Online ordering and food delivery are here to stay. According to a QSR Magazine survey, in 2021, 53% of respondents and 64% of millennial respondents said that food delivery and takeout are essential to their lifestyle.
If restaurants want to increase their profit by providing pickup and delivery services, they are faced with a choice: using a third-party delivery app or an in-house online ordering system.
The choice is simple if you listen to what your customers want. 63% of consumers prefer ordering directly from the restaurant, as opposed to only 18% who prefer third parties.
Below, we’ll look at the main benefits of choosing an in-house restaurant ordering software over third-party delivery apps so that you can make an informed decision.
10 Benefits of an In-House Online Ordering System
1. You can make changes in real-time
Updating your menu, prices, images, daily specials, or promotions can be challenging when using a third-party delivery app. But using your own online ordering system means you get to control the changes you make and when.
Updating your information to reflect the latest changes becomes a matter of just logging into the system and making the changes live. This way, you’ll avoid disgruntled customers leaving negative reviews because they ordered an item that was out of stock or they ended up paying more than the menu said.
2. You use your branding and can customize the ordering experience
Branding doesn’t exist on third-party delivery apps where all restaurants look more or less identical. Having yours stand out is a nearly impossible challenge.
Using an online ordering system, you’re promoting your restaurant website, which is personalized with your branding and logo. You can customize the menu, add promotions, and keep close tabs on the entire ordering experience.
3. You get access to customer data
To constantly improve your delivery service, you need to know who your customers are, what they like about your service, and what they think you could do better.
This is out of your reach if you’re using a third-party delivery service that mediates all communication between you and the customer.
Using your own restaurant software, you can learn about your customers’ purchasing behavior, what menu items get ordered most often, and who your loyal customers are.
You will also get access to customer data which you can use for marketing campaigns such as emails or texts.
4. You keep 100% of the profit you make
One of the most frustrating things about third-party apps is that they charge commissions of up to 30% of the total price of every order.
Not relying on them means you get to keep all the money you make and encourage larger average order values by upselling and cross-selling.
Then, you can put the extra profits to good use by constantly improving restaurant management and adding new features like curbside pickup or QR code menus.
On third-party apps, even the customers have to spend more. Besides the delivery fee, there are minimum order fees, distance fees, or even inclement weather fees.
Remove all these extra charges so customers can spend more on food and leave a bigger tip.
5. You avoid errors that you can’t solve
Errors are bound to occur when you gather dozens, if not hundreds, of restaurants on one platform. The problem is that if an error occurs and the customer doesn’t get what they ordered, there’s no way for you, as a restaurant owner, to get in touch with them directly.
Despite that fact, 66% of customers blame restaurants for late, incorrect, or missing items orders. So, if you’d like to avoid errors that you are not responsible for and be able to solve problems that may arise, you need an in-house online ordering system.
Accepting orders and integrating them into a POS, you control the experience from start to finish, improving customer experience.
6. You increase customer loyalty
On third-party apps, customers have many choices, which means the likelihood of them ordering from you every time is very low. Building loyalty on a third-party app is extremely difficult.
But with your own delivery system, you bypass the competition and work on making customers loyal to your brand.
If they’ve ordered from you in the past but you haven’t heard from them in a while, you can send them an email with a discount. This will remind them of your amazing food and motivate them to place a new order.
If you also have a branded mobile app, promote that to your customers in your marketing campaigns. Having an app with your logo installed on their smartphones ensures you’re always top of mind.
7. You openly communicate with your customers
Even if you’re not communicating with your customers face-to-face as you would on location, having your own restaurant ordering software ensures you can communicate with them in case they have questions or a problem with their order.
Additionally, if you make mistakes, you can reach out to the customer directly and make it up to them before they post a negative review about your restaurant online.
Small details can make a difference when delivering orders. Adding a personalized thank you note or a flyer containing a discount for a future order shows customers you appreciate their patronage and take good care of your clients.
8. You control the delivery experience
Hiring and training your own drivers means offering your customers the delivery experience they deserve and desire.
Food delivery app drivers have to handle a lot of deliveries daily from multiple restaurants. This might lead to delays and dissatisfied customers impatiently waiting for the food they ordered hours ago.
Train your delivery driver(s) to represent your brand and brandish their t-shirt and delivery vehicle with your logo to expand your reach and brand recognition.
9. You can market your restaurant more efficiently
Marketing options are limited and very costly on third-party delivery aggregators. To get your restaurant to stand out and attract more customers, you need to focus on promoting your menu and food offers.
With your own restaurant ordering software, you can add promotions to your menu, banners advertising special offers to your website, and send promotional emails to your loyal customers.
10. You set the standard for safety and hygiene
Lastly, when a customer orders from your restaurant through a third-party app, the order passes through multiple hands, some of which don’t belong to your restaurant staff.
That means you can’t guarantee the integrity of the order when it arrives at the customer because you didn’t deliver it directly.
Having your own properly trained delivery drivers ensures you can keep a close eye on the health and hygiene standards. Moreover, customers will feel safer knowing their order is both prepared and delivered by the restaurant.
Conclusion
Being a dine-in-only restaurant is rare in this day and age, and those restaurants that don’t offer delivery and takeaway are missing out on a huge opportunity to increase their profit and popularity in the area.
While third-party delivery apps might sound appealing at first, at a closer look, the cons outweigh the pros. You are just one of many restaurants surrounded by competitors, fighting for the users’ attention.
With an in-house online ordering system, you can take charge of your delivery business, improve the customer experience, avoid order errors, foster customer loyalty, and, more importantly, keep 100% of the money you make.
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