Online ordering and restaurant delivery services are more popular than ever before. In fact, digital ordering and delivery has grown across the industry 300% faster than dine-in traffic over the last five years.
More and more consumers are turning to the power of technology to help them make dining selections, especially since they are busier than ever. The question then becomes, how can restaurants be successful when it comes to delivery? Here are four tips to your fast-casual restaurant find success:
Know Your Customer
The old saying holds true to some extent in the restaurant industry—it’s not what you know, it’s who you know. This is especially the case when it comes to your fast-casual restaurant’s customer base. Being familiar with customers allows you to not only know the demographics of the customers you serve, but also build relationships with each individual customer.
One way your restaurant can help create and build lasting customer relationships is leverage the power of customer relationship management (CRM) tools. These tools create a platform for restaurants to collect data from their customers and create personalized promotions that encourage repeat business.
Know the Delivery Trends
Trends are important across many industries, but this is especially true for the restaurant and hospitality industry. One of the biggest trends from 2019 and that’s being carried into 2020 is many fast-casual customers are turning to the power of the internet to place food orders.
More than just the internet is taking hold as a trend, especially when it comes to mobile technology. Cell phones and mobile devices has made it easier than ever to pay for orders both in store and online. Outside the traditional payments of cash or card customers can now pay via mobile wallets and wearable tech devices.
Another major trend in not just delivery but restaurants in general is the interest in clean eating, going green, and overall creating sustainable habits. By being smart about recycling, reducing waste, and leveraging the power of tech solutions your restaurant can easily adapt sustainable practices.
Communicate Through the Process
There is no doubt that food is important to your customers, especially since they are ordering food from your restaurant. Make your customers feel like they are valued and be sure to include them in the whole ordering process, from when they place their order, all the way through the finished meal.
Many companies, such as Dominos, send alerts via order trackers of apps when different parts of the order are bumped from one area in the restaurant to another, allowing customers to know where their order is from prep to box and even on delivery. Customers, and especially ones on a tight schedule, appreciate knowing where their order is and when it will arrive.
Anticipate an Impact on Your Kitchen
As your restaurant operations prepare for the future it is important to recognize that delivery has only become increasingly popular with expected exponential growth with the power of third-party app integrations. This will have a major impact on how your kitchen and overall restaurant operations function.
Planning for success is an essential step to help minimize the affect adding a restaurant delivery service to you fast-casual restaurant. The right technology solutions can help make this easier, not only on you and your staff, but also for your customers.
Some of the top pieces of technology your restaurant will need includes:
- A kitchen display system (KDS)
- Multiple touch monitors in front-and back-of-house
- A reliable point of sale (POS) system
Prepping for Success:
As restaurants look to 2020 and beyond two things are certain; delivery services are only going to become more popular, and technology is going to continue to play an essential role in how customers place their orders. Is your restaurant ready to handle this demand?
Contact Logic Controls today and let us help set up your restaurant operations for delivery success.
