Why Your Restaurant Needs To Have Mobile Ordering

Do you remember how much of a hassle it was just to order a takeaway when you were younger? Your parents rifling through the ‘miscellaneous’ drawer in your kitchen for the right menu, which turns out to be five years old with an outdated phone number advertised? Your family shouting orders at the same time in your ear as you try to talk to the poor waitress in the busy restaurant on the other end?

Reflect on that memory and think about how much easier it is to order food for collection and delivery now. Being able to simply pass your phone around the room for everybody’s order is just quicker, easier and less of a stress. Why would your customers bother to call your restaurant when in two clicks they can have another restaurant’s menu to pick and choose from on their mobile.

In today’s mobile-driven society, users expect more from their phones; they want services on-demand. With apps such as Just Eat, Hungry House and Deliveroo, mobile phones are driving the industry.

Although these apps are great, restaurants might not gain loyal customers from using them.
“Where did you get this pizza from?”
“Oh, I got it from some restaurant on Just-Eat.”

If your restaurant has its own app, you can have more of an interaction with your customers, gain loyalty and use feedback to adapt your app around them. You can also use app loyalty cards to encourage online ordering and send push notifications to announce offers on their favourite items.

Having the ability to order food you love at the touch of a button without having to move out of your chair is a great motivation to do so; knowing you have your favourite restaurant’s app on your phone with your payment details all set up will make it seem easy and carefree, therefore encouraging consumers to order.

Mobile payment is also becoming increasingly popular in restaurants. With your own mobile app, a customer who is in a rush on their lunch break can pre-order and pre-pay for their meal without risk of getting caught up in the lunchtime rush of your restaurant, ensuring no payment tension at the end of the meal.

Just the option of mobile payment may result in your customer feeling more in control of their dining experience; not having to rely on a waiter finding time to bring a card machine or waiting for them to get the change from a cash payment could save a lot of time. Hassle-free, that’s the basis of it.

Although you cannot beat great customer service from a waiter or manager, we have to point out that the restaurant industry is very labour demanding; mobile ordering and payments help to boost efficiency in restaurants. As sales rise, labour percentages aren’t as daunting as before. You are literally boosting sales, with no need for more staff. You’ll save labour costs for those many long order phone calls too.

With the customer being in control, you also reduce the possibility of mistakes to their order. Inside your restaurant, there is a possibility a waiter could misunderstand or mishear a customer’s order; this risk is eliminated when the customer themselves make the order directly, therefore no more disagreements or ‘apologies for the mix-up’s.

If there is an item on your menu that is out of stock, it’s easier to change the item to unavailable on an app than to change it on the physical menu that a customer has in their kitchen drawer. Therefore, again, reducing customer complaints and disappointment.

Mobile apps, ordering and payments makes the lives of your customers easier, whilst subsequently making your life easier as a merchant; so why haven’t you got one yet?

To find out how Eazi-Apps can help your business take advantage of mobile ordering, contact us today.