What Is An Online Food Ordering System?

You Can Also Read Our Article About Restaurant Business Plan

 

What Is An Online Food Ordering System?


Colin Powel observed that ‘There are no secrets to success. It is the result of preparation, hard work, and learning from failure’. Failing of business is inevitable. There are internal and external factors that make the company fail. We have no control over the external factors, but we have power over the internal elements.

The external factors include; Competition, Social factors, legal factors, economic factors, and technological factors. Technological factors affect business by increasing competition. A restaurant is not exempted from these factors. It suffers from the same challenges.

Many restaurant businesses have embraced the use of online food ordering system software to make it easy for customers to place orders countrywide. The restaurant business is susceptible, competitive and exciting. You need to be unique in your operations by providing the best services. Queuing for food in restaurants and lousy reception by restaurant receptionist drives customers away.

In this article, I am going to take you through how you can overcome these challenges and make them. The use of a restaurant online ordering app saves time and personnel in your restaurant business. The app replaces the waiters thus the restaurant owner can save some money. When returns surpass costs, that is what we call profit. Due to cut-throat competition in the restaurant business, many restaurants have prioritized online food ordering system project. All the resources are channeled there to make sure customers can enjoy full services.


The question remains, what is the online food system? It a process through which food is delivered or been taken out of a restaurant or food vendor through a website or app., Just like the way people order goods online, food is also ordered online. The app allows customers to keep the account to place further orders.


The app gives customers an option to make payments via mobile phone, credit card, PayPal or pay on delivery. This online food ordering documentation will discuss in depth the pros of the system. Restaurant companies have teamed up with e-commerce businesses to make food ordering quicker and accurate. The use of the application requires the restaurant owner to have better delivery systems.

A pickup equipped with food handling facilities is used to deliver the food orders. The order management team should be stand up to address all the orders and solve all customer complaints. Tracking devices should be planted on the delivering vehicles for than e order management teams to observe the movement to update the customers about their order.


Security features such an app where customers can sign electronically and make a complaint if the food they received is not in good condition should be installed on the system.

Restaurants that use online food ordering systems to purchase database and management software and manage the orders themselves. Every business person works hard to cut costs. The system will help in the management of the restaurant and the provision of excellent service to customers. The restaurant can also sign a contract with online food ordering websites that will work on their behave. If the restaurant owner is not interested in the three options, they can decide to offer food and drinks through the restaurant website. Many restaurant managers shy away from using an online food ordering system in their restaurant. They are reluctant. I think they presume the system is complicated and time-consuming. People don’t like change. Installing the system may bring friction between the restaurant management and workers. Some of the workers are old and find it hard to learn how to use new software.

Some restaurant owner does not prioritize it because they term it too expensive for nothing. However, for you to make some returns out of the online food ordering system, you must make sure it does not consume the restaurant's profits. The maintenance cost for the software should below.


The use of online food ordering software solves the following challenges that a restaurant is likely to face. Planning – A goal without a plan I just a wish. Not everything we wish to have comes true. You must have an idea. A restaurant has many activities on a typical day. If the manager is not keen, he might end up operating the restaurant at a loss. Customers are knocking on the office door complaining about this and that; some workers are demanding a pay rise; the chef is requesting for better fridge and freezer. The landlord is coming for rent, and the supplier is threatening to take you to court.

This is too much to handle because everything is pressing and requires immediate attention. The use of an online food ordering system enables the manager to plan for the orders made by customers in a day. All the transactions are recorded on the system so he will not have a hard time when carrying out an audit. The restaurant accountant can also detect any irregularities that might arise from the system records all the transactions; the order and the price. If the customer paid via credit card, PayPal or cash, it is recorded.

Competition

The competition kicks many businesses out of the market. A restaurant manager should always keep an eye on other restaurants’ moves. He should also make sure he outsmarts them. To survive in business, you should be ahead of your immediate competitors. The use of online food ordering app makes sure you have good intimacy with your customers. Customers prefer to be loyal to a restaurant that they can trust. The online food ordering system allows customers to choose the variety of meals they like. They have a choice; all the food is displayed on the menu.

Marketing

- Marketing is the pillar of any business. Profits are made by massive sales, and immense sales are brought by good marketing. Customers will not know the products a restaurant is offering unless someone convinces them. Marketing does magic. The use of an online food ordering app helps in the marketing of the restaurant. People are using Facebook, what sup, histogram and other social sites daily. If the restaurant has an online system, customers can place orders via the restaurant's Facebook page.

How Online Food Ordering System Works.


