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Technology plays a vital role in the success of any business, including the restaurant and other food industry businesses. A branded restaurant app is one of the powerful tools that can significantly contribute to the growth and success of your restaurant or food business.
By creating a personalized app for your establishment, you can enhance the customer experience, increase customer engagement, boost loyalty, and ultimately drive more revenue. Join us as we explore the 9 simple yet effective ways a branded restaurant app can help grow your business.
Table of Contents
- What Is a Branded Restaurant App?
- What Are the Features of a Restaurant Ordering App?
- How Can a Branded App Help Grow Your Restaurant Business?
- How To Create a Branded Ordering App for Your Restaurant
- What Are the Best Ways to Promote Your Ordering App to Guests?
What Is a Branded Restaurant App?
A restaurant branded app is a mobile application specifically developed and customized for a restaurant or food business. It carries the restaurant’s brand identity- restaurant logo, name, colors, and often the restaurants’ preferred fonts. Such an application provides various features and functionalities tailored to enhance the customer experience and drive business growth.
The main use of a restaurant branded app is to allow customers to view the menu and submit orders, although it can be customized to have more advanced features.
Generally, a branded app is developed by the restaurant itself or a third-party provider under instructions from the restaurant management.
What Are the Features of a Restaurant Ordering App?
Menu Browsing and Customization
Customers can view the restaurant’s menu, explore different categories, and customize their orders based on their preferences or dietary requirements. The restaurant is also able to add menu items, update prices, and change item availability in real time.
Online Ordering and Delivery
The app enables customers to place orders for pickup or delivery. Other apps may also support table-side ordering and payments. A custom ordering app may also enable you to integrate with third party last mile delivery management apps.
Push Notifications
Customers can receive updates, and promotions from the restaurant, keeping them informed about their orders, special deals, new menu items, or upcoming events. Notifications can also enhance customer interactions and encourage new orders.
Mobile Payments
Integration with secure payment gateways allows customers to make payments directly through the app, eliminating the need for physical cards or cash. Enabling online payments allows you to track all order payments and collect your funds in one account.
How Does a Branded Restaurant App Look Like?
A branded restaurant app typically features the restaurant’s logo and color scheme, offering an intuitive interface for easy navigation. It includes menu listings with attractive food images, item descriptions and prices, and order payment options. The app aims to provide a seamless user experience, strengthening the restaurant’s brand identity and enhancing customer engagement.
How Can a Branded App Help Grow Your Restaurant Business?
A restaurant’s branded app gives your business a personal space to promote your products and services. It helps you to stay away from third party order aggregators who would otherwise expose you to unfair competition and high commissions. With a branded app, you can create and maintain your ordering and marketing channels, boost sales and give customers a better ordering experience. Let’s take a look at the top 10 ways a branded restaurant app can help grow your food business.
Boost Brand Awareness
A branded mobile app with your logo and brand name can help boost your brand. It is a way to put your name on your customers’ mobile screens so they can remember you whenever they need to order items you sell. Using a branded mobile app is a helpful step to outdo your competition.
A branded mobile app for your restaurant also means customers can easily access your menu from anywhere, at any time. Therefore, the customer has more time to choose items from the menu and place an order. It gives your customers added convenience, since they do not have to type your website address every time they need to order. More often than not, this will lead to increased order values.
Showcase Your Digital Menu and Specials
A restaurant app can showcase your menu with mouthwatering visuals, detailed descriptions, and even nutritional information. For example, the app can enable you to add allergen markers to foods, thereby promoting the safety of your customers.
You can also highlight daily specials, seasonal offerings, or limited-time promotions to entice customers and generate more interest in your food and beverages. For example, a restaurant can create a special menu for Mother’s Day, Christmas day, or any other day that is special to your guests. These deals are often necessary for restaurants and having a way to show them to customers is an added advantage.
