Today we’re exploring how restaurants can leverage tech this year.
2021 represents a new opportunity for restaurant owners and operators. This year, you can leverage tech to improve your bottom line and serve your customers better.
The 5 key ways restaurants can leverage tech this year:
- Offer online ordering through your own website
- Streamline your third party service orders
- Make better business decisions with analytics
- Focus on more personalized marketing
- Create a digital loyalty program
Online ordering
To begin, perhaps the most important way restaurants can leverage tech this year is through online ordering.
Today, most diners want the option to order takeout and delivery from their mobile device.
According to Nation’s Restaurant News:
- 51% of Americans use delivery services to purchase meals from casual dining restaurants
- 26% order takeout or delivery at least once a week
- Digital ordering and delivery has grown 300% faster than dine-in traffic since 2014
Based on numbers like that, it’s clear online ordering is the way to make your customers happy and increase your revenue this year.
But, in order to offer online ordering you need:
- your own website or app
- or to utilize third party services GrubHub, DoorDash, UberEats, and Postmates to handle your delivery and takeout
If you want to make your own website, you can quickly create an easy-to-use, well-designed site here.
Streamline your third party orders
Another way restaurants can leverage tech this year is by streamlining their third party service orders.
You know that delivery and takeout are key to your restaurant’s success. But, if you are using multiple third party services, like DoorDash, GrubHub, UberEats, and Postmates, you may be overwhelmed by juggling all of the platforms, orders, and even devices.
That’s where an Order Management System comes in.
Order Management Systems like Dash can help you:
- Sync all your order activity including online, mobile, and third party apps
- Reduce the need for multiple ordering devices or systems
- Eliminate ordering mistakes
This year is the year to leverage the power of an Order Management System that can streamline all of your online orders.
Power your business with analytics
Third, restaurant owners and operators can leverage tech this year by making business decisions based on data and analytics.
Analytics can help your restaurant maintain an accurate, comprehensive understanding of all your business metrics, including:
- Top earning employees
- Top earning menu items
- Customer info like favorite orders, spending habits, visit frequency, loyalty status, and more
- Current stock value and quantity
- Total amount of products due for re-ordering
- Comparing your cost of labor to sales
In short? Analytics can help you make better, more informed business decisions.
No idea how to capture analytics? Dash makes it easy. Learn more here.
More personalized marketing
A fourth powerful opportunity for restaurant owners and operators to leverage tech this year is through more personalized marketing.
Personalized marketing means delivering the right content to the right customer at the right time on the right channel.
Personalized marketing can help your restaurant:
- Understand your customers better
- Reach out to your customers on their favorite platform
- Create better email campaigns and promos
- Increase loyalty program enrollment
- Utilize social networks to capture and convert scrollers to buyers
Bottom line? Personalized marketing is the future of marketing for restaurants and tech can make this customized approach possible.
Digital loyalty programs
Finally, restaurant owners and operators can leverage tech this year by offering digital loyalty programs.
Did you know 45% of diners will select a restaurant if they are a part of its loyalty program?
But, the days of paper punch cards are long gone.
This year, it’s time to leverage the power of tech and start utilizing digital loyalty programs. Digital loyalty programs can help you and your restaurant:
- earn more repeat customers
- increase your orders
- and make your customers feel valued
It’s also important to note that customers prefer digital loyalty programs over fiddly paper punch cards.
For restaurant owners and operators, the benefits of a digital loyalty program are clear. Digital loyalty programs help make your customers feel like family.
Interested in setting up your own digital loyalty program? Learn more here.
