Customers now expect everything to be quicker, cheaper and aren’t content with one size fits all solutions – this trend has lead to dramatic shifts in buying patterns in retail, a shift to food delivery over dining in and means that customers have other ways to socialise over simply popping down the pub. If the hospitality industry doesn’t embrace these changes then someone else will and the old operators will go the way of the dodo.
A branded mobile app can help create this transition – yes it lets customers order conveniently but it is a gateway to increase customer engagement, personalise your service, adding value to your customers and making you stand out from the crowd
PEOPLE DON’T LIKE USING CASH
Research shows that customers are more likely to make a purchase if you provide them with a cashless experience – in fact over 1 in 4 customers won’t buy if it isn’t cashless. The less you require cash, the more convenient the experience becomes. Mobile apps help you to achieve that very easily. A good restaurant ordering app will have options to accept payment in a number of ways (Apple Pay, Google Pay, Stripe etc) and the customer can choose from all the available options.
CUSTOMERS SPEND MORE ON AN APP
The results in the USA where apps are more established show that a branded app typically increases customer order values by 30% and number of orders by 15%- imagine how much more profitable you would be if an average cover was 30% more?
REDUCE NON PRODUCTIVE TIME
Typically, half to two thirds of serving time is spent collecting orders and taking payments – by putting these elements through an app you can serve more customers with less staff
Online ordering has enables you to manage your peak business hours effectively. They can reduce long queues (think of a chip shop after a match has come out) and create a more hassle-free experience for the customers. And if you can provide such a positive experience they will definitely come back to your doors.
STAFF DON’T UP SELL AS EFFECTIVELY
Apps can upsell with ease by presenting customisation options to an order it makes it easy to upgrade to a premium tonic or add a topping – and how much easier is it to order a coffee and brandy at the end of the evening rather than having to endure the cold walk home?
SELL TO PASSERS BY WITHOUT A SANDWICH BOARD
Add notifications to an app and it is possible to create time and location based promotions and messages – quiet in the morning? Send a message to your customers with a coffee and Danish bundle as they walk past your door. How about a message that you are doing special breakfasts during the Rugby World Cup?
CUSTOMERS PREFER A PERSONALISED APPROACH
Imagine if you could create a marketing campaign that is tailored to every customer – based around offers for their birthdays or anniversaries or around the specific food or drinks they have enjoyed before? You might think this is impossible but with a mobile app, you can! The ordering system helps you gather data that shows what your customer likes to order together, the times and other of metrics that you can employ to increase revenue. By leveraging this data you can run a customised promotion campaign for every customer. You can run discounts on combo items. If a customer hasn’t visited you in a very long time, you
can send a special discount on their favourite item.
DON’T MISS OUT ON BUSINESS GROWTH INITIATIVES
Be able to take advantage of industry or government initiatives quickly and easily – for example JUST APP can manage implementation of t he Government’s Eat Out to Help Out seamlessly.
COMPLIANCE
We have seen a huge change in the attitudes of governments to regulating relationships between businesses and their customers. JUST SNAP makes this easy, for example by adding calories to your products, we can present total calories for a dish including sides, toppings or mixers once this becomes a requirement.
CUT COSTLY MISTAKES
Even the most experienced server can make costly mistakes in taking an order, an app always collects an order exactly as requested and provides a confirmation to the customer
PEOPLE WANT FLEXIBILITY
An app can provide more flexible ways for customers to buy from you easily – click and collect, deliveries or table ordering – and if they can do that more easily through a trusted supplier than a competitor, why would they go anywhere else?
DRIVE LOYALTY
The greatest way that a branded app can help you grow is the loyalty programme. By rewarding customers for loyal behaviour and even referrals, you will see an incredible, sustained increase in revenues. . Gartner predict 80% of your company’s future revenue will come from just 20% of your existing customers. Research shows, the wider the range of services and ways of dealing with you a customer participates in, the more loyal they are likely to be/ Loyal customer buy more, cost less to service and will generally be your best form of advertising.
There is massive competition for space on a customers home screen and they are increasingly wary about sharing data. The key is to make it easy for customers to try your App before they have to commit – so Just Snap works straight away, no downloads or visits to app stores, no personal data required – then they can choose to add additional benefits by adding it to their home screen and adding notifications once they feel comfortable enough to do so.