The studies and research all agree.  The biggest attraction for ordering online is customer convenience and control.  Whenever we make changes and upgrades to the NetWaiter system, we always put them through our ‘convenience filter’.  Above and beyond our recent Group Ordering release, other upgrades have been made to improve convenience for customers.  Here’s a recap:

Group Ordering

As discussed in our last newsletter, group ordering allows any customer, but particularly people like administrative assistants, pharmaceutical reps, or anyone organizing a group lunch/dinner, to conveniently place orders for everyone involved.

To start, an organizer invites friends or co-workers via email.  Your NetWaiter site allows the organizer to select invitees and include an optional message.  Each person accepts or declines the invitation.  If they join the group, they are directed to your menu to select their items.  When completed, their selections are sent to the organizer, who submits the Group Order, with the desired pickup/delivery time.  Each item of a Group Order is identified with the person’s name that ordered it.  If possible, your restaurant should write the name of the corresponding person on each item before packaging up the entire order.

Other Front-End Changes

Editing Orders – Customers will discover they now have a faster and easier way to edit and delete order information, if needed.

Site Appearance – We’ve tweaked a couple of visual elements (fonts, etc.) to improve consistency throughout the ordering process.

Site Layout – We’ve increased customer usability of the NetWaiter website.  Additions include a ‘breadcrumb’ to help with navigation, easier access to Log In/Off, and a link to view the status of a pending Group Order.

Management Console Changes 

Email Marketing and Social Widget Upgrades – You now have more options for editing content of email messages and those on your social widget.

Promotions Upgrade – When offering promotions that include specific items, NetWaiter will automatically add those items to an order when the customer enters the Promo code.

According to the Pew Research Center, as of 2013, 56% of all adults living in the U.S. have a smartphone.  Even more notable, within the important demographic range of 18 to 49 years of age (a sweet spot for online ordering customers), the number of smartphone owners jumps to 74.5%.

That works out to about 137 million people with smartphones.  It is still too early to say and be taken seriously, but we, at NetWaiter, believe online and mobile ordering is to restaurants what drive-thru windows were to fast-food places in the '60s - a game changer for how the public gets their takeout food.

Online ordering, however, offers enhanced accessibility from a customer's mobile device.  That's why NetWaiter places so much emphasis on mobile ordering and provides each client their own branded mobile site for easy menu navigation and ordering.   Consider these recent statistics from Google:

•    95% of smartphone users conduct restaurant searches.
•    64% of those searches convert to purchases in one hour; 90% convert within one day.
•    77% of those using NetWaiter for a delivery order prefer to prepay online rather than pay in person.
•    30%: The average industry increase in ticket size seen from mobile and online orders.

Where are you?  It’s the underlying question when asking customers for their delivery address.  The problem is - people aren’t always at an exact address.

A recent article in the New York Times chronicles the growing trend of restaurants delivering not only to homes and offices, but often to places with no address.  This included someone waiting in his car in the Upper West Side of Manhattan (he ordered breakfast delivered to his car), a public beach, and even a local neighborhood playground.

These unique delivery locations are a natural progression to an industry that is making it increasingly easier to order takeout and have it delivered.  These are also the types of takeout dining experiences that customers will talk about through social media and word-of-mouth: “Just had Chinese food ordered to a park bench #awesome #nolongerhungry” (with a picture of their orange chicken included) 

With NetWaiter’s online ordering system, customers ordering delivery can enter special instructions regarding their delivery order.  When an interesting delivery request is made, embrace the challenge, make the delivery, and tout your capabilities on your own Facebook and Twitter steams (protecting your customer’s identity, of course).  Word will get around.

Some interesting and funny requests just from this week:

• “Grove Arcade but outside on O'Henry Ave between Barber and Printville - directly in front of the loading zone and covered in roof construction scaffolding. Have a midget dog who will bark at you when you come inside office.”
• “I'm on the roof. Please ask doorman to call my cell (xxx-xxx-xxxx) when you arrive. Thanks!”

Does your restaurant have any funny or interesting delivery requests/stories?  We’d love to hear them.

The NetWaiter Management Console captures and tracks information about your online customers.  You can also use it to send out email campaigns.  As you know, however, not all emails get opened.  It's all about the subject line.  These tips will help your emails get opened more often.

1. Exclusivity - Your customers like to be called VIPs, get invitations, and sent limited time offers.  These are words that make them act.

