Serving the “Need State” of an Online Customer, Part 2 – Routine Customers
This is Part 2 in a series of articles about attracting the “need states” of online customers - the needs and key decision-making points of each customer segment. The last piece addressed
Special Occasion Customers. Today we address Routine Customers.
Routine Customers. According to a recent survey in the restaurant industry, about 30% of patrons account for 60% of the traffic in a restaurant. These are the customers you want. What interests these Routine Customers?
• Convenience. There are things you can do to enhance convenience beyond just the ability to order from a
mobile phone – specified takeout parking and a separate pickup line for takeout orders inside your restaurant are both great. If possible, you can step it up another level and add curbside delivery in your parking lot.
• Outreach to the local area. We know of a sandwich shop that partnered with a property manager, supplying complementary salads as part of a tenant appreciation day at a local office complex. Each complimentary salad included a card with an online ordering promo code. Every person within the office complex immediately knew about their restaurant, how good their salads are, and had a discount on their next online order.
• More outreach. Respond to what’s going on in the community. Harsh weather? What kind of special offer can you email to your customers to help alleviate their pain? A well-known burger chain in California sent their mobile truck to the site of some local flooding a number of years ago and handed out free burgers. Talk about developing word of mouth!
Up Next: Part 3 - Attracting impulse customers to order online.