The invention is the mother of necessity. Technology is taking the world by storm. You cannot say something cannot happen. Use of online food ordering app in the restaurant is as a result of technological advancement. Someone saw the need for customers to place orders anywhere anytime and worked on it. Businesspeople have no option apart from changing with technology. For those who do not know how to make online orders, I am going to walk you through step by step in this online food ordering documentation.

A customer makes an order.

A customer places an order on the restaurant Website, System or Facebook page. The system offers a wide range of the meal served in the restaurant. The customers browse on the website, reading the details of the food, its ingredients, how it is cooked and the price. He/she places an order for the meal that amazes him/her by clicking the order button on the website. The online food ordering app in the restaurant’s system takes the order.


The online order management team can see the order made by the customer in the restaurant system. The system allows them to see all the delivered orders and pending orders. Customers have the option to choose the time they want the order to be delivered thus the management is given time to plan. A customer can provide instructions on what ingredients to be used and how they want it to taste.


Once the customer has placed an order, they can choose the mode of payment they are comfortable with. They can use a SmartCard, PayPal or decide to pay for delivery. Most of the restaurants are working with mobile payment networks to enable customers to pay for their orders via their mobile phones like Mpesa in Kenya.


After the online orders management team reviews the order on the online food ordering app, they start assembling the required ingredients to prepare the food. They liaise with the catering department to make sure all the items are available. The app alerts them early in advance if the ingredients are not available and they cannot prepare the meal and delivery it on time, they sent feedback to the customer informing him they cannot deliver that order but he can choose another meal that they can offer.


The online food ordering system is the best for the restaurant management to plan its activities and in allocating time. If the food ordered will be prepared and be delivered on time, the team will send feedback to the customer confirming the order. The online food ordering team should work closely with the catering department to make sure the customers receive an immediate response.


The chef starts preparing the order instantly. The team dealing with online orders should make sure the whole system is efficient and effective. Customers make the orders because they are hungry or because they know at some point they will be hungry. Food is a basic need, and we cannot postpone basic needs. Medicine for a hungry person is food.


Some online food ordering systems are designed such that, customers can receive an update on the delivery. Customers are given a grace period of an entire 20 minutes to cancel an order. A customer cannot cancel an order at the last minute because it was prepared specifically for him. It will be a loss to the restaurant. If the order is delivered to the customer and he is not happy with it, the food can be returned to the restaurant and be sold to another customer. The restaurant should make sure this does not happen.


The ordering and delivering cycle need people who are serious and ready to work anytime. A customer can make an order even in the middle of the night, and he expects it to be delivered. If the workers are not committed to their work, they will not make the delivery.

For restaurants that want to market their services on Facebook, they can start by creating a restaurant profile. A profile tells more about the restaurant, the number of employees it has, the location of the restaurant and the services offered. The restaurant profile gives details about the meals. Potential customers go through the profile before they choose a meal.

The restaurant profile serves as a marketing tool.

People with seminars and summits request for the profile to review it before deciding if they will hold their workshop in that restaurant. The restaurant profile in the online food ordering system is the mirror to the restaurant. You will not be summoned to be interviewed. People will read the profile and make their decision. Restaurant profile tells customers the restaurant's delivery zones and other specific fees that the customer may be charged. It also gives the procedure of placing an order, the number of orders one can make and if there is any delivery fee.

Always make sure the online food ordering system has an online menu where customers can peruse it to select the dish of their choice. The menu should be strategically positioned where everyone can see it. A click to view button should be below it so that customers can press it and start going over the menu.


Make sure the menu in the online food ordering app is portioned into categories. It should be supported by all devices; mobile phones and laptops. Create food categories on the menu for the natural selection of meals. Put all the snacks in the same category, soft and hard drinks in different groups. The classes will portray an organized business.

The restaurant should make sure the online food ordering system menu is accompanied with pictures. Quality pictures increase sales. They are persuasive to customers and can even cause impulse buying which is an advantage to the restaurant. It creates an appetite for the customers and makes them extra engaged. Bad pictures send customers away from the restaurant; they create a terrible image. An online food ordering app menu can use three kinds of pictures. Theme picture. It should be large and of good quality. It should precisely describe the restaurant. You can choose an image of your restaurant, maybe the reception part or the best charming restaurant side. Category pictures. They are pictures of each food category the restaurant is offering. The category picture is the first thing a customer will see when they open the online food ordering application. The photos should be clear and of high density. Beautiful views tempt customers to extend their orders.

Item picture.

You can choose the restaurant images. This is what the customers will get. Always make sure you don’t include a description of a meal you cannot offer.

Write a Beautiful and Bright Description

The description gives a detailed chronology of the dish prepared in the restaurant. Customers view read the dish details of the description part and if they are not convinced they will not place an order. Make sure your dish description is convincing. Do not over exaggerate because the customers will have high expectations of the dish once delivered.