2. Don't Shout - Capital letters on the web signify that you are SHOUTING AT PEOPLE.  Also, too many words in upper case tend to get flagged by Spam filters.

3. Avoid Problem Words - Stay away from the words free, help, percent off and reminder in your email title.  They negatively affect open rates.

4. Go Negative – As sad as it sounds, titles with negative words have higher open rates.  Use words and phrases like worst, absolutely wrong, and no fewer.  Sample: Don't wait in line, order online at (your restaurant).

5. People Don't Like to Read - Don't say in a paragraph what you can say in a bullet point.  Bullets are more likely to get read.

6. Keep It Short - 27% of emails are opened on mobile devices, and even short messages look long on those smaller screens.  Keep the subject line to a few words. 

One of the things we like to do at NetWaiter is provide restaurants as much information as possible about the benefits of adding online ordering to your business plan.  A version of the following article recently appeared in Restaurant Hospitality Magazine.

A 30% boost in your takeout business within a matter of weeks.  What restaurant owner would not want that?

Those are the kinds of success stories we hear over and over from restaurateurs who have made online ordering part of their marketing plan.

Every day, restaurant owners are confronted with the costs of doing business.  The fixed expenses and staples are no brainers – rent, utilities, payroll for a great staff, the cost of quality food, etc.  The more difficult expenditures are discretionary ones like marketing. Where can a restaurant spend to get the best ROI?  Owners are bombarded with choices daily.

When asked, many successful restaurant owners have a similar response: “Online ordering has been one of our most profitable investments.  NetWaiter should be at the top of every restaurant’s to-do list if they don’t already have it.”

Companies such as NetWaiter offer a fully branded online ordering service through a restaurant’s website (a NetWaiter site can be customized with the look and brand the restaurant).  Customers order in seconds from an online menu.  They can make special requests, indicate future delivery or pickup times, and even make payments (NetWaiter electronically deposits the money to the restaurant immediately).  Custom delivery zones can be set by the restaurant (if they offer delivery), or customers can come in and pick up their order.  

The benefit to customers is convenience. They can order from anywhere (desktop, iPad, Smartphone, etc.). Imagine a mother getting off work. While still in the parking lot, she can order dinner from a restaurant and pick it up on her way home.  There is also the control given to the customer. Since they placed the order, there is less chance of error.  Customers who use online ordering typically use it again and again, quickly becoming regular customers.

Customized online ordering is a game changer for restaurants.  Using a restaurant portal that promotes online ordering for a variety of restaurants is very expensive (10-20%+).  Online ordering via a custom ordering site, such as NetWaiter, creates more business and is significantly more cost effective.  In addition, restaurants get a great tool that builds loyalty and extends and strengthens their brand.  Some NetWaiter clients even have ROIs in excess of 7,800% (the average is closer to 2,000%).

Where can a restaurant get a better ROI with their marketing dollar than online ordering?  There are many marketing options available, but none can come close to the ROI of a custom online ordering site.

When they first came out, daily deals like Groupon swept across the industry.  Smart restaurateurs, however, realized them for what they were—a trap.  An article in The New York Times more than two years ago addressed the pitfalls of these services:  "The consumers were being told: You will never pay full price again.  The merchants were hearing: You are going to get new customers who will stick around and pay full price.  Disappointment was inevitable."

Years ago, a newspaper advertisement might have been a restaurant’s ‘go-to’ way to bring in business.  Readership has dropped significantly, though, and even when newspapers were widely read, buying an ad didn’t provide a very good ROI.  It’s very hard to measure the success of such an advertisement unless you offer a redeemable discount.  Those discounts, however, significantly impact the ROI of the advertisement. 

Even more modern and effective marketing and advertising opportunities, such as email, loyalty programs, text marketing, social media marketing, etc. (which are all certainly worthwhile to deploy) would have a hard time beating the ROI of online ordering.

According to a study and paper done by The School for Hospitality Leadership at Cornell University, one of the things that draws customers to online ordering is convenience.  Once they experience it, they use it again and again.  Plus, because NetWaiter is integrated with Facebook, it allows people to share their ordering experience with their friends.  The more people ordering online, the more people learn about the restaurant’s online ordering site.

