Does Your Pizzeria Really Need an App for Online Ordering?
Pizzeria owners have a lot to manage, from inventory and labor scheduling to menu decisions and delivery services. Do you really need to add a mobile app for your restaurant? Absolutely!
A restaurant app can help you achieve a lot for your pizzeria:
- Remain competitive: The majority of digital orders (6 out of 10) are made by mobile apps these days, and growing numbers of customers say the presence of a mobile ordering app influences their choice of restaurant. Your competition likely offers a restaurant app, so you should as well if you want to stay relevant.
- Boost sales: According to one study, 70% of consumers would rather order directly from a restaurant instead of a third-party service. By offering an app, you are staying more top-of-mind, which leads to more sales (and online sales tend to be higher than those placed in person). You can also use push notifications through your app to send offers to customers regularly, increasing the likelihood of placed orders.
- Strengthen loyalty: An app allows you to connect on a deeper level with your customers and increase engagement by offering another touchpoint of communication. People today are glued to their smartphones, and they want to feel connected to the brands they love. By reaching them on the avenues they use the most, you can better appeal to them and be heard.
If you’re ready to see what a restaurant app can do for your pizzeria, here are some tips on how to get the maximum benefit from it:
1. Ensure Your Restaurant App has Advanced Integration
It is crucial to ensure that your app has integration capabilities with your other systems, specifically your point of sale (POS) system, so that you are able to:
- Quickly make menu changes. With an integrated app, you can make menu adjustments from anywhere, anytime, and have all ordering platforms updated simultaneously. This function is essential if you want to add a new menu item, make a pricing or promotion change, or run out of an ingredient and need to pull an item for the day.
- Ensure an omnichannel experience. You want your users to have the same great experience with your pizzeria, whether it’s in person, online, or on your app. With an integrated app, you can ensure that all menu items, promotions, and information are consistent no matter how a customer chooses to interact with you. For example, you don’t want a customer to see a buy one get one pizza deal at your restaurant but then go to order on their app and not be able to find or use the deal. That situation would likely result in a lost sale.
- Collect customer information. If your restaurant app isn’t integrated, you won’t be able to keep track of customer info from the people who have used it. An integrated app helps you collect new customer info from the app and add it to your database of customers, as well as update current contact info and loyalty rewards.
2. Create an Effortless User Experience within Your App
You want your customers to have an effortless experience with all touchpoints of your pizzeria, and a restaurant app is no exception. Make sure that your app is designed to provide the best possible experience for your customers, so that they can easily:
- Browse your menu
- Place online orders
- Check their loyalty program status
- Save payment information for future orders
- Add and remove multiple delivery addresses
- Create future orders
- View their last order
- Save favorite orders
Customers crave convenience, and this is especially true for mobile app usage. By giving guests an easy, seamless way to connect and order from your pizzeria, you are strengthening their overall customer experience and increasing guest retention rate.
3. Place a High Priority on Restaurant App Security
Customers shouldn’t have to worry about the safety of their payment and contact information when interacting with your brand. If a customer has just one bad experience with your restaurant, they are likely to never return again.
According to one source, 81% of users would uninstall an app and find another because of security concerns. Make sure that through your app, you have a secure, encrypted payment processor that you know and trust. Also, look for an app that has no third-party payment gateway and no per-transaction fees for credit card authorizations.
4. Promote Your Restaurant App to Your Pizza Customers
Launching and improving a pizzeria app is just the first step to success; the second is getting the word out so that customers actually use it. Be sure to offer incentives to the consumer for downloading and using your app. Some common ones are:
- A freebie that can be redeemed within a short period of time after downloading your app
- Extra loyalty reward points for using and ordering through your app
- A monthly drawing for a contest or giveaway that app users are entered into
There are many ways you can let customers know about the existence your app and its great benefits, such as:
- Place signage in-store
- Include a QR code handout with every order for customers to scan and pull up the app on their devices
- Encourage staff to mention its availability to customers at checkout
- Send an email newsletter to your current customers letting them know about the new app
- Promote the app launch through social media
- Create an eye-catching banner or button on your website for users to easily download the app
A restaurant app gives your customers the convenience they expect when placing online orders and interacting with your brand. It also gives you another channel through which to reach and retain customers and increase your profits. It’s a win-win proposition.
HungerRush is a leader in industry-specific technology solutions, including branded mobile ordering apps for restaurants. Our apps are customized for your particular needs and backed by reliable support. To find out more about how HungerRush can design solutions that will grow your business, Request a Demo today.