the most sales and profitability out of their online ordering systems.
- Customize ordering platforms to match the concept’s branding.
Customers view a restaurant’s digital presence as an extension of the brand, so a restaurant’s website and mobile app should reflect the concept’s personality and tone, including logos, color scheme, images and verbiage. Customers should be able to recognize the food and branding immediately when they visit a restaurant’s website.
Another critical component for the design of your website and mobile app is a prominently placed “Order Online” button. Restaurants that fail to incorporate this feature could miss out on sales from consumers looking for quick and convenient meal solution. The same is true for the restaurant’s mobile app.
- Select a platform that integrates with existing technologies.
Digital ordering platforms should not only provide a great experience for customers, but also for staff. These systems should seamlessly integrate with restaurants’ existing technologies, including POS systems, middleware and other essential components of operations.
With labor shortages posing considerable challenges for operators in today’s environment, it’s important that any new systems be easy to use and minimize training requirements. Online ordering platforms such as DoorDash Storefront make it simple to connect the ordering solution to many common POS systems, and DoorDash’s onboarding team can provide support if needed.
- Leverage social media to drive online orders.
Social media has become much more than a platform for sharing photos and memes—it’s an important tool for restaurants to have in their marketing and e-commerce portfolios.
Drive online orders by changing the link in the restaurant’s Instagram bio to go directly to the online ordering platform, for example. Customers searching on social media sites such as Instagram and Facebook can easily navigate to a restaurant’s ordering platform if the restaurants has integrated its social media accounts with DoorDash Storefront online ordering system.
In addition, update the restaurant’s Google My Business profile to have an “Order Online” link that goes directly to the restaurant’s own ordering system, rather than to that of a third-party, to optimize the profitability of orders placed by customers who found the restaurant via search. One restaurant, The Port of Peri Peri, reported a $4,000 increase in weekly sales after adding a Storefront link to its Google My Business profile, according to DoorDash.
Visit DoorDash today to see how to quickly and easily create an online ordering platform.
This post is sponsored by DoorDash