The Bottom Line – Why would you not offer online ordering?  There is no replacement for a well-run online ordering system such as NetWaiter, which gives customers the control and convenience of ordering takeout and delivery online.  Other marketing opportunities can’t come close to the ROI an online ordering site can produce.  Just as our clients say – online ordering should be at the top of the list for every restaurant.

Google's Think Insights recently published statistics that reminded us that not only is it important to have a mobile website, but it is also important to have a mobile website that delivers users quickly to what is important.

First, the broad view:

• When they visited a mobile website, 74% of people say they're more likely to return to that site in the future.
• 67% of mobile users say that when they visit a mobile website, they're more likely to buy a site's product or service.
• 48% said that if a site didn't work well on their smartphones, it made them feel like the company didn't care about their business.

Then there is the importance of a functional mobile website.

• 61% of users said that if they didn't find what they were looking for right away on a mobile website, they'd quickly move on to another site.
• 79% of people who don't like what they find on one site will go back and search for another site.
• 50% of people said that even if they like a business, they will use them less often if the website isn't mobile-friendly.

Think in terms of what an online ordering customer is looking for. Menu is at the top of the list. On the mobile website pages NetWaiter makes available for client restaurants, we design them so that the prospective customer is taken directly to the menu.

When designing a mobile  website, make sure a link to the menu is clearly visible on the first screen. 

Here are some tips on how to use Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram to increase the awareness of your restaurant and online ordering site.  Most digital cameras have a video function, so consider substituting still photos for video when the opportunity arises.

Show, Don’t Tell - People love pictures.  Ask one of your takeout customers to pose with their order when they come in to pick it up.  Maybe include the employee that assisted the customer too.

New Dishes - Offering a new takeout item on your menu?  Offer it first on your NetWaiter site, and promote it with photos sent out via social media: “Checkout our new dish – available only online!”

Pitch Your Promotions - Offering an incentive for ordering online?  Perhaps 50% off a dessert for orders over $15?  Make sure that gets posted via social media and include a photo of a dessert.

Tip of the Week – A lot of restaurants let their customers in on recipes.  Promote it online (as long as it’s not a secret family recipe).

Updates - New things are always happening at your restaurant.  Talk about them on Facebook and other platforms.

Tell Stories - Catering a special event, or hosting it at your restaurant?  Talk about it online.  Maybe a customer has a special story?  Ask them if you can share it online.

Launching later this month, NetWaiter's new Group Ordering feature will allow offices and other groups to order more easily.

When someone visits your NetWaiter online ordering site, they will have the opportunity to organize a Group Order.  To start a Group Order, the organizer simply invites friends or co-workers to join their group.  NetWaiter provides the ability to easily enter the email addresses of invitees, along with the option to include a message.  Each person receiving the email can accept or decline the invitation.  If they join the group, they are immediately guided to the restaurant’s menu to select their items.  When done, their items are submitted back to the organizer.  Once all orders have been collected, the host can submit the Group Order, along with payment and their desired pickup/delivery time.

The organizer can view their Group Order and the progress of each invitee.  The Group Order status shows the organizer who has accepted/declined the invitation, who is browsing the menu, and the order information from the people that have completed their order.

The group ordering function includes several convenient features for organizers, including the ability to save invitees.  The next time an organizer places a Group Order, they can automatically select people to include that they previously invited.  The host can also delete names as needed.  In addition, if someone was left out of a Group Order that should have been included, the organizer can invite them, even if the order is in progress.

Online group ordering is a major benefit for both customers and restaurants.  For instance, if an office is having a staff meeting during lunch, it’s easy for employees to initiate a Group Order at a local restaurant.  This saves the hassle of everyone ordering individually.  From the restaurant’s perspective, the orders are larger and more organized for easy preparation.

Group Orders mean more convenience, and for restaurants, more convenience means more business.

Much has been made of the Millennial generation. As customers, these young folks--18 to 39 years old--are an important group.  There are more than 80 million of them in the U.S. That's a lot of restaurant meals. Coincidentally, you will also find that this group is most apt to use online ordering.

