Using Mobile Apps for Your Restaurant Business during corona crisis
As you are already aware, These corona crises so-called COVID 19 make a big dent on the restaurant industry. Now the news is coming that social distancing can be a normal life routine for the next 18 – 24 months till the time we get a vaccine for this pandemic disease.
So, It is necessary for restaurant business that they should adapt digital culture of food delivery and curbside pick up services as a necessity of the time.
Modern people will forget the days of making appointments or booking a table by way of calling because nowadays all the simple and complex functions are done with just a few clicks on a mobile device through a mobile app. This makes mobile apps an important factor for the success of any kind of business. The same thing applies to restaurant businesses; if they want to succeed they need to have a mobile app so that they can reach their potential clients through their mobile devices.
As mobile technology has significantly changed the system of business operations; we have witnessed the demand for Mobile App Development. Restaurant apps are growing considerably in recent years and so the demand for Restaurant Mobile App Development. Using mobile app technology restaurant owners can make their presence in the market stronger as well as can promote their brand online. There are a lot of benefits associated with using mobile apps for the restaurant business. Let’s have a look at some of the benefits described below:
- Online Pick-up Reservation: There are a lot of mobile applications that connect the users with the restaurants nearby and give them needed details for the order pick up reservation. A number of restaurants through online registration offer their end-users to reserve their order at a time slot of their choice. This helps in minimizing traffic congestion in front of restaurants and maintain proper safety along with it.
- Good Customer Experience: The use of mobile apps in the restaurant provides easy and fast customer experience by reducing wait time and increasing sales. The table booking system is the first thing that comes in mind but it is also not correct to focus only on the table reservation system. The reason is that they don’t ensure ROI for the restaurant owners. The restaurant can face a problem of overcrowding or mismanagement if online bookings are not properly organized. Using mobile apps end users can order their food in advance, which reduces the wait time of customers, and helps the restaurant staff to manage the preparation of food orders smoothly and rapidly. All these things provide the user with great customer experience.
- Easy Menu Access: Easy menu access through a mobile app makes it possible for customers to see what food the restaurant is offering. If the menu consists of appealing pictures of the food items then definitely customers are going to love it. Many restaurants have the digital menu cards uploaded in their Restaurant Mobile App which allows the users to order their food online without any problem with just a few clicks on their mobile phones.
- Retain Users: Mobile apps have good approaches for user retention. Loyalty and reward programs are some of such features that work best when it comes to retaining users. Usually, restaurants used to provide gift cards or coupons in order to retain its users but these are the things that users tend to lose generally. The solution to this is mobile loyalty and reward programs. Customers always want to be rewarded for their loyalty or repeated visits. Making them earn loyalty points for certain actions and then offering them a chance to redeem their points for free menu items, offers, or discounts is a good way to retain them.
- Better Discovery: Mobile application increases the visibility of a restaurant to the customers. Mobile applications help to provide almost every type of information to the customers related to the location, menu, opening and closing hours, etc., about a restaurant. The most important thing is that with the help of mapping services you can discover the exact location of the restaurant also. Restaurant owners can also showcase their interiors, their sitting place and their kitchen area in order to facilitate visual communication between the restaurant owners and their customers. This also helps to create brand awareness. Social sharing features can further extend the brand awareness to the friends and followers of the users on various social media platforms such as Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.
- Sufficient Feedback: The success of any business depends on the feedback of the customers. If you are not having any mode of getting feedback from your customers then no doubt you will never get a chance to know about what problems your customers are facing while using your restaurant mobile app. So, it is very important to have a channel where your customers can give post ratings or feedback about your services as this will not only help you improve your services but at the same time, you can make your customers feel valued and provide them satisfaction through your services. Also, the positive feedback can keep you motivated as well as the other customers to visit your restaurant.
- Expand your Target Audience: People between the age group of 25 to 34 tend to use the mobile application to search for restaurants and make reservations. 25% of the people have at least one mobile application installed on their mobile devices. The customer base of this age group finds it more interesting to use a mobile app of the restaurant as compared to the other age groups. So, to retain this audience the app, the services of the restaurant and the food are the three things that must be taken into consideration.
- Multiple Payment Options: The main advantage of a mobile app is that they offer multiple payment options that are convenient for both the customers as well as restaurants. Customers have the opportunity to pay for their food orders directly through the app choosing the mode of payment through which they want to pay.
- A FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions): Answering a lot of questions of the customers is a tough task but with the help of a mobile app not anymore. Most of the queries that come from customers are common which can be easily answered by a section of the FAQ. Besides that, you can include brief information at each and every stage to help your customers understand your services in a much better way.
- Better ROI through Push Notifications: You can send push notifications to your customers informing them about the new combos or new dishes on weekdays or weekends or holidays in order to get good sales on special occasions. The main point here is timing. You need to send the notification on time, for example, if you are having an offer for a special dinner then you must send push notification in the morning itself. This will help your customers to think and make their mind if they like to visit your restaurant during dinner time.
