A direct online food ordering system can be the key to unlocking the potential of your restaurant. Here are 5 ways in which a direct online ordering system can help increase your restaurant’s profits.

What Is A Direct Online Food Ordering System?

Simply put, a direct online food ordering system refers to a branded website or an app belonging to a restaurant using which customers can place orders to that particular restaurant.

This is different from listing your restaurant on third-party aggregators such as Zomato or Swiggy which feature multiple restaurants on one platform. In today’s rapidly changing marketplace, an online ordering system can be a strong differentiator for your restaurant business.

Should You Get A Direct Online Food Ordering System?

Surprisingly, many restaurants still lack in-house online ordering software and heavily rely on third-party aggregators to keep their delivery business running. This means having to compete in a marketplace whose terms have been decided by the aggregators and therefore having low control over the marketing of your restaurants. However, you can build an edge for your restaurant by going the extra mile and independently establishing your restaurant online.

Here are 5 ways a direct online food ordering system can help boost business for your restaurant.

1) A Direct Channel Eliminates High Commission Fee

On every order, restaurants pay up to 30% commission to third-party aggregators. With a direct ordering channel, you eliminate the middlemen and pay close to zero commission.

Maintaining a healthy P&L is critical for the growth of any business and the restaurant industry is no different. Saving close to 30% on commissions can be absolutely game-changing for your restaurant.

With our comprehensive website builder - Meraki, you can build your online delivery business in a cost-effective way in just a matter of days. The pricing model ensures that you can serve your customers at a cost significantly lower than the typical 30% commission third-party aggregators charge per order.

All in all, with a direct ordering system, you save the commission, increase your sales, and start to build loyalty with customers.

2) Helps Brand Your Restaurant Uniquely  

Your website is critical to your restaurant’s brand. In most cases, it’s the first interaction of your customer with your brand.

Your website can help you showcase your brand in a manner that third-party aggregators can’t. With it, you control the design, content, and user journey of your customers. Unlike an aggregator platform, your website reflects the ‘vibe’ of your brand in a much better manner. And that’s exactly what helps your restaurant stand out.

Building a website that truly reflects who you are is key to positioning your restaurant uniquely. With Meraki, our comprehensive plug-and-play website building tool, you can easily create a website for your restaurant yourself. In the past, Meraki has helped market leaders such as Adyar Anandha Bhavan, Nandu's Chicken, and more stand out in the market and serve their customers directly.

3) Helps Your Customers Discover You

A study by Visual Objects found that 77% of diners search for restaurants online before visiting. Since your potential customers are actively searching, you want to be the first in their search results.

And here's where SEO comes in handy. While there are no strict rules to rank #1 on Google search results, you could follow well-established guidelines such as having HTTPS secure webpages, optimizing your meta descriptions, adding HTML title tags, and more.

All these combined help your restaurant get discovered. For instance, every time someone looks up 'best south Indian restaurants near me' your restaurant would show up on top if your website is search optimized.

With Meraki, you can create a great SEO-optimized website for your restaurant at a very competitive price. Check it out here.

4) Captures Customer Data Which You Can Turn Into Actionable Insights

Data is a powerful tool for restaurateurs today. It helps you identify the behaviour of your target audience and enables you to strategically customise your restaurant operations to meet their needs. Not analysing your customers' behaviour is like running with your eyes closed. You'll never know how far you've come or how fast you need to run.

With an independent website for your restaurant, you will have complete access to your customer data including details such as their contact numbers, email ids, average order value, order frequency, and more. Using these, you will be able to segment your audience, run targeted campaigns, and measure conversions objectively.

5) Facilitates Personalized Offers and Discounts

With your own website, you're in charge. You decide the what, why, and when of discounts and offers. You could customize your offers for local festivities and holidays and pull them back to reflect regular prices when demand is high.

Your own website enables you to nudge customers to order their favourite meals and offer suggestions based on their history, at the very times they are most likely to order.

All these and more are powerful advantages of having a website that boost the sales of your restaurant and help increase your profits.

All in all, owning a direct ordering system would help you best target the needs of your customers by nudging them at the right times and in the process, driving your sales and profits in both—the short and the long run.

Getting A Website For Your Restaurant Is Easier Than You Think!

With Meraki, getting your restaurant’s own website made is easier than you think! Take the first step towards building your own direct online food ordering system by checking it out here.