Streamline the Ordering Process
One of the primary benefits of having a branded restaurant app is the ability to provide a streamlined and convenient ordering process for your customers. To start with, your customer will always have your app on their mobile device. With a few tabs, they can easily browse your menu, customize their orders, and place them directly through the app.
By offering this seamless ordering experience, you not only save your customers’ time but also reduce the chances of order inaccuracies that may occur through traditional methods. This efficiency leads to improved customer satisfaction and a higher likelihood of repeat business. And for the restaurant staff, this means they have more freedom to deliver exceptional service without spending too much time interacting with guests. Orders submitted through the app can be printed out in the kitchen, making it easy for the kitchen staff to fast-track orders for fulfilment.
Support Tableside Ordering and Payment
With a branded app, customers can place their orders directly from their smartphones while dining at your restaurant. This eliminates the need for waiters to take orders manually, expediting the ordering process and increasing table turnover. Additionally, you can integrate secure mobile payment options, allowing customers to conveniently settle their bills through the app and consequently avoid the payments queue.
Online payments offer additional convenience for customers placing delivery and takeout orders since they can order and pay from anywhere. Consequently, this can partially eliminate the need to have physical card processing machines at your store. Online payment funds go directly into your payment provider’s account and you can use them to offset your bills or restock your outlet.
Show Personalized Offers and Recommendations
With a branded restaurant app, you can leverage customer data and preferences to provide personalized offers and recommendations. By analyzing customers’ ordering history and preferences, you can tailor promotions and suggestions that are relevant to their tastes.
For example, if a customer frequently orders vegetarian dishes, you can send them exclusive offers for new plant-based menu items or vegetarian-friendly promotions. Another possible personalization would be for the restaurant to know when the customer is more likely to submit an order. You can then nudge them with a sms, email, or push notification showing them items they might be interested to buy. This level of personalization creates a sense of being understood and valued, enhancing customer loyalty and driving increased sales.
Integrate with Delivery Services
If you offer delivery services, integrating your app with popular third-party delivery platforms allows customers to order directly through your app and have their food delivered to their doorstep. This provides a seamless and branded experience while leveraging the reach and convenience of established delivery services.
Combining delivery services with a custom ordering experience is a sure way to keep customers happy. In addition, this combination would work well with the option for customers to pay for their orders either online or upon delivery and a branded restaurant app might as well allow such customizations.
Get Analytics Data and Insights
A branded restaurant app can provide valuable analytics and insights into customer behavior, preferences, and order patterns. By analyzing this data, you can make informed decisions to optimize your menu, marketing strategies, and operational processes, ultimately driving business growth.
Besides internal analytics, you can integrate your branded app with tools such as google analytics and Facebook Pixel and take advantage of the advanced reporting and marketing features. With such tools, you can plan and execute highly effective marketing campaigns targeting new and existing customers.
Increase Staff Productivity
In an ordinary restaurant, waiters spend more time speaking with and assisting guests find items in the menu, understand restaurant offerings, or make payments. However, a branded app can change all that. The menu can contain detailed images and descriptions making it easy to understand.
Consequently, waiters spend less time assisting guests with the customer journey and can focus on the core activities. No need for staff to explain the menu or guide users on how to order. Even after ordering, the app can guide the user on what to expect or what to do. For example, after submitting an order, the app may notify the user how long it would take for the order to be ready.
Boost Sales
A branded mobile app can significantly boost restaurant sales by providing a convenient and seamless ordering experience for customers. Firstly, the app allows customers to browse the menu, customize their orders, and place them directly from their smartphones. By offering a user-friendly interface and streamlined ordering process, the app enhances convenience and eliminates potential barriers that could deter customers from placing an order. This ease of use can lead to increased order frequency and larger ticket sizes, ultimately driving up sales for the restaurant.
