News
Now Offering Online Order Capabilities for your Customers Ordering Take-Out or Delivery
Why Do You Need Online Ordering?
For customers who want restaurant quality cuisine but don’t feel like going out or just prefer to pick up take out, online ordering is a great option. If you have internet access you can place your order, confirm that your order is accurate and pay for your meal without having to talk to a single person. Some experts estimate that digital ordering on computers, tablets and smart phones is growing 300% faster than dine-in business. Doing commerce online is evolving to the point where younger generations prefer to order things on their smart phones rather than make an actual phone call to place an order. It is a trend that is undeniable, so the sooner you can adapt and accommodate the trend the better off you will be.
What Are Restaurants Doing?
There are several answers to this question, there are some that have no real online presence except maybe a Facebook page and obviously no online ordering capabilities and are processing take-out orders by incoming phone calls. There are others with Websites but no online ordering and again processing take-out orders via incoming phone calls. Then there are those that are utilizing third party vendors to facilitate online ordering. Third party vendors include GrubHub, Eat24, and ChowNow to name a few. Although the use of these third party vendors can extend the restaurant’s online reach it can be very costly and has some other unfavorable aspects. GrubHub charges an average of 13.5% commission on every order. Eat24 takes 12.5% of the restaurant’s net online sales. ChowNow charges $499 upfront plus a $99 per month fee.
Most online ordering vendors do not provide their restaurant clients access to the customer data they collect as consumers place orders through their respective platforms. This is a critical factor, because you are gaining exposure, however, you are not really increasing your customer base. You are only gaining exposure to the third party vendor’s customer base. Why is that important? Because you will continue to pay the high rates of commission on all orders even for repeat customers, so if a person orders once a week from you for a year through GrubHub, GrubHub continues to collect their commission on all those orders.
Maintenance of your menu items can be cumbersome with these third party vendors and some limit the number of changes you can make each month or charge extra for modifications.
A key factor to the success of any business is its brand. A restaurant’s brand is built on the quality of the food, service and overall guest experience. Your online ordering should be an extension of that brand. With the use of third party vendors a restaurant essentially gives up control of their brand. Most of these vendors state in their terms of service that they have full license to market and position their clients as they see fit. Except for a logo and a few photos, restaurants have very little say in how their restaurant is listed on their vendor’s platform.
What Can The Fax Doctor Do For Your Business?
The good news is no matter what your situation, The Fax Doctor can help. For those with essentially no online presence, we can design and host a website for you and integrate an online ordering function with the website.
For those that have an existing website, but are currently lacking the capability to take orders online, we can integrate an online ordering function with your existing website.
For those currently taking orders online using a third party vendor like GrubHub or Eat24, we believe we can still offer a valuable service. You may be very pleased with the additional business that you have recognized from these providers. However, we can provide you with an ordering function integrated with your website, you can direct the repeat customers to your own site and avoid paying the ongoing commission.
Check out a website that we implemented online ordering in June 2017 by clicking the link below. We hope we can assist your business take advantage of this rapidly growing trend in your industry. For a free consultation please call 856-854-2255 or 215-568-6664.
