With some simple planning, you can expect your online ordering initiatives to be successful.  Here are some key components to think about:  

Stress the Benefits to your Managers – Online ordering is a way for your restaurant to capture more business without expanding your “brick and mortar” footprint.  It can significantly improve your bottom line and customer satisfaction – both of which should be a primary focus of your managers.

Involve Everyone – Make sure everyone knows how they fit into a successful operation.  The kitchen needs to properly packages each order and the hostess or counter staff needs to be able to organize each order so the pickup process is smooth and fast.  Leveraging your team is important because they interface with your customers every day and can make the takeout process good or bad for customers.

Launch Sequence – A common tactic for multi-unit restaurants is to roll out online ordering at only one or two locations to start.  Managers can refine their operations and pass on the ‘best-practices’ to the other locations.  While each location is going to have its unique quirks, it’s important to maintain consistency as best as possible.

Some Restaurants Perform Better Than Others – It’s not a failure if one location isn’t performing as well as another.  Every location will be a little different and it’s a function of many factors.  Local demographics play a huge role.  Restaurants in an area where the millennial market is strong will adapt to online ordering more quickly.  Local businesses and office lunch orders could significantly benefit certain locations more than others.  Every location will have different levels of success, but you can still expect all of them to be successful!

NetWaiter recently released several new features for its restaurant online ordering service, aimed at giving customers more convenience and choices, building loyalty, and making your restaurant marketing efforts more refined and targeted.  Here’s a summary of the features:

Birthday Promo System – Configure a Birthday Promo for customers and NetWaiter will automatically trigger the promotion, emailing it to each customer before their birthday.  The promo can be valid for a pre-determined amount of time after a customer’s birthday.  The Birthday Promo System allows you to recognize your best customers with a ‘Happy Birthday’ wish and continue to build their loyalty.  The best thing about the system – your restaurant can “set it and forget it.”  NetWaiter manages the promotions and redemptions automatically.

Dine-In Option – Rather than offering only Takeout and Delivery options, you can now provide customers the option to place Dine-In orders.  This is ideal for the customer that wants to order in advance, but eat at your restaurant (and it saves you money on takeout packaging).

Delivery Driver Alerts – Send incoming delivery orders straight to your delivery driver/company.  If you want to notify a third-party delivery company of a new order, you can send them the order information, in full, including when the order will be ready at your restaurant and when the order is scheduled for delivery to your customer.

Enhanced Reporting Section – The new Menu Stats page is located in the Reports section of the NetWaiter Management Console.  The Menu Stats page allows you to sort through the most popular categories and items during a particular date range, using an assortment of variables, including: Pickup vs. Delivery vs. Dine-in, day of the week, and the time of day.

End-Of-Day Reports – The new End-Of-Day reporting feature allows managers to see an order summary and a list of all orders that were sent throughout the day.  The order summary includes information such as: Pickup vs. Delivery vs. Dine-in, mobile vs. non-mobile, and paid online vs. paid-in-person.