When the pandemic hit, restaurants immediately felt the pain as many had to shut their doors, in many cases only for takeout or drive-through service. To alleviate this challenge, mobile apps have become a huge revenue stream for restaurant businesses.
There are many companies that have been very successful in enabling mobile transactions and increasing their revenue. For example, Starbuck is undoubtedly one of the most successful in the industry and paves the way for mobile transactions in the food and beverage business. Their investments in the mobile app have paid off. As the MIT Technology Review mentioned, Starbuck “has emerged as the runaway leader in mobile payments at retail stores.” In 2013, more than 12 million people used their phones to buy coffee at Starbuck, $1.6 billion of revenue was brought in by the mobile app alone. Don’t you think that’s worth the investment? Let’s explore what the benefits of mobile apps are in this article.
Location-Based Deals
With your own mobile app, you can set up push notifications about deals or discounts to people around your location to lure them into your restaurant. The notifications can even be sent during meal time when guests are more hungry and likely to be looking for food. This is a great strategy for customer retention, especially if your restaurant has more than one location.
Easier Internal Order Fulfillment
Mobile apps make it easier to fulfill your orders. Instead of having someone to constantly man the phones and manually take orders, orders and special requests are conveyed faster and more accurately. The people responsible for filling orders can see plain and clear exactly what needs to be made with minimal mistakes.
Increased Sales Amongst Millennials
According to Food Tech Connect, 98% of 18 to 34 year-olds who’ve paid a bill via mobile would like to do so again. But beyond simply paying, 35% like to place their orders on smartphone or tablet, and 40% actually prefer a mobile payment over other options, especially for restaurants offering quicker service.
Social Sharing
Getting your customers to share positive experiences on social media is a great way to encourage positive word-of-mouth and increase your trustworthiness. It will also boost your reputation in the mind of the public, leading to positive business development over time.
In 2014, Coca-Cola launched the “Share a coke” campaign using 250 of the most popular American names. Consumers will share their experience with friends and family and then tweet about their experiences on Twitter with the hashtag #ShareaCoke. The campaign has garnered 18,300,000-plus media impressions and traffic on the Coke Facebook site increased by 870%.
Even though the pandemic has caused considerable damage to restaurants’ finances, mobile orders are still coming in frequently. In fact, mobile food ordering has never been more popular as a powerful tool to help restaurants overcome lockdown-related challenges.
