As a fourth-generation restaurateur of Canter’s Deli in Los Angeles, we spent thousands of hours researching and testing new ways to make online ordering successful. As a result, over the past two years, we’ve managed to grow online ordering to over 30% of our business!
Think BIG!
When exploring growing your online strategy, it’s important to consider using multiple online ordering services. Some services excel in specific geographies or locations. Others specialize in niches like catering and special dietary concerns. Some will be willing to negotiate favorable rates. Some online ordering services may be willing to offer valuable promotional services and perks. The largest services may have the biggest reach to potential customers but you may be competing for more for access to those customers.
Do your Homework.
Deciding which services to use does require research, some negotiation, and upkeep as third-party Online Ordering Services are constantly rolling out new territories and features. Also, don’t forget that online ordering services invest money to reach new potential customers for you and the potential lifetime value of those new customers may be tremendous — so you need to understand how each service will market and promote your restaurant.
Layer multiple services.
The bottom line is that the best strategy is almost always layering multiple online ordering services. It allows you to extend your visibility and reach to potential new customers; it gives you more leverage to negotiate the best deals with services, and it hedges your risk should one or more services not work out. Even if an online ordering company is only sending a few orders a week to your restaurant, that is new orders you would not have received without it. Those few orders a week can add up to thousands of dollars in additional revenue per year.
At the end of the day whether your a small single location or a large franchise online ordering services can drive substantial new revenue streams, but they do present new operational challenges Ordermark grew up in the kitchen and we’ve spent years creating tools and expertise to help meet these new challenges. If you’re looking for help navigating your first dive into online ordering or are already in the thick of things and want help managing all these services drop us a line we’d be happy to help.
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