8 Reasons Why Restaurants Need eCommerce

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8 Reasons Why Restaurants Need to Take Advantage of eCommerce

The restaurant industry has always been competitive. 6 in 10  restaurants fail within the first year, with 8 in 10 restaurants being out of business within the first five years. It also doesn’t help that we are just recovering from a pandemic.

Shifting your business online is one of the easiest ways to gain lost revenue and make it thrive in the long run.

8 Reasons Why Restaurants Need to Take Advantage of eCommerce

In this post, we’ll walk you through the reasons why restaurants need to take advantage of eCommerce:

Boosts brand awareness

If you’re planning to shift to the digital space, you need to boost your brand awareness in your niche. 

One way to do that is to create pages easily indexed by search engine crawlers. This helps improve the search engine optimization of your site as you cater to your target audience.

Provides opportunities to explore new customers

Whether you’re a fairly new business or already have excellent programs to ensure your customers return, you should explore other options to gain more customers. 

Here are some ways how you can drive new customers to your restaurant business: 

    • SEO: See to it that you have excellent search engine rankings. 
    • Integration with social media: Explore different platforms your target customers use. 
    • Make your existing customers pull in new customers. 

Let’s say that you have a Mediterranean restaurant. Then, when users search for “good Mediterranean restaurant” in my neighborhood, the higher your site is ranked in search engines, the more they’re likely to click on it and try it. 

Social media is also an excellent platform to connect with people. So offer your customers incentives when tagging your page or checking in to your establishment. Publish great photos on social media. All of these little things can make a big difference. 

In the same way, you can also come up with promo codes and discounts for your existing customer base that will incentivize them whenever they share it with friends and family. 

For instance, if a customer shares a code with a friend, and then that friend uses that code for an order of more than $50, the customer who shared the code could get $10 off on their next purchase. 

Decreases business expenses

One of the best things about shifting your restaurant business to eCommerce is that you can decrease business costs. 

Here are a couple of examples:

    • Costs in advertising and marketing: If you opt for eCommerce, you don’t have to spend much on advertising and marketing. Instead, you’d be spending that budget on cost-effective campaigns, social media traffic, and cost-effective pay-per-click ads. 
    • Personnel: Automation in inventory management, check-out, payments, and other kinds of operational costs will lower the number of employees that you need to run your eCommerce business.
    • Eliminate travel costs: Your customers no longer need to travel long distances to reach your establishment. With just a couple of clicks, a customer can order food online. 

Simplify menu ordering

With products and services now listed online, you’ll have a better chance of reaching out to your customers while promoting your business simultaneously. 

Moreover, online stores offer excellent opportunities to promote your menu and other products in an aesthetic way that stands out from the rest of the pack. 

Customers can also quickly get details and descriptions from your menu. Getting as much information about the food they’re about to purchase online is essential for many customers. Through this information, your customers and prospects decide to order from you. 

Flexibility during the pandemic

One of the main reasons why people prefer to buy online is that they can do it whenever they want, wherever they are. This feature makes the shopping experience convenient and easy for them. 

Moreover, the eCommerce industry thrived during the pandemic since people were mostly stuck in their homes, unable to go to physical stores. That’s 

why it’s not just buyers who directly benefit from eCommerce flexibility. A solution such as AI software and automation offers you more freedom when selling online. 

Increase your credibility

In today’s highly digital age, customers are more concerned with authenticity than ever. That’s why they want to ensure that the business is credible in the first place. 

That’s why you need to build a reputable eCommerce website. A robust online presence is also essential. That way, people will know your physical location, client testimonials, and customer reviews. 

Take Advantage of customer feedback.

Your customers are the lifeblood of your business. Therefore, you must learn to listen to them and take advantage of customer feedback. For instance, you should make your restaurant accessible to all customers, especially those who have disabilities or are physically challenged. In addition, you should ensure that you can accommodate their needs. 

The same thing is true for customer testimonials on your site. Alternatively, if your business is one of the few lucky to be featured in a publication online, such as a review from a restaurant critic, or well-known influencer, you can link to this from your site. Again, doing so helps you build your restaurant’s credibility online. 

In the same way, a website also increases your chance of being reviewed by bloggers since they have a resource to gain information about your business history and then add that to their article. 

Offer Huge Information

One of the benefits of eCommerce for customers is that they can get a sea of information from your business online. For instance, a website will offer your customers additional information without the hassle. 

In the same way, you can provide your customers with information so that it’s easy for them to buy products with the information you’ve offered or provided. 

Moreover, having a website for your restaurant business is an ideal way to put your business online. You’ll also be flexible to do all the marketing and promotions as you wish. 

Over to You

Over the last couple of years and months, eating habits have changed drastically. So there’s no doubt that online marketing and eCommerce platforms are one of the few platforms that your restaurant business can tap into to expand a business. 

The new trend of takeouts and deliveries will continue to grow shortly. So, how you transform our business so that you can accommodate changes in the market is crucial.

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