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.

The statistics are stunning: 95% of smartphone users conduct restaurant searches, and 64% of those searches convert to purchases within one hour.  Knowing this, it’s important to understand that mobile websites come with their own specific set of challenges.  Here’s what to keep in mind:

Keep it quick. Think about your own experiences.  When you’re using your smartphone to look up information, you could be in your car, walking in or out of an appointment, or traveling.  Time is a premium.  Your mobile site should include the important things within one click (i.e. a link to your online menu and online ordering).  Quick access is important.

Highlight your menu.  Sixty percent of consumers say a menu is the most important factor in selecting a restaurant online.  Keep that menu updated, too.  No one likes bad information, especially when it’s directly from the source.

Keep your brand prominent.  Who you are is important.  Make sure your logo and colors are reflected on the first page and all other pages of your mobile site.

Choose the right mobile partner.  At NetWaiter, we quickly saw the potential of online ordering from smartphones.  That’s why every NetWaiter client gets a custom mobile website for online ordering, branded to their restaurant.  Furthermore, we make it easy to update your mobile menu and settings through the NetWaiter Management Console. 

Social Embarrassment, in connection to a restaurant order, is a term that refers to a customer who holds back and doesn’t order everything they want - the extra toppings on a pizza, for example, or chili fries rather than regular fries - for fear the employee will judge them for their selections (unhealthy or otherwise).  If you remove human interaction from the ordering process, customers will have no shame ordering the high-calorie, and often more expensive, options.

For example, a regional pizza chain that implemented online ordering quickly noticed a shift in the nature of orders coming from customers who previously called in.  Social embarrassment seemed to no longer be a factor.  Customers loaded on additional toppings, spending an average of 61 cents more per order.

Although social embarrassment is surely a factor in human interactions at a restaurant, there is another, and perhaps more significant factor, at work here.  It deals with the social embarrassment of stumbling through a phone order with an employee who is also doing three other jobs.  Add in the background noise of ringing phones, other customers, and the kitchen and the result is a customer who feels pressured to keep their order simple and fast.  It’s not worth the hassle.  They will forego the double cheese and the sun-dried tomatoes on just half of the pizza (those are extra toppings and extra profits).

NetWaiter online ordering, though, takes this out of the equation because customers have full control of their ordering experience, without any pressure.

The other social embarrassment alleviated by online ordering is the pressure on employees who just don’t like to sell.  Most restaurant owners will agree that extra profits are lost because employees don’t always (or properly) upsell customers. NetWaiter, however, does this automatically.

People criticize the ever-increasing trend of taking human interaction out of business transactions.  It turns out, though; there are more benefits (for everyone involved) than downfalls when it comes to online ordering for restaurants.

January 1 is rapidly approaching. There is no better time to go over a list of things that will help you maximize the benefit of your NetWaiter online ordering system. 

1. One Click Access from your Homepage.  Attention spans on websites are measured in nanoseconds.  Don’t make your customer look – have at least one link clearly visible, at the top of your homepage.  Have at least one more button, shown consistently in the same place, on every page of your website.

2. Don’t Post a Link to Any Portal Listing.  Portals bring in the occasional new customer who might not have found your restaurant otherwise.  The costs, however, can be up to four times, or more, than NetWaiter.  Let portals send you new customers, not the other way around.  Remember, almost half of customers visiting a portal site (47.1%) said they clicked over to the restaurant’s own website to order their food once they found a restaurant they liked.  Capturing those customers is critical to save money.

3. Menu Priority.  Your online menu needs to be well crafted, just like your table menu.  The most profitable dishes, or those most popular with your customers, should have prominent positioning towards the top of each category.

4. Updated Menus.  Keep your online menu updated.  It only takes a second through your NetWaiter Management Console.  This is a big one: 68% of people are not likely to visit a restaurant, café, or bar after encountering incorrect online information about the business.

5. Don’t Forget About… Appetizers, desserts, and drinks are categories most frequently overlooked in takeout orders.  Make sure the hierarchy of your up-selling categories gives preference to these types of items. 

6. Market, Market, Market.  Use the database from your NetWaiter Management Console to promote off-hours business, special offers, and other incentives to make sure your favorite customers are well informed and come back often.

7. Seeing is Believing.  Photos sell product.  Are you making maximum use of photos on your NetWaiter site?  Click here for some tips and to learn more about the impact of photos with online ordering. 

8. Encourage New Customers.  Do you have an incentive for a first-time online customer?  The long-term value of an online customer is huge (considerably more than a phone-in customer), and the best part is – you can track it.  Consider offering an ongoing discount for first-time online customers (maybe 15% off, or more).

9. Take Advantage of Online Payments.  68% of customers pay online with NetWaiter, and the figure is even higher for delivery orders.  This saves time for both you and your customers.  In addition, the funds are deposited directly into your bank account. 

