What influences a customer when making a purchase online?  Although these stats* apply to all online purchases, they are very much applicable to restaurants and restaurant online ordering.


Site Speed and Visuals:
•    After waiting 3 seconds, 57% of visitors will abandon a site if it’s still loading.  80% of those people will never return.
•    Visitors will leave a site within 10 to 20 seconds if it doesn’t immediately resonate with them or provide value.

This is why it’s critical your online ordering site is fully branded to your restaurant.  Customers need to ‘connect’ with your brand immediately or you may lose their business.  If your website links to a portal – you’re most likely losing a lot of business.

•    92.6% say visuals are the top factor influencing a purchase decision.

Showing high quality images of items on your menu can really benefit online sales.

Checkout Process:
•    67.4% of shoppers across all types of sites will abandon the checkout process.  That means just over 30% of visitors complete a purchase they start.  

With NetWaiter, nearly 80% of visitors complete a transaction after they select their first item.  That’s a HUGE difference.

Top Reasons for Abandonment Include:
•    41% - Hidden charges at checkout.
•    10% - Lengthy checkout process.

NetWaiter’s goal is to get the customer through the ordering process in as few clicks as possible – hence our very high conversion rate.

Other Interesting Information on Abandonment:
•    Men are more likely to abandon a purchase.
•    25 to 44 year-olds are the worst offenders when it comes to giving up on a purchase.

Considering the importance of this age group to online ordering.  This is why it’s critical to make the online ordering experience quick and easy for customers.

*Credit to The Marketing Donut and other sources.

Millennials – adults 18 to 35 years old – are the ideal candidates for restaurant online ordering.  Many of them don’t remember a time before the Internet.  Most of them have a connected device within arm’s reach, day or night, whether it’s a laptop, tablet, or smartphone.  Restaurant online ordering is natural for them.

There are, however, some things you need to know about this group – things that can make a difference for your restaurant and your online ordering business…

20% Less.  Millennials, as a group, currently eat out 20% less than other demographic groups. The Great Recession affected them profoundly.  They aren’t afraid to cook for themselves; however, they don’t like to cook all of the time.

The Amazon Generation.  Millennials don’t remember a time when there was no Amazon.com.  The result: they expect a user-centric, friction-free experience with their business transactions.

Loyalty.  Millennials are loyal, so much so that they don’t need or care a lot about loyalty programs.  A friction-free experience is much more important.  As a group, millennials are the least likely to review sites such as Yelp when making decisions.  They know what they want.

Window of Opportunity.  More than 50% of millennials make their buying decision in the six-hour window before they eat, with 29% of that group admitting that the window is closer to one-hour.  17% of millennials don’t even plan that far in advance.  Getting your message to them when they are deciding is important.  Millennials also like businesses that communicate with technologies they prefer – Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Key Lessons:
•    Millennials expect consistent and convenient service more than discounts and loyalty clubs.
•    Communicate frequently and with the right platforms to reach millennials.  Stay top-of-mind so they choose your restaurant whenever they decide to place an order.
•    Make your takeout and delivery as convenient as possible.  Millennials may dine at restaurants less, but they don’t always want to cook for themselves.  Your restaurant’s online ordering site is the key to their dilemma.

You may have noticed NetWaiter recently released some upgrades to its restaurant online ordering system.  So far, the customer feedback has been great and we hope you’re hearing good things too.  Here are a few of the upgrades:

More Attractive Site – NetWaiter has created a smoother, more attractive site for customers as they navigate their way through your online ordering site.  The general ordering process has not changed much, however, please feel free to evaluate your custom site design to determine if any ‘refreshing’ may be warranted.

Enhanced Mobile Ordering – Your site is now more user friendly on mobile devices.  Your previous mobile site has been upgraded for easier navigation and performance.  NetWaiter has also extended the Group Ordering feature to be available from mobile devices.  Previously, customers could only join a Group Order from their mobile device.  Now you can initiate a Group Order from any device/computer.

Stronger URL Branding – Previously, when a customer visited your NetWaiter online ordering site, the URL would be shown as www.netwaiter.com/Your_Restaurant. Now, your restaurant name is shown first, to better reflect your restaurant and brand: Your_Restaurant/netwaiter.com.  You do not need to make any changes to the links you have on your website – customers will automatically be redirected.

Making sure your restaurant attracts as many online customers as possible depends, in part, on understanding the “need states” of customers – the needs and key decision-making points of each customer segment.  This is the first of three articles looking at the various types of online customers and their specific needs.  Part 1 looks at Special Occasion Customers.  Part 2 will discuss Routine Customers, and Part 3 will address Impulse Customers.   

Special Occasion Customers.  These patrons want to celebrate a special event – i.e. a birthday or job promotion - with a special takeout meal they can enjoy at home or at some other special location.

• Reliable, dependable service.  Customers know they can depend on you to come through when it really counts.  Their online order is ready when they come in, and the food is always great.

• Attractive, leak-proof containers.  No one wants to mar the occasion by having to clean up a mess.  Also, make sure those containers allow for the best presentation of the meal.  Customers don’t want to open a container and be confronted with “takeout mush.”

• Special Offers.  You might be able to make an extra sale if you offer something special - like a pair of candles to complement their nice meal.  This customer can be easily upsold items because they are ordering for a “special” dinner.  The best way to capture that extra revenue is to cross-sell, like suggesting side orders with entrees.

• What type of special occasion?  You can ask the customer as part of the checkout process: Is this a special occasion? If so, what type?  Based on their answer, you may be able to provide them something special to recognize their celebration.