Posted by Tim on January 29, 2014
It’s accepted industry wisdom that a good contributor to building business at a restaurant is new-product introductions. Those new dishes bring back customers, goes the logic.
If this is true, why does NetWaiter remind online customers what they last ordered when they visit your online ordering site?
Because what we’ve long suspected turns out to be right… according to a recent industry study, less than 30% of diners are inclined to try new menu items or limited time offers (LTOs). The other 70% stick with what is tried and true.
The study also shows that for those culinary adventurers, there is a preference for permanent new-menu items over LTOs, by about 56%.
There is also a distinct difference between the types of restaurants where customers are more likely to expand their menu selections. The Casual-Dining segment is most likely to draw in customers who want to get adventurous and order something new for the first time. 40% of those customers may try a new or unfamiliar item. Compared to only 19% for QSRs and 12% for Fast Casual restaurants, Casual-Dining is relatively high, but the overall incidences of people ordering something new are low.
For takeout and delivery, customers use Online Ordering for its tremendous convenience, and being reminded of what they last ordered, only helps increase that convenience.
Posted by Tim on March 28, 2013
A popular marketing vehicle used by restaurants is the limited time offer, or LTO.
Typically, LTOs are special menu items or offerings made available for a short period, often offered in unison with a holiday or celebration of some sort. These opportunities work especially well with online ordering.
NetWaiter has assembled a list of non-holiday events that are great for online ordering LTOs:
• Do you have a local minor league baseball team, or a major league team for that matter? Offer a combination of foods for a pre-game tailgate party. You can set the offer to be available after a certain time on game day.
• The Saturday wedding special - a bag of sandwiches for the groom and groomsmen, or finger foods for the bride and her bridesmaids as they get ready.
• Do local parks offer summer evening movies or concerts? Customers can order dinner online and pick it up on the way.
NetWaiter and limited time offers - a combination that can help your bottom line. Develop your offering and use the NetWaiter Management Console to email it to your database of online customers.