Secondly, a branded mobile app enables restaurants to implement mobile-exclusive deals, discounts, and limited-time promotions. By leveraging push notifications and in-app notifications, restaurants can send targeted offers directly to app users, creating a sense of urgency and enticing them to make a purchase. These exclusive deals can help generate excitement and encourage customers to choose the restaurant over competitors, leading to increased sales and customer loyalty.
How To Create a Branded Ordering App for Your Restaurant
Having a branded restaurant app has become essential for enhancing customer engagement and driving sales. A well-designed app not only strengthens your brand identity but also provides a seamless and convenient experience for your patrons. There are two ways to create a branded ordering app for your restaurant:
Develop a Custom App From Scratch
The process here involves creating an ordering application from ground zero. That means you must research, design, and develop the app by yourself or by hiring a team of experienced designers, developers, and testers. In either case, you will need both financial resources to cover the development and ongoing maintenance costs and time. And time can be crucial if you are looking to exploit the current market opportunities.
Creating a custom ordering app using this method limits the number and quality of features you can add since every feature may require additional time and resources.
Partner With a Third-Party App Provider Platform
Other than creating the app from scratch, you can also choose to partner with a platform that enables you to create a custom app for your restaurant. The advantage of this approach is that you do not need a large initial budget to cater for development and neither do you need to worry about ongoing maintenance and updates. Partnering with a third party platform allows you to focus on your business while the platform creates new app features for your customers.
And regarding time, this approach offers the fastest time-to-launch since the apps are normally built on top of existing infrastructure.
This method is best suited for business owners with little or no technical knowledge and generally everyone else looking to quickly launch their restaurant app without paying a high initial investment cost.
GonnaOrder enables you to create a online ordering store and create a custom ordering app for your customers. Discover GonnaOrder apps
What Are the Best Ways to Promote Your Ordering App to Guests?
Introducing your restaurant branded app to guests is a crucial step in maximizing its potential and reaping the benefits it offers. To ensure its success, encourage your guests to download and use it to view your menu and place orders. Perhaps one of the most successful ways to promote your app is to leverage your existing customer base and social media channels. By employing these strategies, you can create awareness, drive app downloads, ultimately leading to increased loyalty and business growth.
- Promoting your restaurant app on your website: whether it is your ordering website or the generic restaurant website, it is a good place to place download links for your app. People visiting your website ought to know that there’s a better way to place orders in your store.
- Promoting your ordering app via email: your existing customers already know about your business and perhaps your website too. You can send them a custom email to inform them of the availability of the ordering app and provide download links.
- Leverage your social media audience: social media is an integral part of any food ordering business. It helps reach new customers and convert them into buyers. In the same way, you can use it to promote your app to existing and new customers.
- Let your staff promote the app to guests: Your restaurant staff interacts with guests on a daily basis. They can leverage their good relationship with patrons to promote the ordering app and provide the download link.
- Display an app download sign in your store: a well printed and placed sign will attract the attention of diners and spark their curiosity. The sign could show the download URL or a QR code that opens the URL for the respective download platforms.
Conclusion
A mobile app is complementary to your website but could be the only thing stopping you from getting to the next business level. The convenience a branded app gives your customers is unparalleled. Along with improving customer experience, you will also create a path for you to gain increased profits and attract more customers. And while creating a customer ordering app from scratch might seem like a complicated process, it is easier when you already have an online ordering solution.
Also, creating an app might be expensive especially if you want to take full ownership of the solution. But unless you are running a multimillion-dollar enterprise, you definitely don’t need that. Perhaps the best way is to get an online ordering solution that allows you to build an ordering app for your business for a subscription fee that is way less than you would pay to own the entire solution.
Get Branded App for Your Restaurant
GonnaOrder is a full-fledged online ordering solution for restaurants and similar businesses in the hospitality industry. You can receive and manage orders from an intuitive application that is easily customizable and highly reliable. On top of the online ordering and order management solution, you can also get a branded app built on top of your store. A custom app is an excellent way to promote your brand and attract more customers.