A few facts about Millennials:

• They want one-to-one interaction with the brands they use. They are inundated with commercial messages, and more and more they are blind to them. Engagement is the key to this group. They pay attention only to those who understand them and their lifestyle.
• Millennials rely on their mobile devices. According to Millennial Marketing, 75% percent of this group use their smartphone as a personal shopping assistant, and 73% are transacting directly on their mobile devices.
• Millennials check their Facebook status six to eight times a day on their smartphones.
• Millennials see their smartphone as the principal lifeline to their world. According to a study by Zipcar, thirty percent of people falling into the Millennial label said giving up their mobile phone would have the greatest negative impact on their life -- two to nearly three times higher than any other age group in the survey. The answer in every other age group--their car. Translated: Millennials would rather give up their car than their smartphone.

What do you do with this information? Reflect it in your marketing. Select events and causes that matter to Millennials. Base the decor and the artwork in your restaurant on what you known Millennials like (you can find this information on the Internet).

And make sure your Millennial customers know you offer online ordering, because--you know--Millennials love their smartphones.

If you are trying to decide on increasing the amount of money and energy you put into social networking for your restaurant, this might help you make the decision.

According to a recent study by the Pew Research Center, the number of U.S. adults using social networking stands at 72%. That's up from 67% less than a year ago. When Pew first did this study in February 2005, only 8% of online adults used any of the social networks.

No one is surprised that the highest numbers are in the younger age brackets, but seniors are making gains. Consider this information:

• Six out of ten Internet users age 50-64 are social networking site users.
• Adoption rates for those 65 and older have tripled in the last four years (from 13% in the spring of 2009 to 43% in 2013).

If your customer base boasts some diversity, also consider that, according to the study, social media usage extends across a broad range of demographic groups, with especially high adoption rates among Hispanics, college graduates, and those with incomes of $75,000+. 

Read more: http://www.marketingprofs.com/charts/2013/11514/who-uses-social-networks-age-race-gender-and-income-breakdown#ixzz2dxEsLWVB

In a sit-down restaurant, new menu items are sold through menu inserts, easels, and as part of the introduction given by the wait staff.  In an online environment such as NetWaiter there are also a number of ways you can promote new menu items and changes.  Here are a few tips:

Maintain an Interactive Online Menu.  Nothing makes a customer twitch more than outdated information on a website.  With an easy-to-use interactive web-based menu, you can also update your menu without calling a website designer.  It’s also easy to highlight changes or new additions.

High Quality Images.  We’ve talked about this before, but it’s worth repeating.  A quality photo of a new menu item says more than any description.  Post it on your interactive menu, but also get it on Facebook, Twitter, and other sites.  You want those images shared.

Include Social Media Buttons.  Facebook, Twitter, Instagram - all of them.  Make it easy for people to spread the word about your new menu items.  Remember that certain social media sites are favored by different age groups.  Facebook is now considered an “old folks” platform.  Younger people tend to use Instagram and Twitter.  You may want to alter your message based on the platform.

Create Buzz with “Partnerships”.  Try naming a new item after someone popular in the community.  At the very least, they will promote the item and your restaurant for you.  You’ll make this person and all their family and friends advocates for your restaurant. Imagine the buzz.

A recent article in the online version of QSR quotes a 2012 Nielson study revealing that more than 90 percent of consumers say that recommendations from friends and family have the biggest effect on their purchasing behavior.

The Zocalo Group, a marketing agency in Chicago, reveals which social media tools work best for restaurants.

Although it is frustrating that they don't include any quantifiable numbers in the article, according to Paul Rand, the CEO of Zocalo, the #1 most credible source is YouTube. This is followed by someone liking a brand page and sharing it. The third favorite online vehicle for consumers is online brand reviews. 

The information was collected for Highly Recommended, a book Rand will release soon.

Rand says brands also shouldn’t be afraid to ask guests to give a recommendation. “Whether you’re large or small, give people opportunities to do what you want them to do," he told QSR Magazine. "People will recommend all day long when you ask them to do it.” 

This incident could have been disastrous for this restaurant, but cooler heads prevailed.

New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees ordered takeout at Del Mar Rendezvous, a Chinese restaurant in San Diego, CA, where he used to live and where he is still involved in the community.  The order was in excess of $70.  Somehow, a picture of the receipt got into the hands of a website called The Dirty.  The website posted the photo and called Brees a cheap (insert expletive) for tipping three dollars on the order. 

