Customers are using their mobile devices to communicate, order food, schedule appointments, search the internet, order groceries, transfer money, enroll in insurance plans, and many other day-to-day tasks. And they’re not doing it by making phone calls, but rather with a few quick taps of their fingers.
Our lifestyles have changed drastically in the last few years. Customer service is done more and more frequently through digital interfaces, making the process as quick, convenient, and painless as possible.
WHICH IS WHY WE’D LIKE TO ASK YOU A FEW QUESTIONS. TAKE A MOMENT TO THINK ABOUT IT, BECAUSE THIS IS IMPORTANT: Has your restaurant changed with the times? Are you making it as easy as possible for your customers to place orders using a mobile device?
WHY MOBILE ORDERING MATTERS
We speak to lot of small to medium sized restaurant owners, this may seem as just one more thing on your ever-growing to-do list, but trust us, it’s not just a trend: mobile ordering is here to stay, and it’s taking over the restaurant industry.
Major enterprise chains are spending lot of time and money to make it easier for their customers to order from mobile. Here are a few ways that mobile ordering helps your business run better.
YOUR RESTAURANT’S POS IN YOUR CUSTOMERS’ HANDS
Think of mobile ordering as your restaurant’s POS in your customers’ hands, operated by the customers themselves, rather than your staff.
They can view your entire menu, including pictures to tantalize their taste buds. They can see all the options and add-ons you have to offer and customize their order. Then, they can place the order, no matter where they are and pay for it right from their phone, and you never have to lift a finger.
They can order dinner during their last meeting of the day, when they are unable to call the restaurant, and have it waiting for them when they get there without waiting in line, or schedule it to be delivered when they get home.
This brings us to our next, even more important point…
THE MOBILE ORDERING “EXPERIENCE”
You may be wondering, isn’t it enough that I have an online order function built into my website? Even if your website has a responsive design, there are many functions that just don’t work as smoothly through a mobile browser as they do through an app. This can make the process very frustrating, which may cause users to abandon the order altogether and choose a different restaurant with a better mobile ordering experience.
Just think of this as another form of customer service – ordering from a mobile device should be just as enjoyable as ordering in person at the restaurant.
You want to make it as easy as possible for your customers to order food from their mobile device, a clean and intuitive interface and menu with great looking pictures that makes users excited about eating your food. And that is where mobile apps really shine. Mobile apps has additional benefits, an app is a direct link to your customer and offers a convenient way to keep the customers engaged.
In the next article, I’ll explain in more detail as why mobile app offers such a great mobile ordering experience?
About FreshBytes
FreshBytes offers branded online ordering, mobile ordering app, customer engagement, customer re-targeting via marketing automation in a "single" platform for restaurants.
Visit us at www.freshbytes.io