Why should you Build Your Restaurant App?

In the modern world, Google is the go-to place for anyone to try something new. According to a report by Localu, 92% of the customers search the restaurant on the web. 75% of the people choose a restaurant for a dine-in based on search results. Thus, it is essential to build your restaurant app for your food business in today’s times.

You, being a restaurant owner, need to understand that you are not only in the food business but are also in the data and related business. Food aggregators do not provide you with customer data. Not using data is one of the reasons many restaurants close within 6 months of opening. In order to succeed in this, you need to adapt to new technologies and have a personalized presence over the internet which is only possible through a website and a mobile application.

Having a website helps you with:

1. Getting more visibility on Google
2. Compete with Larger Brands
3. Lower your marketing costs
4. Ability for people to browse your menu and order online
5. Become independent of Food Aggregators
6. Social proof for prospective customers
7. Convey Brand Message and Market Effectively
8. Speak directly to your customers
9. Provide information about other services

Build Your Restaurant App and Get more Visibility on Google

Google tries to provide the best possible information to its users and it prefers the local sites. So when someone near your restaurant searches for food nearby Does your restaurant pop up? If you don’t have a website or app chances are you will not be able to appear in the results, To resolve this you can build your restaurant app and website.

According to a report by Social Today, 46% of the searches are for local information. This means people are searching for nearby restaurants. If you don’t have a website, those potential customers are landing with your competitor.

Compete with Larger Brands

Local restaurants have a smaller marketing budget as compared to larger brands. However, you can still compete with these large brands by having a good SEO in place along with social proofs such as testimonials. This will allow you a chance to compete with larger brands.

While having a website might not be enough to compete with these large brands but it is a very crucial part.

Lower Marketing Costs

Marketing using traditional methods such as, hoardings, pamphlets, and running advertising on local channels can be very expensive. Taking into account that smaller restaurants generally don’t have budgets for this kind of marketing. Digital Marketing can help you decrease your marketing costs while giving you the same or more coverage.

Digital marketing is highly effective if paired with a call to action directing to a website or an application giving the customers an opportunity to place an order.

Ability for people to browse your menu and order online

With the changing consumer behavior, customers want everything to be delivered to their doorstep. In order to gauge this segment of customers who want their food delivered to their doorstep. You can build your restaurant app and website and deliver the food to them without worrying about any commissions of aggregators. This also helps your customers to browse your menu and order directly from you.

Become Independent of Food Aggregators and Build Your Restaurant App

In the early days when food aggregators came into existence. They came into the market with a promise of providing an extra source of revenue to the restaurants. They used to give orders at a mere commission of 10% which has now increased to around 20% – 25%. With the pandemic and changing consumer behavior, the orders from these aggregators have become the major source of income. Which in turn has reduced the gross profit margin from 60% – 65% to 35% – 45%

SOURCE: NRAI, Restaurant Owners

According to a report, Those restaurants that solely depend on food aggregators close within their first year and are merely able to break even. In order to cash in on the lost profits, you need to have your own personalized apps and websites. 

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Social Proof for your Prospective Customers

Customers want to know about the service and quality of your food before they visit your restaurant. In order to do this, they turn to Google or 3rd party review sites. According to a report by BrightLocal, 84% of the customers trust online reviews as much as peer recommendations.

Don’t let your customers rely on 3rd party websites to get reviews about your restaurant. Add a review section on your website and increase their trust in your restaurant.

Build your Restaurant App, Convey your Brand Message and Market Efficiently

Restaurants need to understand that they are a brand and to succeed as a brand you need to differentiate yourself from your competitors. It can be done by effective marketing and positioning. This is not possible without having your own platform. Since food aggregators do not provide you with such dedicated exposure, even if they do it will end up costing you a lot.

Whereas if you have your own app it reduces the cost and efforts to market to your customers. It not only gets you more customers but also helps you decrease the cost of acquisition and increase the lifetime value of your customers.

Speak Directly to Your Customers

Food Aggregators don’t provide you with customer data, all your customers merely order numbers.  It is very important to know about your customers because they determine the fate of your restaurant. Getting in touch with your customers can provide you with deep insights such as their preferences, most frequently bought items, etc. This will help you create more lucrative offers for your customers.

Acting upon the insights provided by your customers can help you increase their lifetime value. You’ll have repeat customers thus increasing your revenue.

Provide Information about other Services

Does your restaurant provide extra services such as catering services and hosting parties and events? You need to convey this information to your customers so that they have an opportunity to avail these services. The only way to share this information clearly with your customers is through your own website or applications. This will also help you increase your business.

How can Yelo help you build your restaurant app?

Yelo can help you accomplish end-to-end control of your value chain. With Yelo you can:

1. Update your catalog anytime.
2. Keep track of your inventory.
3. Be in touch with your customers
4. Keep your customers engaged using push notifications.
5. Retain your customers using loyalty programs.
6. Increase your customer base using referral programs.
7. Rank for local searches by setting up your SEO.
8. Leverage real-time customer data to know them better,
9. Leverage analytics to create better combos that allow your customers to buy more.
10. Build an interactive website using simple clicks.
11.  Choose from a plethora of themes to personalize your website and apps.
12. Add social proof by enabling ratings and reviews.

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Conclusion

As we stated earlier, a Restaurant is not only a food business but also a data and relationship business. Having your own website and application helps you do the same. As we explained earlier it is not bad to be on aggregator platforms but having your own platform can help you get unique and new customers. In this way, you only pay for acquiring new customers while your websites and apps keep your existing ones engaged and safe.