Last month, we reported that NetWaiter now offers the option for restaurants to accept Dine-In orders.  Customers can select the Dine-In option when completing their online order and then come to the restaurant to have their meal served to them.

What’s the importance of this?

Let’s look at a simple statistic that was recently released: Google reported that 50% of consumers stated they prefer self-service to full-service in retail environments.   It’s faster, more accurate, and with today’s technology, can be more tailored to their needs.

Faster, more accurate, and tailored to their needs.  In other words – convenient.

We often hear anecdotal reports of customers who order meals well in advance of their arrival because their time is limited.  Rather than wait at their table for a waitress to take their order, they call in advance to save time and have the meal waiting for them upon their arrival.  With this new feature, they can forget the phone and simply place their order online.

With a limited amount of time, employees can still get out of the office for lunch – by ordering in advance, they can get back to work on time.

Again, it all comes back to convenience, even in a Dine-In situation.

Enabling the option for customers to place Dine-In orders is easy through the NetWaiter Management Console.  The updated Reporting section and the new Sales Dashboard also include the Dine-In order statistics.

Online ordering is the best weapon for addressing change in the restaurant industry…

The Orlando Sentinel, citing several respected industry sources, reports that restaurants that have not spent a huge amount of energy trying to capture the lunch crowd are now refocusing their efforts.

Mid-day meals typically mean lower profit margins and diners that are in a hurry.  Competition for the business, however, has forced restaurants to refocus their efforts.  Some restaurants are at a disadvantage here, reports the article, “… when diners eat out at lunch, they often want something quick — a problem for some sit-down chains.”

A weakness for restaurants in the lunch business is the lack of a good online ordering system.  Ordering online is ideal for the mid-day customer who wants to spend a limited time away from their desk or, better yet, get it delivered.

To compete, it’s important to emphasize the convenience of online ordering to customers, either for pickup or delivery.  You can do this through conversations with customers, in-store signage, messages on receipts, and email campaigns through your NetWaiter Management Console.

“A recent industry survey revealed that the lunch crowd accounts for 34% of restaurant traffic,” said Jared Shimoff, Sr. Director at NetWaiter.  “If that’s part of your business, you certainly want to keep it and expand it.  Online ordering is a key tool for that opportunity.”