Success factors in the restaurant industry

Receiving many online orders is no accident. It's about identifying the success factors in the restaurant industry and executing a few things well. The most important aspect of a restaurant's online presence should be its website.

Make the website the core of your restaurant marketing.

The website should be optimized for sales and mobile devices, as a large proportion of orders will come from mobile phones. The website should load quickly and provide customers with direct information on how to place an order.

And the more pictures of food the restaurant adds, and the less clutter, the better. People want to see what they can eat. They're not interested in the founders' life story.

The website should also rank highly in Google.

If the restaurant does not have a website or they are not satisfied with the one they have, they can activate a sales-optimized website within the system (Admin panel -> Settings -> Publish -> Sales-optimized website).

Choose a domain name that's easy to remember. For example, our demo restaurant is called www.pronto-ny.com. Take a look to see what the potential website could look like.

To test whether the website has any errors, use the website checker within the system:

• Go to Admin -> Online Status -> Website Quality -> Website Auditor.
• Click on “Next”.

• Enter the website URL, then click “Verify Website”.

• You can find the website status in the menu on the left under "Status". The system displays issues related to the domain name, visitor conversion rates, search engine optimization, speed, and security.
• To learn more about each issue, click the down arrow on the right.
• To resolve the issues, click "Fix this" to send a detailed email to the webmaster and ask them to fix the problems.

Once you have created the best possible website, make it the center of your restaurant marketing.

Claim your Google My Business page and optimize your profile.

Listing the restaurant in Google My Business helps improve the restaurant's visibility in local search, provides important information for the restaurant's customers, and helps the restaurant's website rank better on Google.

The business profile can be claimed by the restaurant account owner by following Google's instructions.

Use Facebook for additional orders and engagement.

Facebook is a popular method for generating attention, which in turn generates more menu/website visitors, inevitably leading to increased sales.

An efficient restaurant Facebook page:

• is regularly updated (at least once or twice a week) with information on menu changes, special offers, events, new items on the menu, etc.;
• The restaurant's website contains this information on its info page and in its regular posts;
• has high-quality pictures of the food;
• has an order button with a call to action;
• The restaurant's full contact information is clearly visible (name, address, telephone number(s), email address(es), etc.).

Create a Yelp profile that links back to the website.

Yelp is a website where customers look when they're hungry and searching for restaurants. Create a Yelp business profile and add a link to your website to get more business.

Create a TripAdvisor profile that links back to the website.

One of the key elements for success in the restaurant industry is a presence on third-party review platforms. TripAdvisor can increase search engine visibility and attract more customers to your restaurant. After setting up your profile, add a link back to your website so customers can click through and quickly place an order.

Set up a promotional offer and share it offline and online.

The key to success in the restaurant and catering business is knowing when to run promotions. Offer new offline customers a promotional offer (e.g., 15% off their first online order with a minimum order value of €20). Make this offer available only to new customers. This small discount can serve as an incentive for them to order online.

Here's how to create a new promotion via the platform:

• Go to Admin -> Marketing -> Promotions -> Your Promotions -> Add Promotional Offer.

Then use the promo deal on a variety of materials:

• In a social media post;
• A poster that can be affixed on site;
• A flyer that can be distributed nearby and/or placed in any pocket to promote the website to walk-in customers and telephone customers offline;
• A flyer that can be placed on every table in the restaurant.

Make sure you invite new customers to place an order by importing emails and phone numbers so the system can send them a one-time invitation on behalf of the restaurant - check out the Kickstarter section:

Monitor the connection status

A good connection means that the app is open for order acceptance and customers can therefore place orders.

Make sure to monitor the connection status or train restaurant staff to do so that no orders are missed. To do this:



• Go to Admin -> Reports -> Advanced -> Connection Status. The report will show if there are any connectivity problems.

Try leaving a personal message on the box or package.

One of the most important success factors for a restaurant is the "personal" touch. This will always have an emotional impact on the customer and lead to more orders.

Here is an example of a customer who received this package and posted the photo on their Facebook page, where they tagged the restaurant:

In summary: Finalize the restaurant's menu, add pictures of the food, then publish it prominently on the website and make sure everyone knows that the restaurant now offers online ordering through its website.