Are you still wondering whether it's worth implementing online ordering in your restaurant? Trust the figures! By 2024, home orders in France will represent sales of 10.3 billion euros, according to a study by Food Service Vision. 46% of consumers now order online(Les Echos). It accounted for 6% of sales, or 3.3 billion euros, in 2018.Â
To adapt to an increasingly connected clientele, with new eating habits, it has become essential for restaurateurs to embark on a digital transformation. How can you boost online ordering in your restaurant? Here are 5 tips to boost your restaurant's online sales.
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Online ordering: essential for your restaurant in the digital age
Online ordering has become an established part of French consumer habits. In fact, the majority of restaurants now offer online ordering. It's a great way to generate additional revenue and improve profitability. But it's not enough to set up online ordering! You also need to promote it and encourage customers to use it... Discover our tips for boosting online ordering in restaurants.
1. Set up click and collect
Click & collect is a service that allows customers to place an order online, then collect it directly from the restaurant.
Since the Covid crisis, click and collect has become an integral part of French consumer habits. As customers are no longer able to eat on the premises, they have become accustomed to ordering online and then picking up their order to eat at home or at work. Long confined to supermarkets and fast-food outlets, click-and-collect is now making inroads into traditional foodservice.
On the restaurant side, the click and collect system makes it possible to :Â
- Create a new sales channel: customers place their orders online, relieving congestion in the restaurant at rush hour, while increasing the number of orders. And because it's all done electronically, you don't even need to increase the size of the restaurant or hire an extra waiter. This is the case of Charlène, a BCHEF franchisee, who has streamlined service in her restaurant thanks to click and collect.Â
- Increase the average basket: The figures speak for themselves. In 2021, a study by the NPD Group showed that when an order is placed via a digital channel such as click and collect, the average basket increases by 15-20% in fast-food restaurants.
- Increase restaurant sales: Thanks to the multiplication of orders taken and the increase in the average basket, click and collect mechanically increases your sales.Â
Another major advantage of click and collect is that it maintains direct contact with the customer, who visits the point of sale to collect his or her products.
👉 Further reading: The ultimate guide to click and collect
2. Set up a delivery service
As a complement or alternative to delivery platforms: you can choose to develop your own delivery service, with your own delivery drivers.Â
Home delivery is fast becoming one of the pillars of the restaurant market. For a restaurant, it represents a major competitive advantage, given that home delivery is not offered by all restaurants.
The benefits?Â
- Develop new customers and build loyalty. ‍
- Save time on collection: customers pay securely online.‍
- Earn more by freeing yourself from home delivery apps and their exorbitant commissions.
The drawbacks?
Order errors have a major impact on customer satisfaction. We recommend that you offer order tracking. In this way, your customers and delivery personnel can track the status of their orders in real time on a dedicated display screen.
👉 To find out more: Why franchisee Anthony hired a delivery driver
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3. Register with delivery platformsÂ
You can mix and match the two approaches, offering your own delivery service and outsourcing it. In fact, developing your own delivery service does not prevent you from listing your products on the platforms.
Delivery platforms like Uber Eats and Deliveroo provide the brand awareness you need to rapidly increase your online sales. The great strength of these platforms lies in their popularity with the French and their ability to attract new customers.
It's important to remember that delivery platforms are based on a system of commissions, paid by both restaurateurs and customers. Applied to each order, commissions eat into their margins. The return on investment is not necessarily very advantageous. The fees applied (up to 30% of the order value) don't always make for good profitability. Our advice is to avoid becoming dependent on delivery platforms.Â
New players in the catering industry have positioned themselves in the business delivery sector. An avenue of development for restaurants to investigate.
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4. Marketing your restaurant
You need to ensure your visibility and let your customers know that you offer online ordering. To do this, point-of-sale advertising (POS) has a profound impact on consumer buying behavior. POP refers to all the advertising media that can be present at the point of sale.Â
When it comes to online ordering, the aim is to draw customers' attention to the existence of click and collect or your home delivery service, for example. The aim is to capture customers' attention and encourage them to use online ordering for future purchases.
In concrete terms, you can advertise online ordering at your point of sale using a variety of media: posters on walls, displays and leaflets on counters, packaging, interactive screens and terminals, window advertising, etc.Â
It's all about highlighting the benefits of online ordering in a straightforward way, and getting customers interested!
5. Online communication
In addition to point-of-sale advertising, we recommend online communication. There's no limit to what you can do! FacebookInstagram, emails... All channels are perfect for letting your audience know that a new online ordering service is available.Â
It's up to you to come up with the slogan or image that will catch your customers' interest and give your restaurant's online ordering more visibility. For example, you could publish or send an e-mail announcing a promotion on a click-and-collect menu and delivery, from such and such a date to such and such a date.Â
For inspiration, check out the social networks of our friends Pokawa, Sushi Shop or Alfi. They regularly publish new content on offers, promos and home delivery services.Â
To encourage customers to order online, it's a good idea to offer a dematerialized loyalty card or program. Like King Marcel, you can create an online loyalty space.Â
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4 reasons to choose Innovorder for your online order
Innovorder online ordering lets you create your own online ordering site for your restaurant, effortlessly. It's simple and optimized for both the restaurant owner and your customers.
1. Online ordering 100% your way
Offer your customers a white-label ordering space, fully customized in your establishment's colors, with no intermediaries.
Customers place their orders online in a dedicated area: a veritable extension of your restaurant.
2. A centralized tool
Online ordering is part of an ecosystem of solutions: the order arrives directly on your cash register software, and the kitchen simultaneously receives the information in order of priority, without you having to do anything.
3. Payment management
Orders are paid for online. Online orders are automatically managed in your daily report.Â
Customers are 100% autonomous when it comes to payment, but above all they spend more thanks to the systematic offer of extras (desserts, menus, etc.). ‍
4. Consumption mode
Your customers can choose between click & collect and delivery.
Slot-based order management automatically suggests the next available collection slot to your customers, so you're better organized and less rushed!
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