The importance of online ordering and supporting businesses directly during the second lockdown

Ken’s Beijiing (https://kensbeijing.f4food.net/home/onlineorder) – by eatPOS

On 5 November, England went under a second lockdown with restrictions we haven’t since before July, including the closure of pubs, bars & restaurants. Hospitality businesses have had to adapt with the new restrictions with new ways of ordering via delivery/click & collect services.

This article will outline the growing benefits of having an online ordering platform and how we can help to streamline your business.

It is a trend that’s growing and here to stay. Consumer Data released by Barclaycard in January this year shows that takeaway food is growing at a rapid rate, whilst people are spending less and less in brick and mortar restaurants. Not only that, but today’s diners (especially Millennials and Gen Z) are opting to use the internet to order food rather than picking up the phone. Just over the pond in America, orders placed via smartphone and mobile apps are set to become a $38 billion industry this year! With the global pandemic and lockdown measures in place, online ordering will surely be the biggest revenue stream for a lot of hospitality outlets this year, and we want you to benefit.

MCA Insight predicts that the market will be worth £9.8 billion by 2021, and it’s important to note that over half of home delivery and takeaway orders are now placed online. If you want to succeed, you must meet the needs of your clientele.

Keep your customer data & make it your own. With our online ordering platform, we let you take control. The ability to manage your business from our intuitive back office, the ability to change opening times, house styles, and photos.

Dough pizza, is an example of this. With images of their pizza, custom colours to match their business house style, and allergen prompts to bring awareness to allergies/preferences customers may have. Whether your customer is vegan, has a nut allergy, or cannot tolerate milk, our online ordering makes it quick and easy to distinguish this with our allergen icons.

Dough Pizza (https://dough-pizza.f4food.net/home/onlineorder) – by eatPOS

Unlike other online ordering platforms, eatPOS allows you to build that all important customer database, which can help empower your business and build a strong relation with your clientele with promotional offers & exclusive information.

Service with a smile. At eatPOS we pride ourselves on providing top notch software with the best support in the hospitality tech industry. Our dedicated sales consultants are also trained on basic installation & support, we are not here to sell you our services and leave you in the dark, we make sure your eatPOS solution is up and running to how it was negotiated.

We guarantee to have your online ordering solution up and running within 48-72 hours, and under circumstances we can be even quicker. We know how important it is for hospitality businesses to continue trading during this second lockdown, we as an industry have been impacted severely & and some would say unfairly treated and we must continue to support each other & local businesses.

Most customers would prefer to cut out the middle man. One big barrier stopping businesses from making the transition to online ordering are the hefty fees that are associated with it. Companies such as Deliveroo & JustEat are taking up to a whopping 30% commission from their orders.

Now we know that 70% of consumers would rather order directly from a restaurant, In an article with Preoday, a London-based provider of digital ordering found customers are more inclined to support businesses directly, with 70% preferring that their money goes straight to the restaurant, and not a third party. In said survey, 82% of operators said fees charged by third party providers were too high, and so businesses have realised it is not worth paying such high fees for a delivery & collection service.

We understand that businesses have had to adapt to what we call, the new normal. We know how daunting it can be for businesses to begin trading in a completely different way. The future of brick & mortar businesses within hospitality is inevitably changing as we shift to online ordering. From the software company with actual hospitality experience, eatPOS is here to help your business continue trading during these unprecedented times with our online ordering solution & complimentary products. We offer service with a smile, we aren’t here to sell you our services and leave you in the dark, we want to help your business continue trading during this second lockdown, and beyond that. Feel free get in touch with our expert team at eatPOS. We can help you design and create your very own delivery website and app for your business without any scary fees.