Choosing an online ordering system for restaurant can be daunting with all the options
available. As a restaurateur, you should come across two unique kinds of online
ordering systems. That is market place systems and self-service systems.
While they both basically do the
same, the business model behind those services have a big impact on your online
ordering performance.
Please keep in mind that the data
in this article is exactly the date it was published. Things are subject to
change with time.
Marketplace
Online Ordering Systems
This is the place where majority
of the restaurateurs start. Marketplace ordering systems are those like
Deliveroo, EatNow, Uber Eats and so on. You can consider these platforms just
as eBay.
In general these businesses will reach
you first. They upload your menu online and allow you to start taking orders.
They also do a lot of service and promotion to drive people to their website to
create sales for their stores.
The way in which these systems make
money is by taking a % of each order that is made through their system. While
this is commonly the simple way to get online, it's also the most costly. The restaurant
business is one of the most competitive industries with low-profit margins.
Losing a % of each order and 1-3% as well as commonly 5-20%+ can be effective
to your financial bottom line.
Restaurateurs will start with
these services but soon come to this realization and start searching for other
alternatives. That said though this isn't a completely awful. In a perfect
world, with all the marketing these businesses do, they can create you some new
customers that you probably won't have.
The reverse situation can be
valid too where your regular customers start ordering online through these websites
at which you start losing a large portion of your regular sales. Which is the
reason it's significant that you use marketplace ordering systems related to
self service online ordering systems.
Self-service
online ordering systems
The rise of self service online
ordering system is due to its less expensive when compared with marketplace
systems. By generally, these systems charge a fixed monthly cost and a setup
fee. This works out to be a less expensive than paying a % on each order.
These systems basically allow you
DIY your own online ordering system. You can compare them with online business solutions.
Beside the lower cost, the other advantage
of these systems is they for the most part they allow for a greater degree of
customization and heaps of more features.
If you plan on receiving online
ordering, at that point its completely important that you use a self service
online ordering system first and then jump onto marketplace systems.
What
kind of online ordering system should be used
The ideal solution is to use the
two kinds of systems. Marketplace systems cost you nothing to be on and they receive
huge amounts of advertising and promotion. To get the opportunity to be a part of
that for no initial cost is a huge advantage. You should see marketplace
systems as a way for new customers to discover and find your business.
Be that as it may, when you
convert a customer to a loyal customer, its best push them towards using your
own online ordering system. This is
on the grounds that you can save a lot of money and manage the order data appropriately
using it for your potential growth.