Restaurants are used to offer their customers menu choices about taking out and delivery services. An employee of the restaurant answers the order by phone and delivers it to the kitchen for preparation. When this order is completed, the customer is responsible for assuming responsibility in front of the restaurant. This ordering process is changing. Thanks to modern technology, more and more people order food and drinks online.
- Increase Sales
When it comes to food or picks up the phone, it is highly unlikely. The employee accepts the items ordered by the customer, specifies a delivery or pick-up time and ends the call before returning to the current order. When the call comes in for dinner, it can be difficult for the employee to perform multiple tasks without getting lost somewhere. An online food ordering system opens the window of opportunity for customers. Online ordering systems typically include an epos system for takeaways and deliveries order management, an ordering platform such as a website or an application, a payment processing mechanism, and a customer relationship management (CRM) system. As a result, restaurants can easily cater to the demands of customers, customise their menus to highlight special lists, and further increase sales Customers can take their time to view the list, see current promotions, and make additional selections beyond what they would typically call by phone. This results in a customer order, which translates into increased sales for the restaurant.
- Positive customer service
When placing an online order, a restaurant can prioritize customer service. Customers who prefer speaking to a real person when ordering no longer need to deal with busy phone lines or wait in queues until an employee takes their order. Certainly, customers who order online want their food to be in a take-out box or in a delivery bag to match the order placed online. Therefore, restaurant staff should be well equipped to communicate clearly through fewer calls when trying to greet customers online. Additionally, they must be able to perform different tasks such as registering complaints and handling other needs even during heavy traffic. Clearly, if the existing employees fail to meet and greet these demands, the shortcomings may soon start affecting the success of the restaurant. That said, a better decision would be to hire a professional team that can handle the process of assisting customers virtually. The additional advantages of employing a virtual executive assistant is that they can be highly skilled, pre-trained, and can match the needs of a restaurant business better. One may avail such services through reputable companies such as My Mountain Mover or similar ones. Nonetheless, this can save the business time and money as compared to hiring an in-house executive assistant and may be effective in addressing the challenges posed by heavy traffic.
Speaking of the challenges posed by high traffic volumes on their online ordering portals, restaurants can turn to advanced solutions like load balancer. This strategic investment can play a pivotal role in maintaining the stability of the websites during peak usage periods, thereby delivering an uninterrupted and smooth online ordering experience for customers.
- Higher order accuracy
If restaurants get takeaway orders or phone orders, something may be wrong. These errors can include anything from a verbal misunderstanding if there is a language barrier, to a lack of communication of a customer’s made changes to a menu item. As a result, the kitchen prepares an order that disappoints the customer during the reception. The kitchen staff must now work to correct the mistake and continue the preparation for the second time.
Online orders eliminate familiar sources of errors such as language barriers or customer or misunderstandings. Customers can edit the item in the comments box, which is part of the online order form. This also eliminates discrepancies in the manuscript.