Customers resort to online searches, especially through their smartphones, to find restaurant information more and more these days.  Bad online information, however, can hurt you.  A recent industry study revealed that 68% of people are not likely to visit a restaurant, café, or bar after encountering incorrect online information about the business.

Here are a few tips about managing your restaurant’s online presence:

Know Where You Are Listed - The numerous online outlets—Yelp, Foursquare and others—enable customers to identify, rate, and comment on the restaurants they patronize.  Be sure to regularly search for your restaurant online.  If you find a place where you are not listed, check into what it takes to get listed.  More importantly, if you see incorrect information, have it fixed ASAP.

Know What Counts - The aforementioned study also said that 60% of consumers say the menu is the most important factor in selecting a restaurant online.  For all of your online listings, you can link customers to your custom NetWaiter menu.  It will be available to consumers online and via mobile.  Photos are good, too – a few pictures of your restaurant (inside and out) are helpful selling tools.

Keep Online Information Updated - Remember, nobody likes a restaurant with bad or outdated online information.  Check and update your information regularly.  And most importantly:

Make sure your restaurant’s online ordering capabilities via NetWaiter are prominent - The quicker you can get customers to your online ordering site and placing their order, the better your bottom line will be. 

Pre-paid orders are one of the best benefits for restaurants using online ordering.  The question is: how many of your customers take advantage of this option? Recent internet reports cite less than 19% of customers choose to pre-pay online.

Our figures are substantially different. With NetWaiter, we see 68% of customers choosing to pre-pay for their online order, if given the chance.  For delivery orders, that number jumps to 77%.

Pre-paying for an online order is just one of the ways NetWaiter streamlines the takeout business.  A customer who pre-pays can quickly pick up their order.  There is no fumbling with money or credit cards at the cash register.  It’s a time saver, especially during those peak hours, for both restaurant and customer.

Some NetWaiter restaurants report frequent instances of twenty or thirty online customers during their lunch rush.  Imagine the logjam that would be caused if they didn’t pre-pay online for their order.

Another major advantage NetWaiter provides restaurants is immediate access to their funds.  Some online services charge customers and do not transfer the payments to the restaurant for as long as a month.  NetWaiter allows restaurants to charge their customers directly and the money is immediately deposited into their merchant account.

“Allowing a third-party to take control of your receivables and then hold your money for up to 30 days is never a good business move,” said Jared Shimoff, Senior Director at NetWaiter. “Then again, if less than 19% of customers chose to pre-pay with that service, you’re probably not missing much!” 

Why does NetWaiter have higher rates for pre-payment?  A significant reason is that we are constantly evolving the NetWaiter system, making changes to increase convenience and improve the customer experience.  Cleary, the results show – producing 3 to 4 times the number of pre-paid customers.

According to the Pew Research Center, as of 2013, 56% of all adults living in the U.S. have a smartphone.  Even more notable, within the important demographic range of 18 to 49 years of age (a sweet spot for online ordering customers), the number of smartphone owners jumps to 74.5%.

That works out to about 137 million people with smartphones.  It is still too early to say and be taken seriously, but we, at NetWaiter, believe online and mobile ordering is to restaurants what drive-thru windows were to fast-food places in the '60s - a game changer for how the public gets their takeout food.

Online ordering, however, offers enhanced accessibility from a customer's mobile device.  That's why NetWaiter places so much emphasis on mobile ordering and provides each client their own branded mobile site for easy menu navigation and ordering.   Consider these recent statistics from Google:

•    95% of smartphone users conduct restaurant searches.
•    64% of those searches convert to purchases in one hour; 90% convert within one day.
•    77% of those using NetWaiter for a delivery order prefer to prepay online rather than pay in person.
•    30%: The average industry increase in ticket size seen from mobile and online orders.

The NetWaiter Management Console captures and tracks information about your online customers.  You can also use it to send out email campaigns.  As you know, however, not all emails get opened.  It's all about the subject line.  These tips will help your emails get opened more often.

1. Exclusivity - Your customers like to be called VIPs, get invitations, and sent limited time offers.  These are words that make them act.

2. Don't Shout - Capital letters on the web signify that you are SHOUTING AT PEOPLE.  Also, too many words in upper case tend to get flagged by Spam filters.

3. Avoid Problem Words - Stay away from the words free, help, percent off and reminder in your email title.  They negatively affect open rates.

4. Go Negative – As sad as it sounds, titles with negative words have higher open rates.  Use words and phrases like worst, absolutely wrong, and no fewer.  Sample: Don't wait in line, order online at (your restaurant).

5. People Don't Like to Read - Don't say in a paragraph what you can say in a bullet point.  Bullets are more likely to get read.

6. Keep It Short - 27% of emails are opened on mobile devices, and even short messages look long on those smaller screens.  Keep the subject line to a few words. 

