With a mission to close the global skills gap and help people pursue work they love, General Assembly strives to create opportunities that impact a vast range of communities. Aside from addressing pertinent issues in the press — including the Computer Science for All program, and what the next White House administration should consider when […]
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Let’s get straight to the point: 2016 has been huge for General Assembly. We’ve expanded our global community into new cities and launched beautiful, new campuses in locations where we’re already thriving. Our catalog of full-time Immersive programs grew exponentially, with four new courses that are transforming graduates’ careers in competitive tech fields around the […]
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The cell phone revolution affects your restaurant.
You can’t ignore it. In fact, you can’t even brush it to the side anymore.
The digital revolution has arrived, and cell phones are here to stay. Are you cell phone ready?
In this article, we take a look into online ordering habits of your restaurant customers.
They are using cell phones, and they’re using them in increasing numbers. Here’s why adding online ordering is so important for your restaurant.
First, let’s look at some online ordering stats so we know where the state of the industry stands today. According to a RetailMeNot study, mobile is vital to the restaurant industry, and here’s why:
Now let’s look at an important demographic – the Millennial generation and their online ordering habits.
Millennials are worth an estimated $600 billion in spending power.
And, seventy-three percent of Millennials report making a purchase from their smartphone. This means this generation of people demands online ordering options.
Millennials have high expectations when it comes to your restaurant’s online presence. If they don’t find what they want immediately, you can bet they’ll take their business elsewhere. (tweet this)
This means if Millennials want to place an online order, and they can’t do it from their cell phones, then they will find a restaurant who caters to their needs.
Think about the experience your restaurant offers Millennials online. If it isn’t seamless tying from your restaurant to your website, and Millennials find it difficult, again, they’ll go elsewhere.
Bottom line – your online menu matters, and it should be easy to order from it when users are on any device, including their cell phones.
It’s vital to make online ordering easy for Millennials as well as the rest of your customers. After all, the baby boomers (group older than the Millennials) also use computers and cell phones for online restaurant searches and ordering.
To help you meet your customers’ needs, let’s look at some ways to use online ordering and how it can help grow your restaurant business.
Many online ordering systems offer a way for you to predict a customer’s order. This makes it easy for the customer because your system is “guessing” what the customer will want based on past orders.
This meets the Millennial need of fast, efficient and uncomplicated.
In addition to their website and mobile app, many restaurants are offering ordering through their social media platforms.
For example, you can add this function to your Facebook page as a way to grab hungry diners browsing the platform.
No one wants to wait on hold for you to take their order. They want to visit your restaurant website, pick their items and hit order.
Online ordering will most often take less time than waiting for someone to take your order and process your information.
You’ll find that your takeout process is significantly simplified through online ordering. It’s easier on your customers and on your staff.
When you add an online ordering option, you should start to see your takeout orders increase because you’ve made it easy and efficient.
Online ordering is increasingly popular, and your customers will be happy to find it. You’ll also gain new customers especially once word gets out that they can eat their favorite food in their pajamas at home.
You’ll expand your business with online ordering by entering more and more target markets in your hometown.
You’ll also find that online ordering creates a habit of repeat orders.
This is a terrific benefit for your restaurant.
Your online ordering customers have a superior lifetime value because they are more likely to reorder from your restaurant than a traditional customer. (tweet this)
Why? Because you’ve made it so easy for them to order their favorite dish on a recurring basis.
Cell phones can help drive your restaurant business.
Not only can you offer online ordering on your website, but you can extend it to a dedicated mobile app and even to your social media platform.
Apps allow your customers to create accounts, storing their contact information and even their favorite orders. You can make ordering easy for your customers by allowing one-click repeat orders.
We also want to touch on mobile pay options for your restaurant. This includes ordering, checkout and payment.
You’ll find a huge potential with mobile pay, especially among Millennials and those they influence.
Online ordering allows you to instantly and easily offer a rewards/loyalty program to your restaurant customers.
Loyalty programs drive business and keep your customers coming back week after week.
By combining mobile pay and mobile ordering options with your restaurant’s loyalty program, you’ll watch sales rise and customer happiness increase.
Is your restaurant website mobile-friendly and responsive to device size?
Your customers live on their cell phones. They text, read email, use apps and search the web.
If your website isn’t mobile-ready, it’s time you revised it, added an online menu and ordering system. Your website must be mobile-optimized. It’s also time to take a look at a dedicated mobile app and online ordering.
You might know that restaurants are the number one thing cell phone users are searching for on their mobile devices. They are most often looking for several things: your location, phone number, hours, menu and online ordering options.
Miss any of these things on your mobile-friendly website, and you lose business.
Consider revamping and revising your current website and look into adding a mobile app.
Online orders are the wave of the future, and your restaurant needs to be cell phone ready today.
