In recent years and especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, online ordering has gone from an optional extra to an absolute must for the survival of hospitality businesses. It has become a key source of revenue, allowing businesses to diversify their income streams and increasing their customer reach. With the online food ordering and delivery platform industry set to expand over the next few years, it is important for businesses to integrate a restaurant online ordering system to ensure that they keep up with the demands of consumers.
In this article, we discuss 5 effective strategies that can help increase online sales.
1. Integrate online ordering with your Point of Sale System
The seamless integration of online ordering and POS systems allows restaurants to expand and reach a wider audience with minimal effort, as well as streamline their business operations. With all the solutions under one roof, this ensures orders made online are sent straight from the customer, directly to your POS system.
The integration of online ordering with your POS system eliminates communication issues as the customer is submitting exactly what they want; there is no room for misinterpretation. This leads to increased order accuracy and improved customer satisfaction, which can result in more repeated orders, thus growing the online sales for your business.
2. Integrate your web ordering platform on your website and social media
Most businesses are not aware that they are able to set up their online ordering platform even without a website. In this day and age, POS systems in the market are able to set up online ordering webpages to support restaurants looking to expand their business online.
If you do have a website, ensure that you include a button that links to your online ordering platform. By positioning it front and centre on your homepage, this not only increases awareness, but also ensures that the online ordering platform is easily accessible for customers.
If you don’t have a website but have got your social media up and running, it is important to share the link of your online ordering platform on your Facebook, Instagram and all other social media accounts! This zero-cost method is a great way to keep your business at the forefront of your customers’ minds.
Due to the ease and convenience of accessing your online ordering platform, customers will be more inclined to place their orders, which in turn can help to drive your online sales.
3. Promote special items and offers through online ordering
Your POS system produces data analytics to allow you to pinpoint the peaks and troughs of sales periods. Change up your products and offer special discounts on the days of the weeks where sales are lower, or incorporate promotions and discounts to attract more consumer interest.
Whether it is value-for-money meals or free delivery for off-peak hours, attractive offers are a great way to entice your customers and bring in more income for your business.
4. Set up your Google My Business profile
Potential consumers are going to search on Google for their nearest delivery and take out options so it is important for you to capitalise on this opportunity. Google My Business or GMB is basically a local business listings service that enables you to optimise and manage the information you want your customers to see when they use the Google search engine to look up restaurant take out and deliveries.
You can publish your business information, post your menu, put up photos of your dishes, as well as your latest offers. By setting up a GMB profile, your customers can easily find out if you are open for business and how they can order from you. Having a GMB profile can increase your digital presence, allowing you to reach more local customers, resulting in an increase in online orders.
5. Offer flexible online ordering options
For added convenience, offer various food collection options to complement your online ordering platform such as home delivery or scheduled pick-up. The flexibility makes the process of ordering food from your restaurant even easier and stands to boost your sales.
With delivery and pick-up, it is also important to manage customer expectations by providing an estimated time for preparation and for the delivery/pick-up to be completed. Customers will appreciate knowing how long they can expect to be waiting, and they’ll be more likely to order again.
Start increasing your online sales with Abacus
If you would like to open up your business to online sales, and takeaway and delivery functionality, speak to our friendly and experienced team at Abacus. We are currently providing our Online Ordering platform with NO upfront cost and $0 ongoing monthly fees on top of your regular Abacus POS subscription. The only additional cost to you is a small transaction fee.
Submit your interest here or email us at sales@abacus.co and our product specialists will reach out to you to discuss how we can help your business during this period. Alternatively, give us a call on (03) 9017 2792.