One of the things we like to do at NetWaiter is provide restaurants as much information as possible about the benefits of adding online ordering to your business plan.  A version of the following article recently appeared in Restaurant Hospitality Magazine.

A 30% boost in your takeout business within a matter of weeks.  What restaurant owner would not want that?

Those are the kinds of success stories we hear over and over from restaurateurs who have made online ordering part of their marketing plan.

Every day, restaurant owners are confronted with the costs of doing business.  The fixed expenses and staples are no brainers – rent, utilities, payroll for a great staff, the cost of quality food, etc.  The more difficult expenditures are discretionary ones like marketing. Where can a restaurant spend to get the best ROI?  Owners are bombarded with choices daily.

When asked, many successful restaurant owners have a similar response: “Online ordering has been one of our most profitable investments.  NetWaiter should be at the top of every restaurant’s to-do list if they don’t already have it.”

Companies such as NetWaiter offer a fully branded online ordering service through a restaurant’s website (a NetWaiter site can be customized with the look and brand the restaurant).  Customers order in seconds from an online menu.  They can make special requests, indicate future delivery or pickup times, and even make payments (NetWaiter electronically deposits the money to the restaurant immediately).  Custom delivery zones can be set by the restaurant (if they offer delivery), or customers can come in and pick up their order.  

The benefit to customers is convenience. They can order from anywhere (desktop, iPad, Smartphone, etc.). Imagine a mother getting off work. While still in the parking lot, she can order dinner from a restaurant and pick it up on her way home.  There is also the control given to the customer. Since they placed the order, there is less chance of error.  Customers who use online ordering typically use it again and again, quickly becoming regular customers.

Customized online ordering is a game changer for restaurants.  Using a restaurant portal that promotes online ordering for a variety of restaurants is very expensive (10-20%+).  Online ordering via a custom ordering site, such as NetWaiter, creates more business and is significantly more cost effective.  In addition, restaurants get a great tool that builds loyalty and extends and strengthens their brand.  Some NetWaiter clients even have ROIs in excess of 7,800% (the average is closer to 2,000%).

Where can a restaurant get a better ROI with their marketing dollar than online ordering?  There are many marketing options available, but none can come close to the ROI of a custom online ordering site.

When they first came out, daily deals like Groupon swept across the industry.  Smart restaurateurs, however, realized them for what they were—a trap.  An article in The New York Times more than two years ago addressed the pitfalls of these services:  "The consumers were being told: You will never pay full price again.  The merchants were hearing: You are going to get new customers who will stick around and pay full price.  Disappointment was inevitable."

Years ago, a newspaper advertisement might have been a restaurant’s ‘go-to’ way to bring in business.  Readership has dropped significantly, though, and even when newspapers were widely read, buying an ad didn’t provide a very good ROI.  It’s very hard to measure the success of such an advertisement unless you offer a redeemable discount.  Those discounts, however, significantly impact the ROI of the advertisement. 

Even more modern and effective marketing and advertising opportunities, such as email, loyalty programs, text marketing, social media marketing, etc. (which are all certainly worthwhile to deploy) would have a hard time beating the ROI of online ordering.

According to a study and paper done by The School for Hospitality Leadership at Cornell University, one of the things that draws customers to online ordering is convenience.  Once they experience it, they use it again and again.  Plus, because NetWaiter is integrated with Facebook, it allows people to share their ordering experience with their friends.  The more people ordering online, the more people learn about the restaurant’s online ordering site.

The Bottom Line – Why would you not offer online ordering?  There is no replacement for a well-run online ordering system such as NetWaiter, which gives customers the control and convenience of ordering takeout and delivery online.  Other marketing opportunities can’t come close to the ROI an online ordering site can produce.  Just as our clients say – online ordering should be at the top of the list for every restaurant.

Google's Think Insights recently published statistics that reminded us that not only is it important to have a mobile website, but it is also important to have a mobile website that delivers users quickly to what is important.

First, the broad view:

• When they visited a mobile website, 74% of people say they're more likely to return to that site in the future.
• 67% of mobile users say that when they visit a mobile website, they're more likely to buy a site's product or service.
• 48% said that if a site didn't work well on their smartphones, it made them feel like the company didn't care about their business.

Then there is the importance of a functional mobile website.

• 61% of users said that if they didn't find what they were looking for right away on a mobile website, they'd quickly move on to another site.
• 79% of people who don't like what they find on one site will go back and search for another site.
• 50% of people said that even if they like a business, they will use them less often if the website isn't mobile-friendly.

Think in terms of what an online ordering customer is looking for. Menu is at the top of the list. On the mobile website pages NetWaiter makes available for client restaurants, we design them so that the prospective customer is taken directly to the menu.

When designing a mobile  website, make sure a link to the menu is clearly visible on the first screen.