5 Reasons Why Restaurants need a Mobile App
You know what’s an in-thing this season? A branded mobile app for Restaurants. Gone are those days when cafes and food joints used to heavily rely on traditional form of advertising to communicate with masses. It is time to press the update button and welcome yourself to the world of mobile applications ASAP. Because, believe it or not, the world has become ‘mobile’ and is always on the wheels. So in order to catch up, your restaurant needs to wear rollerblades. In simple words, you must get your own customized mobile app to stay ahead of your game. Creating an ordering app for your business has become easier than ever with the evolution of SaaS.
is interesting to note that restaurant businesses top the list of industries going mobile. The recent survey by SinglePlatform highlighted that 81% of smartphone users used a mobile app to search for a restaurant in the past six months. Besides, other studies have also stated a sharp increase in restaurant website traffic from 3% in 2009 to 43% in 2014. Apart from this, Restaurant Technology Study 2014 has predicted a significant increase in technology budgets over the next 2 years, with next rollouts focused on Mobile and Customer Relationship Management.
We agree that a mobile ready website solves the purpose of providing basic information about the restaurant. But a branded mobile app offers much more than that. It gives your restaurant an edge and sets you apart from your competitors. Moreover, developing a branded mobile app is basically helping your customer link directly to you, as he/she can get in touch with your services by just clicking that shining icon on his/her smartphone. This is much better than making your customers go to an aggregation website and increasing the chances of making them stumble across your competitors while they are trying to hunt for you.
Still confused about why your restaurant needs a mobile app? Let’s dig deeper into some of the assorted benefits of restaurant mobile app:
1) Increase your Customer Base and Engagement
Developing a mobile app can open unlimited doors of opportunities for restaurants. They can directly interact with tech-savvy and hyper connected (potential) customers in order to increase brand awareness, and stimulate sales and footfall. A well designed restaurant mobile app can not only grab the attention of new and potential customers, but can also keep them engaged in numerous ways. For instance: by offering features like quick-and-easy order-pay-takeaway (or delivery) with just couple of clicks, you can target busy professionals who are pressed for time and avoid long queues. Apart from this, customers can be encouraged to use social media platform to like and (or) follow the official page, check-in and (or) spread the positive word of mouth, helping you bridge the gap between your restaurant and new customers.
2) Improve dining experience
It is crucial for any restaurant to enhance the in-house experience of their customers, by making each and every step easy and convenient for them. This can be done with the help of a branded restaurant mobile app. By revamping the tedious process of reserving a table, ordering food, customizing the order, etc. into just a click-job, you can reduce the wait-time for not only your customers but also for your staff. Moreover, such apps can give an option to users to view their previous order and reorder it again, anytime and anywhere. Using platforms like PayPal, the hassle of making payments can be solved for customers. Lastly, a restaurant mobile app can be used to collect valuable feedback and comments from customers, and keep a track of their reviews and opinions for further improvement.
3) Bring Back your Customers
Customer retention plays a very important role in guaranteeing the successful running of any restaurant business. Hence, it is important to build good relations and communicate regularly with them in order to keep them intrigued and engaged. And there is no better way than using a mobile solution, which is equivalent to the mini version of your restaurant in the customer’s pocket. You can use different promotional methods to bring back the customer. For instance: customer, who reorders the same food items he/she ordered during his previous visit and (or) online delivery, can enjoy attractive discounts. Furthermore, they can be urged to use mobile coupons only available on apps. Besides, you can also make home delivery and pre-ordering an easy process for customers. Aggressive loyalty programs on the app, like collecting points and redeeming them during the next order, can be used to keep luring them towards the branded mobile app.
4) Optimize turnaround time per order
Restaurant mobile apps can be used as a magic wand by the restaurant staff as well. With spells like ‘directly order using app”, waiters can save lot of time and increase their productivity. Reserving the table and pre-ordering the food by using the mobile app can not only quicken the rate of table turning, but can also improve customer satisfaction. Apart from this, the concept of tabletop e-waiters can come in really handy during peak hours, as it can help cut off 5-10 minutes of average diner’s time.
5) Know Your Customers
In the hospitality industry, it is quintessential to build strong bond with customers. Fortunately, we have mobile apps for restaurants that provide excellent opportunities to collect real time insight and data on customer behavior. Like what customers spend, why they spend and what they spend on every time they are interacting with your restaurant. For instance, one can accumulate rich data on demographics, order history, preferences, special occasions, etc. and use this information to create a personalized dining experience for the customers. And it will not be wrong to assume that this personal touch will touch their hearts.
2014 is not about working hard, but about working SMART. And restaurants, that have understood this mantra of going SMART on SMART phones, are enjoying the tag of ‘SMART Boy’ awarded by industry experts and customers. So the question is, why are you still waiting for Christmas? Add a tablespoon of ‘mobile app’ to your business and enjoy the unlimited favors of customer satisfaction and increasing revenue.
Yelo, a ready-to-adapt mobile solution for all types of restaurants, provides infinite opportunities to increase ROI and keep the customers engaged. In case you have any enquiries regarding restaurants mobile apps and Bistro, feel free to contact us.
No comments yet.