Launching later this month, NetWaiter's new Group Ordering feature will allow offices and other groups to order more easily.

When someone visits your NetWaiter online ordering site, they will have the opportunity to organize a Group Order.  To start a Group Order, the organizer simply invites friends or co-workers to join their group.  NetWaiter provides the ability to easily enter the email addresses of invitees, along with the option to include a message.  Each person receiving the email can accept or decline the invitation.  If they join the group, they are immediately guided to the restaurant’s menu to select their items.  When done, their items are submitted back to the organizer.  Once all orders have been collected, the host can submit the Group Order, along with payment and their desired pickup/delivery time.

The organizer can view their Group Order and the progress of each invitee.  The Group Order status shows the organizer who has accepted/declined the invitation, who is browsing the menu, and the order information from the people that have completed their order.

The group ordering function includes several convenient features for organizers, including the ability to save invitees.  The next time an organizer places a Group Order, they can automatically select people to include that they previously invited.  The host can also delete names as needed.  In addition, if someone was left out of a Group Order that should have been included, the organizer can invite them, even if the order is in progress.

Online group ordering is a major benefit for both customers and restaurants.  For instance, if an office is having a staff meeting during lunch, it’s easy for employees to initiate a Group Order at a local restaurant.  This saves the hassle of everyone ordering individually.  From the restaurant’s perspective, the orders are larger and more organized for easy preparation.

Group Orders mean more convenience, and for restaurants, more convenience means more business.

“If you can’t measure it, you can’t improve it.” Those were the words of the late Peter Drucker, one of the top management experts, an educator, and consultant with businesses across the world.  Knowledge is power!

So, what do you know about your takeout customers?  If a customer called to place their order – you probably don’t know anything about them.  If they ordered online, you know a lot.

An added value of online customers (above and beyond their larger orders) is the customer information you receive, and something you don’t get from phone orders.  You can see patterns, track results, and view a customer’s history/profile.

With this in mind, NetWaiter will soon be offering enhancements to the NetWaiter Management Console that allow restaurants to access more statistics about their online customers.  Owners and managers will be able to quickly break down and compare information regarding mobile vs. non-mobile orders, pickup vs. delivery, orders that are paid online vs. orders that are paid in-person, and group ordering.

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