If the COVID-19 pandemic has taught us anything, it is that people and businesses have to adapt to provide safe and effective service and products. For many in the hospitality industry, the dine-in option is currently no longer available due to lockdown restrictions, and so businesses are turning to the delivery and pick-up service.
With a reliable online ordering system for your POS, your business will be more equipped to meet the demand and manage the options of pick-up and delivery. It is important to set up the correct ordering method that will work for your business or franchise. If you currently offer take-out or delivery, ensure that your customers can quickly and easily order directly from your business, whether it’s through online ordering or mobile ordering. Here are some helpful tips to grow your business through pick-up and delivery!
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Delivery apps
Third-party food delivery apps have really come to the forefront during this pandemic. More consumers are able to order their meal for delivery and to enjoy it from the comforts of their home with these apps. Deciding whether to use this method means calculating the additional cost that will come out of what is already a very tight profit margin.
More importantly, these apps are also offering consumers a COVID-safe form of delivery with drop-off options such as contactless delivery; leaving the delivery on the doorstep and/or keeping a 2-metre distance. Tamper proof packaging, clear guidelines of staff training and risk assessment of safe practice gives the customer reassurance of a no-contact delivery option linking your restaurant to a COVID-safe ethos.
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In-house delivery options
Review your current website to see if it is fit for purpose and allows for take-out orders to be placed. This means speaking with your website designer to see if additional coding is available for this feature. Once customers can easily place an order via the website, you need to update all social media pages to ensure that you get the message out to your consumers. If you don’t have a website, now is the time to get one in place to allow you to weather the current climate, as well as plan for the future once this crisis has passed.
In the meantime, make sure you have at least got a dedicated phoneline to receive telephone orders or texts. Advertise this through social media accounts which are free to set up, while you are getting your website updated or in place.
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Diversify your menu
People’s habits have changed during lockdown, as they are now forced to restrict their movements and visits to places of entertainment, gyms and sports facilities etc. For some, this may be a struggle for them to upkeep a healthy lifestyle during lockdown. To cater to those getting back on track and ordering healthier food options and take-outs, restaurants should be getting ahead of the curve by reviewing their menu choices.
Convenient and health conscious meal offerings will attract both existing and potential consumers, and also build a reputation for your brand as a healthy go-to option. This will draw in additional orders, provided you have a POS online ordering system for restaurants to streamline your operations.
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Family bundles
It is a difficult time for families at present, and if in a state where lockdown is in place and schools are closed, parents are trying to educate their children at home as well as keep them entertained, safe and healthy. Look at the menu options you can provide to see if you can offer family meal options. It may mean reviewing whether you can provide family bundles, family size portions of your best seller or a range of pasta or rice meals that can be easily served up to a larger number of people. Link your brand to one that can feed the family in times of crisis and you will win over a large sector of the population.
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Creative choices
Everyone will be facing some difficulty with supplies due to the current pandemic. Rather than run out of staples and not be able to supply your customers, plan menus and menu choices ahead with what you know you have in the store cupboards and on order. If required, update your social media pages to let customers know what you are offering on a week by week basis and use social media engagement to get their feedback and support. The more a person identifies with your brand, the more likely they are to be a repeat customer and to tell others about the great food and service you offer.
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Organising your restaurant set-up
Giving back confidence in the sector and informing customers that you are a COVID-safe restaurant means more orders and further promoting business growth. Review how you operate your pick-up service by organising it into separate areas – one for the customer collection and one for your delivery service. Use signage to make this very clear and keep to the 2-metre distance rule with markings on the floor and notices on the walls. Add screen protection to maintain safety between your staff and external visitors and provide hand sanitiser for customers and delivery services to use.
Ensure the area you have designated for pick-up or delivery is a good distance from your catering area so that dine in customers are also kept safe as well. You should also consider if you are able to offer curb side collection, so that your staff can take out the food orders to customers’ cars, making it easy for them to collect their meal. The quicker, easier and more convenient you can make it, the more chances the customer will put in repeat orders and boost your sales.
Set up your online ordering platform with Abacus
All of this is not possible without an effective online ordering system for your restaurant. 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.