Do you have an online menu? Your restaurant needs a responsive, mobile-friendly website with an interactive online menu. It’s the ideal way to highlight your food as well as encourage online ordering.
At Restaurant Engine, we build responsive, mobile-friendly restaurant websites. Contact us today for your free website consultation. We are here to help you update your website and stand out in the crowd so you can stay ahead of your competition.
Images: Rikki Chan and freestocks.org
There are countless reasons why your business should start a blog in 2017. Publishing content creates more leads, positive ROI, and more links directing to your website. Blogging is a crucial part of inbound marketing because it allows you to quickly disseminate helpful information to your followers and new site visitors. This, in turn, helps […]
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Great food? Highlight it on your menu.
You’re dreaming of opening your own food truck, and you have an idea. You probably know what you’d like to serve, or at least you have a concept.
Did you know that crafting your food truck menu is the most important thing you can do?
Your menu defines who you are. It sets the stage for diners and lets them know what to expect from your business. (tweet this)
In this article, we look at the well-crafted menu and provide advice for mobile food trucks starting out.
First, let’s look at the basics of determining your menu.
It can be hard deciding what to serve at your food truck. You may have too many ideas or not quite enough.
Perhaps you’re wondering what kind of food to serve. For starters, your food must be appealing – after all, it has to attract diners.
If you have specialty dishes, that’s terrific. If not, do some research into your target audience and what they might like to find at your food truck.
Try to fill a niche and not enter an already crowded market. For example, if they’re five trucks in town serving artisan pizza, it’s probably not a good idea for you to do the same.
First, decide on your central menu items. If you want to serve items from Central Asia, then you’d build your menu concept around food from the region. If you want to serve food with a French flair, you’d build your menu on that model.
Do be realistic about how many different menu items you can serve at any one time. Unlike a traditional brick and mortar restaurant, you are working with a smaller kitchen and a smaller staff.
Take your limited space and time into consideration. If you’re only serving from 11 am – 2 pm, then making 15 different items isn’t realistic.
Quality is what you’re after. You want to be known for something. Whether it’s gourmet street cuisine or brats, be sure to stay true to your brand image. This will help you determine your menu.
A good rule of thumb is that most food trucks can handle five to 12 different menu items at any given time. The fewer the better to keep your quality top notch.
Second, you want to make sure your menu is easy to prepare. You aren’t technically fast food, but remember, your diners don’t have anywhere to sit quietly, drink a glass of wine and wait 20 minutes for their meal.
You must be able to prepare your items quickly. Your goal is to keep the line moving as fast as possible so you don’t lose customers.
Consider streamlining your menu by using some of the same ingredients in your dishes. For example, if you’re offering bowls, keep it to basmati and quinoa. Or, if you’re serving wraps, keep your meat and cheese options to just a few.
The goal is to eliminate waste and enable a quick turnaround time.
Your food truck brand extends from your truck to your menu and your food.
When designing your actual physical menu, we’ve got some tips for making it easy to read, stand out and convince diners to order.
Believe it or not, there are some psychological tricks you can use to get your food truck patrons to buy from your truck and not the two on either side of you.
When it comes to your printed menu (if you have one) or your menu display board, be sure the print is large enough for everyone to read. If it’s too small, you’ll frustrate potential customers, and they’ll visit the truck next door.
Some food truck owners make the mistake of using amateur photography on their menu. You want to use professional photography whenever possible. With the high-quality, heavy-duty cameras on many smartphones today, it’s never been easier to snap a good shot.
Your menu should align with your brand. If it doesn’t, you are making a costly mistake. Your logo, your menu, your font choices and color scheme all work together to define your food truck.
Without a recognizable brand, your food truck business will suffer.
Another mistake food truck owners make on their menu is burying their best-selling or signature dishes. Give these items prime real estate on your menu so they get top billing.
This also makes buying food and managing your food costs more efficient.
Finally, another mistake we often see is the boring menu. Who wants to order pork fried rice when they could have grilled char sui pork with roasted broccoli, carrots, red peppers and garlicky herbs bathed in a Cajun surprise sauce?
Entice your customers and make them really want your menu items.
With food trucks on the rise, you can use your well-crafted menu to stand out from the competition. (tweet this)
Do keep your menu manageable – shorter is better. And, be sure to update it based on produce availability and the seasons.
Take care with your visuals and make sure your menu board and printed menu are appealing and eye-catching.
Finally, proofread your menu. You absolutely don’t want any typos reflecting poorly on your menu.
Do you have an online menu? Food trucks need a responsive, mobile-friendly website with an interactive online menu. It’s the ideal way to highlight your food as well as share your weekly locations.
At Restaurant Engine, we build responsive, mobile-friendly restaurant websites. Contact us today for your free website consultation. We are here to help you update your website and stand out in the crowd so you can stay ahead of your competition.
Images: Brandon Morgan and Ted Van Pelt via VisualHunt / CC BY
