Maintaining sales in restaurants amidst ever-changing trends is a huge challenge. Seasonality, economy, competition, and many other factors contribute to boosted sales in a restaurant. In the past, restaurant owners believed in investing in paid advertisements to increase their sales. Although this route exposes the brand to the public, it is a costly venture and returns on investment are not guaranteed.
In this era of technology, every business is adding a digital forefront for their business to increase their target market. As research suggests that by 2030, online delivery sales are expected to rise up to an annual average of more than $365 billion worldwide!
So, with an online business in place, you can expand your targeted audience and attract more consumers. In fact, 88% of consumers research online before making a purchase decision!
Here are the top 5 Ideas to Increase your Restaurant Online Business
Mobile App: The new way to engage with your customers
A mobile app is what your business requires to stand out among the competitors. Some of the reasons are as follows:
- Online Reservation: 25-50% of our population are introverts, and they do not enjoy making phone calls to reserve a table. With a mobile app, you can open up your services to a wider range of consumers since online reservation adds convenience.
- Customer Loyalty: Using mobile apps, you can increase customer loyalty by connecting them to loyalty programs. You see majority programs work with physical cards that can be scanned every time your consumer makes a purchase. But these cards can get damaged, or lost easily. Mobile apps, on the other hand, make it effective and consistent to implement loyalty programs. This cannot only improve your brand recognition but also increase sales.
- Advertisements: For a restaurant, the best way to attract customers is to make their mouth water with irresistibly delicious foods. Through the usage of mobile apps, you can advertise yourself and connect directly with your customers to share information about new dishes or flavors at your restaurant
Utilizing Social Media
Social media plays a crucial role in today’s business so whether your restaurant currently has an active social media page or not, your business is under discussion online. For your business to operate successfully, it is important to manage your social media profile. Here’s why:
- Showing Behind the Scenes: You see, for your food to sell, its important to attract the customers. The best way of doing so is to not only share high-quality photos of prepared food but also share video shots of what goes on in the kitchen. It is popular because the hygiene, quality, and deliciousness attract more and more guests.
- Online Reviews: As a recent study suggests, 73% of people trust a local business more on the basis of their positive reviews. With an active social media page at work, you can respond to each review, complaint, or query with a personal note. This is awesome because by addressing the negative reviews, you can create a friendly, transparent persona online which attracts more audiences. Similarly, by responding to positive reviews, you can retain returning customers. On the whole, both positive and negative reviews, when displayed to the new audience, help them decide whether they want to purchase from your outlet or not.
Creating Google MyBusiness Page
Registering your restaurant on Google MyBusiness is important. You see, with a presence on Google Business, you add insurmountable credibility to your business. Besides, 64% of people trust online search engines the most when they are conducting research on a business. So if a potential consumer searches you online, your business hours, location, photos, and website will appear on the top of search results. This, in turn, makes reservations at your restaurant even more convenient and credible.
Online Ordering
Diners require a variety of options to choose from when going out to eat. By offering online ordering service to them, you actually bring more convenience to your consumer since nobody has to wait around to be served or even stand in the lines. This also allows restaurant staff to complete more orders in lesser time. In fact, research suggests that 57% of millennials have restaurant food delivered to them so they can watch TV shows and movies at home.
With online ordering, you also become more discoverable in the online world and this brings a convenient dining experience for your audience. With an e-commerce restaurant website in place, you can boost sales and bring ease for consumers at the same time
Email Marketing
With a website in place, you can connect with both potential and existing customers using email marketing. This is important because you have to survive in a $799 billion industry and stay ahead in the competition. Now, why email marketing is effective? Well, research suggests that Return on Investment of email marketing is about 28.5% better than for direct mail AND for every $1 your spend on email marketing, you get a return of about $38!
You can build brand awareness and market your restaurant to a warm audience. You can also increase customer retention by sending them coupons and discounts.
Conclusion
With over 1 billion restaurant locations operating in the United States alone, the competition has grown. So for you to survive, you must step up the game and go digital. Besides, in this era, restaurant owners can no longer deny the impact of digitalization on their business. Whether you target your audience using all the tools or start by only one, going online is what can bring growth in sales.