Highlight the unique dishes on the online food ordering system menu. Place the unique dishes on a separate menu. If the unique dishes are charged high than the others., indicate and the reason for the high charge.

The good thing about the online food ordering system is, you can update the menu. It is embarrassing when a customer orders a meal and the price has changed, and you have not indicated on the menu. Make sure the menu is updated daily.

Advantages of Online Food Ordering System

 

Every step you take in a business has a positive or negative impact. Evolving technology comes with more comfort and ease. The number of restaurants using an online food ordering system is rising tremendously. It is a smart move that has positive impacts on both the restaurant and customers. The system increases interaction between restaurant managers and customers.

It increases convenience since customers order what they want anytime. The online food ordering system has many benefits and advantages to restaurants. They include:

Enhance efficiency

Online food ordering apps make restaurant daily operations more efficient. Long a gone the day's customers used to create an order via telephone. People have taken the restaurant business to another level. The telephone orders made were marred with errors. There was a miscommunication between customers and restaurant workers. The restaurant used to deliver food that was not ordered. The online food ordering system has reduced irregulates and stored confidence.


When customers are satisfied with the deliveries, they keep the restaurant accounts to make further orders. This leads to increased orders per customer and transmutes to increased sales for the restaurant.


Once a customer makes an order online, the restaurant online order team can take time to analyze the request, prepare the necessary ingredients needed to make the dish and deliver it at the right time.

Increase in Sales

An online ordering system gives customers a chance to order what they want. Restaurants that use online food ordering systems have customized their menus in a manner that in case a customer misses the meal they wanted; there is a substitute. The menu can give the customer a suggestion of a dish that is similar to the one they wanted. This will pursue the customer and make an order. They will not walk away because they have missed their favorite meal.


Online food ordering application gives customers time to look at the menu, analyze and scrutinize it. During the reviewing of the menu, the customer may decide to make additional selections. This will lead to massive sales volume which reciprocates to high returns. The goal of every businessperson is to create high returns as much as possible whereas the goal of every customer is to maximize utility.

Positive Customer Service

Customer service is everything in every business. Customers are the bosses and should be treated with a lot of care and respect. Poor handling of one customer can make you lose four customers. A customer trust what he/she is told by his/her colleagues.


If a customer has a bad experience with your restaurant, they may share it with their friends and through social media luring many people away from the restaurant. Some of us search for customer views about a product before we even purchase it. If the response we get is contrary, we will not buy it.


Having an online food ordering system in place makes the employees have full attention on the order made. There is a minimal interruption of the employees by the ringing phones from other customers who want to place orders. Employees can prioritize customer service. The use of online food ordering applications means there will be few calls from customers who wish to inquire about an order or those who want to know whether you receive their order.

Facilitates Business Analytics

Business analytics is essential to businesspeople. It helps them to understand the sales pattern. It keeps a record of the daily transactions. The online food ordering system stores data of every customer thus creating a good relationship between the customers and the restaurant.


Customers respond to the app by carrying out a survey. They try to be honest with the services, the dishes and the way they were handled through the online food ordering system. This will give the restaurant a chance to respond to the customer complains if there any of them and improve where necessary.


During the restaurant promotion moments, the restaurant management can confirm whether the promotion is bringing in any change to the restaurant or not. If it does not have any positive impact, the restaurant management may decide to adjust the advertisements and menus to suit the customer's expectations.

Expand Market Share

The sole option waiting for customers to peep into your restaurant may limit your restaurant's growth. The use of restaurant online ordering applications expands its operations. You can reach a large market simultaneously. The only people who will know the meals offer in your restaurant are those who are geographically situated in that region. The introduction of an online ordering system for business has been a breakthrough to many restaurant owners.


The online food ordering system has expanded market share for many restaurants across the world. It is one of the best business innovations in the world.

Monitoring of the Restaurant Expense

The online food ordering system gives precise information about the cash inflows and cash outflows. Customer's payments can be traced in the system. Therefore, it does not leave room for funds embezzlement.


The system keeps track of the costs incurred during the order preparation whereby the restaurant can compare them with the actual expenses presented by the accountant.

To Sum up…

Those who did not know how useful and helpful the online food ordering system is read this documentation and it will help you. The system has been tested and tried. It has proved to be worth a chance in a restaurant. If you have a restaurant and you have not shifted to this digital platform, make the right decision today. Information is power; this online food ordering documentation is going to answer all the questions you have. It will also add some insight and change your approach towards the system.

Register Your Restaurant with the best Online Ordering System in the world