16 Jan 2019 | Blog
Running a restaurant is an exercise of patience, resilience, and commitment. Owners can end up spending the bulk of their time putting out fires and doing what they can to respond to the needs of their customers. But getting bogged down in the day-to-day can unfortunately result in certain jobs going by the wayside, particularly when it comes to identifying the typical behaviours of your customers. However, understanding the wants and needs of your customers is essential when it comes to choosing the right meal items and structure for your menu.
Your menu is critical in attracting customers to your venue over your competitors. Although it may seem trivial, sometimes the smaller details like the number of food items, the theme of the menu and the way the menu has been priced can make or break a customer’s decision to buy.
Luckily, now more than ever, technology like food ordering apps can provide a platform to alleviate some of the heavy-lifting and help businesses to better understand how customers are responding to their menu.
Here are some ways mobile ordering platforms can help shape your menus:
Easy data capture
Mobile ordering platforms provide an easy, effective, and accessible way to interpret customer behaviour and data through menu selection. At a glance, you can learn what your customers are ordering, when they are ordering and even who your regular customers are. You can also start to identify patterns which can help to re-shape your menus in the future.
Smart navigation with multiple, small menus
This data can be extremely useful when it comes to organising your menu in the most user-friendly way. For example, you might discover that items listed higher on the menu may be ordered more often than those at the bottom, so you might choose to list your specials first. With a mobile ordering platform, you also have the ability to create multiple, smaller menus to help your customer navigate their meal choice.
Occasion-based menu creation
Some menus may work better at different times of the year. Menus that are themed for occasions, such as a Summer menu or a Melbourne Cup menu, may also attract customers who are in that particular mindset. This marketing strategy gives customers something to look forward to as the season changes or as a specific event approaches, which, in turn, develops patron loyalty and impacts sales in the long run.
The beauty of an online ordering platform is that it allows you to trial and test what works best for your market, analyse the habits of your customers, look at what customers are gravitating to the most, and also adapt the menu to reflect specials, trends and seasons.
Make your restaurant’s online menu smart and customer-oriented with TableTime. Visit TableTime’s website at https://tabletime.com.au/ today for more information.
