Why is it time to have your own Restaurant Food Ordering App instead of using Third-Party App Services?
The economies of the different parts of the world are trying to recover from the pandemic crisis of COVID 19 but still business doesn’t reach back to the pre-pandemic period. It’s a period to grow business as well as save overheads to sustain in this difficult time. Restaurants face a lot of problems when they rely on third-party food ordering and delivery services and don’t have their own food ordering mobile apps or food ordering web platform.
Some of them are detailed below:
- Order Handling is a Daunting Task: Every third-party ordering system sends orders in different ways such as some use email some use bespoke tablets. This is a daunting task for those who are responsible for taking these orders and passing it to the kitchen. It happens that the restaurants sometimes miss one or more orders and get a penalty by getting a one-star review or negative feedback.
Also, when the third-party handles the multiple orders at one time, there is no surety that your food will be delivered first or last. Although, some restaurants pack their food order in such a way so that it reaches the customers in the best condition without being cold and soggy. But it depends on the rider that it will be delivered hot or cold. Whatever will be the case bad or good rating will come to the restaurant brand only.
- Customers Don’t Get Engaged with the Brand rather they become the Customers of the third party: Another problem using the third-party food ordering and delivery is that when customers are using an online ordering service they are more engaged with the app company nor with the restaurant, because it is the app company which gives them all the information such as from where their food is coming from, when it will get delivered, in fact, they pay the app. There is only one time when they interact with the restaurant’s brand, i.e., when they taste the food otherwise all the interaction happens with the app company only.
From the above description, it is clear that the customer’s interaction with the restaurant is only 10% or even equals to none and the rest happens with the third party ordering app company. They don’t get to communicate with the restaurant employees and they never view the branding & hospitality efforts of the restaurants.
- Restaurant’s Reputation is at Stake: When something goes wrong with the food order like if the food is not fresh, cold, soggy, or messy it is the restaurant that is blamed if anything goes wrong. Mostly, customers blame the restaurant, not the food ordering company app or delivery service. This is not enough they also get criticisms on social media. Negative reviews and low ratings are enough to put down the reputation of a restaurant and it takes months to get back its positive image.
Having your own food ordering platform gives you full control to maintain the commitment and quality of services for your customer.
- Hefty Commission Fees: Restaurants have to pay hefty commission fees to third-parties apps in exchange for their services. For example, GrubHub charges 18 percent of commission fees from more than 80000 restaurants across its whole network. 35 percent of commission is charged by Uber Eats for each order.
Having your own food ordering mobile app gives you the clear advantage of saving around 18-35% on each online ordered order from the customer.
- Third-Party Delivery Does Not Deliver Scalability: A lot of restaurants in the initial days of their business like to share a percentage of sales to third-party delivery services in exchange for getting new customers. Although most such businesses already function on thin margins of 10-20 percent, therefore, they soon understand that it is going to be very hard for them to grow and sustain their business of restaurants in the long run.
Whereas third-party companies flourish their growth on your customer database.
- You don’t Get Customer Data: Working with third-party agencies leaves you with no data from your customers which is very important for you to have as it helps you understand your customers in a better manner. Also, when it comes to your marketing strategies or any promotional campaigns, lack of customer data can affect your sales and you will not be able to retain your valuable customers also.
Whereas most of the time Restaurants need to spend more on advertisements on third party ordering apps to be highlighted in front of the customer. Again more expenses for the restaurant business and more revenues for third party companies. Whereas your customer data goes directly to the third party companies, not towards your investment.
To deal with all the above-stated problems it is important to have own Branded Restaurant Food Ordering App instead of using third-party delivery services as it has a lot of advantages and is fruitful for your restaurant business:
- Full Control over Staff: The very first advantage is that you have full control over the staff as you have hired them on your own. You can direct your staff on each and everything as you want from the way of treating customers to the processes involved till the food delivery. Although, for that you need to train your staff and once they are trained they will perform according to your choice and methods.
- You can Serve Your Customers Better: Besides the full control over your operations, you can be sure that your customers are getting served in a better way so that they can be satisfied. For example, if you are having everything in your control you can instruct the delivery person to carry extra ketchup or seasonings along with the order of your customer. This small gesture will help you retain your customers.
This gesture is not possible to do if you are working with a third-party as it will not act according to you because you have no control over the personnel working with third-party delivery services. Also, restaurant management software can be used to track the activities of all delivery persons. A good POS can provide you detailed insight about what your delivery persons are doing like their attendance, the time taken by them for delivering orders, feedback, etc. - Customer Loyalty in Increased: Restaurants agree to share their profit margins with third-party delivery services in order to get new customers who will become their loyal customers but the reality is different. Once the customer is done with the order, it is the third-party delivery service that owns the customers, not the restaurants which means the customer’s loyalty shifts to third-party platforms. Having your own app retains your customers with your only so your customer loyalty is increased.
- Access to Insightful Customer Data: Knowing your customers is very essential for creating a personalized experience for your customers which is possible when you have access to customer data. Restaurants rarely have access to customer data when they function with third-party delivery services due to which they miss out knowing who their loyal customers are, what are their taste and preferences in order to personalize their experience and increase sales.
Having your own app can help you gain access to customer data and you can send them promotional offers, discounts to loyal customers in order to encourage repeat orders. For instance, if you see that you are selling 30 percent more chicken rolls on Thursday nights, then you can increase your sales by including chicken rolls as a bundle with other promotions.