Daniel Shalom Schreiber, one of the partners of Del Mar Rendezvous, did several smart things very quickly.  1) He took responsibility for the incident and apologized to Brees for the unwanted attention.  2) He determined the receipt did not come from the restaurant staff (it sounds like a rogue guest snapped the photo during the brief moment the receipt was exposed).  3) He wrote and posted a very classy letter on the restaurant’s website explaining the situation, apologizing to Brees again, praising  him for his benevolence in the San Diego community, and also pointed out that the tip was, in fact generous, as most customers don't tip for takeout at his restaurant.  4) He donated $888.88 to the Brees Dream Foundation (eight being a lucky number in Chinese culture). 

In our opinion, Schreiber took a potential disaster and turned it into a PR success by being calm and thoughtful.  For that, we give him a NetWaiter salute.  In addition, his personal donation to the Brees Dream Foundation was above and beyond the call of duty.

Let the record reflect that THIS WAS A TAKEOUT ORDER.  Tips on takeout orders are not typically expected, because the level of “service” (if any) is miniscule, especially compared to dine-in orders.  As most waiters/waitresses would acknowledge, any tip on a takeout order is appreciated, regardless of the amount.  Mr. Brees, it doesn’t matter how much money you make or how many passing yards you throw, your tip should NOT be considered small.  The irony is, if no tip was left, there probably wouldn’t be any controversy.  Regardless, it sounds like Mr. Schreiber and the restaurant staff certainly do appreciate your business and tip.

 If true, it’s unfortunate that a rogue guest thought it was important to 1) take a picture of Brees’s receipt and 2) get it posted online in an attempt to embarrass him.  That’s completely classless.  For that, we think you’re a jackass.

Social media offers an excellent opportunity to reach customers on an emotional level using photos.  Here are three suggestions of photos you can post to Twitter and Facebook:

Photos of Dishes - Presentation is everything.  Post a photo of your popular entrées and desserts to Twitter and Facebook.  You can even add an offer:  ‘Surprise your sweetheart with pie tonight – order an entrée online and get 50% off one of our delicious pies.’

Photos of Employees – Highlight your employees and how well they do their job.  Post photos of employees so customers feel like they know them the next time they come in to eat.

Photos of Customers - Patrons are also part of your restaurant family.  When a customer comes in with a new baby, capture it on your camera phone.  How about the folks who order online at your restaurant three times a week for lunch?  Snap a picture (with their permission) the next time they pickup an order and use the photo for promoting ordering online at your restaurant by posting it to Facebook and Twitter.

Everyone likes to feel as if they are an insider, that they know things other folks don't know.  This includes secret menu items at restaurants.

What's better than a secret menu?  A ‘secret’ menu only available to online customers.

"Online ordering is a natural for ‘secret’ menu items," says Jared Shimoff, Sr. Director at NetWaiter.  "Obviously, it’s impossible to keep things a secret when you post information online, but keeping certain menu items exclusive to your online menu will encourage people to gravitate to your online site and help set your online menu apart from menus at other restaurants."

Often times, secret items are similar to regular items, but in different presentations.  For instance, McDonald's purported Monster Mac - a Big Mac with eight patties (can you say heart attack?).  The ingredients are already on hand.  Alternatively, secret menu items can also allow you to experiment with new offerings before rolling them out to the mainstream.

"If you have a secret menu or customers know the secret menu, they feel like they're insiders," Bret Thorn, senior food editor of Nation's Restaurant News, told NPR News.  "They feel a kind of personal connection to the restaurant; they feel they know something that maybe not everybody else does.  And everyone loves that."

There is a book called The Influentials, based on the premise that “one American in ten tells the other nine how to vote, where to eat, and what to buy.”

You know Influentials.  You have friends that are Influentials.  You have business associates that are Influentials.  You could even be an Influential.  Here are some common traits of an Influential:
•    They have a high profile in the community - local government leaders, those active in service clubs, high-profile businesspeople, etc.
•    They have lots of friends (Facebook and real friends).  They are always greeting someone, or someone is always greeting them.
•    They are everywhere - the Supermarket, PTA meetings, Little League games.  They just seem to be around.
•    People respect their opinions, often on a wide variety of issues.

Take special care of Influentials, because they can/will spread the word about your restaurant.  Here are some easy tips:
•    Always make a point to speak with them, even if it’s just to say hello.
•    Try giving them a complimentary sample of a new dish so they can talk it up.
•    Make sure your wait staff knows who these people are (and gets their order correct).

And, of course, talk up your online ordering capabilities.  A few minutes/comments can go a long way towards your bottom line.