For restaurants that do a lot of catering, online ordering can be a boon.  NetWaiter can make the process easy for both restaurants and customers - allowing them to look through your menu and easily place large catering orders.

Here are some considerations for running a successful online catering operation:

1.    Let people know you cater.  Mention catering in all of your advertisements – you can even include the information in your on-hold message.  Highlight your catering business on your website so customers can read about it and so it gets picked up by search engines.

2.    Add a catering link to your website.  A recent article in Restaurant Hospitality pointed out that this serves two purposes. First, those looking for catering can find it quickly. Second, the link serves as a reminder to regular visitors that you offer a catering option.

3.    Offer a full catering menu.  Some restaurateurs treat catering as an afterthought, offering the menu as a PDF.  With NetWaiter, however, you can automatically turn your catering menu into an interactive online ordering site.  NetWaiter’s built-in controls let you set minimum ordering quantities for particular items, preset specific portions, and you can indicate the specific amount of advanced notice needed for each order.

4.    Think about rewarding the person who orders.  Selecting a restaurant for an office catering job isn’t often the boss’s decision, but somebody in a support position.  Think about rewarding them with a discount (or tasty dessert) for choosing your restaurant.

5.    Catering orders can be critical.  Every order is important, but catering orders are often for special events or business meetings.  It gives your restaurant the opportunity to impress a lot people.  On the same note, it can be really bad if something goes wrong.  Make sure you follow through to ensure everything is prepared properly.

It's common for restaurant employees to be familiar with the daily specials or a new dessert that hasn’t yet made it to the menu, but are you using your wait staff to their fullest when it comes to promoting your online ordering system?

Maybe not.

Make sure that your waiters and waitresses can inform customers about your online menu and ordering site.  Talk about how convenient it is for customers - reduced wait time, greater accuracy, and easy accessibility.  You can even demonstrate it to them at a staff meeting.

Also, make sure your employees are well versed on all of the latest features.  For instance, in the last few months, NetWaiter has added an ordering interface with Facebook, and more recently, the easy ability for customers to order from their mobile phones.  Your employees can help spread the word about new capabilities.

Some employees may be concerned that referring customers to your online menu will reduce their ability to make tips.  This is certainly not an issue.  Tipping is part of the ordering and dining experience.  If they help to create happy customers, they are going to get tips, and online ordering definitely makes for happier customers.