In recent years, the online food delivery industry has evolved into a multibillion-dollar industry. Deliveroo, Careem, Zomato, and Swiggy have delivered hot food and happiness to millions of their customers worldwide.
Circumstances in recent years, such as lockdowns that halted dine-in business for extended periods, have accelerated the shift to digital ordering. As restaurants and takeaway businesses expand their online ordering capabilities, this trend is expected to accelerate in the coming years at a rapid pace.
We’re not implying that people will cease eating out; it remains a valuable kind of social connection that will always be appreciated. But what we’re claiming is that online food delivery will never go away, and as a market, it will only grow. The market is predicted to increase from $108 billion in 2019 to $156 billion in 2023. If you own a restaurant, you should consider offering online delivery
Providing your clients with the convenience of online ordering can help you increase sales and profits at your business. It can also assist you in expanding your reach, improving order accuracy, and overcoming the difficulties of taking orders over the phone.
Here are some key steps to increase online food orders
Build trust & FOMO
Highlight real-time activities like reviews, sales & sign-ups.
Give your customers exclusive offers.
Customers will always be on the lookout for a good offer, which will never change. So inviting them in with special offers is always a good idea. You want to encourage them to place orders directly through your website or app for delivery or pick-up rather than through a third-party channel, where you lose a significant portion of the order value due to their high costs.
Giving your consumers exclusive deals is a simple but effective method to increase online food orders.
Streamline your menu
Your menu is where your clients will interact with your business the most, aside from actually tasting an excellent bite of a meal, therefore making it enjoyable.
You should have a unique menu that immediately impresses and appeal to your customer. As a result, we always advise fine-tuning and polishing your menu to highlight appealing meal deals and best-selling items to increase online food orders.
It’s also worth keeping an eye out for new cuisine trends. Based on current and upcoming trends, you might want to consider changing your menu to make it more appealing to clients, perhaps by adding a new dish or two.
Use professional, enticing photos.
With delicious-looking photographs of your food, you can draw clients in and build enthusiasm about what they’re going to taste; vivid images let them visualize the flavors and fragrances they’re about to enjoy. Spend the extra money if you can to get high-quality, professional photos of your menu items, which have been shown to increase online food orders by up to 30%.
Write visually captivating, Clear Descriptions.
Write visually captivating and precise descriptions to win over customers.
Dishes with beautiful, detailed reports are more likely to sell than those with unimaginative, mundane descriptions. Keep an eye out for allergens and limits, and ensure they’re correctly marked on your menu.
This will save you time dealing with consumer inquiries and improve your customer service. It will also increase your credibility and awareness of nutritional trends that help to increase online food orders.
Use social proof and credibility.
If you were heading down the road and saw a gathering of people staring up at the sky, you would most likely do the same. After all, these folks must know something you don’t, so it’s only natural to put your faith in them and look upward.
In almost a similar way, “social proof” works. You are more likely to dine at a restaurant if a group of your friends “like” it on social media, have given it positive reviews, or have checked in at that location. Because these are people you believe to be wise, and their recommendations prove that this is a decent restaurant.
- Announce discount offers using announcement notification.
- Display food reviews and ratings.
- Show real-time orders with dish names to increase cart value.
- Make it clear to your visitors that you are well-known on social media.
- Use widgets to display delicious food videos.
- Pop-up videos to boost engagement.
Also read: 11 Best Social Proof Tools (Free and Paid)
Build trust & FOMO
Highlight real-time activities like reviews, sales & sign-ups.
Deliver foods timely with a high-quality service
The administration of online ordering must be efficient. You don’t want to have any lousy packing or food delivery encounters. As a result, your packaging needs to provide quality, a professional look, and temperature control. Packaging should also be unique, favorably promoting your business to increase online food orders.
It also aids in keeping your consumers informed about the projected food delivery or collection time, reducing customer irritation and uncertainty.
Customers like to know how long they’ll have to wait. Knowing how long they’ll have to wait is an essential element of giving an outstanding customer experience that encourages repeat orders.
Make a strong online presence.
You need to have a solid online presence to establish an online food delivery business for your restaurant. Having your website gives you direct contact with your customers. If you don’t already have one, you can use a the help of a website builder.
First, make your website running up to date, then consider other avenues to build excitement around your branding and grow your network. The most excellent place to accomplish this is on social media. Consider using Instagram to share photographs and stories with exclusive deals. Use Facebook to promote new products and hold competitions.
Here are a few tips to consider while social media promotion.
- In your Instagram bio, offer a link to your online ordering platform.
- Rather than directing them to your webpage via your social media profile, connect them to your online ordering page.
- If you’re holding an offer only to promote Online Orders, make sure you’re posting about it on your social media accounts or running advertisements to attract a broader audience.
- Run festival and happy hours offer to attract people to place orders online.
Give customers options to order in multiple ways.
To remain on top of your marketplace in the digital age, where every other brand is seeking customer attention, you’ll need a larger plan. Offering consumers the convenience of the online ordering via many platforms — website, mobile, social media, and voice assistants – is one way to do this (Alexa, Google Home, etc.). This type of transformation will be possible thanks to cutting-edge cloud-based technologies.
Many multinational companies like Domino’s and Pizza Hut, for example, are already utilizing technology to push online orders across many platforms. Take a look at all of the new ways you may order Domino’s pizza. Adopting multiple practices of order helps you to increase online food orders.
Build trust & FOMO
Highlight real-time activities like reviews, sales & sign-ups.
Allow regular customers to reorder quickly.
Online ordering must be quick and easy in this fast-moving world. Providing a great user experience and streamlining the process benefits both your consumer and you.
For example, you can create a ‘Favourites’ part of your menu system based on a customer’s previous ordering habits. This means users can quickly reorder their favorite meals with only a few touches. It’s a convenient shortcut that allows customers to acquire what they want fast, resulting in increased online food orders.
Conclusion
If you have a restaurant business, it’s never late to upgrade yourself to present your business online. Online food delivery brings a considerable amount of higher revenue. Implementing just a few of the ideas we’ve listed will lead to higher customer gratification and a noticeable increase in online food orders.
You may need to put considerable work into marketing your online food ordering service initially, but after it has gained traction, you can relax and reap the rewards in the long run.
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