QSRweb.com cited a recent forecast by the National Restaurant Association that in 2011, seven out of ten consumers stated they would try to eat healthier when dining out. Self, a women’s magazine, gets more than 1 million unique visitors each month to its online nutritional calculator. 

You guessed it - diners are becoming more health conscious.

This was the challenge that NetWaiter took on more    than a year ago when Greenz Salads - with three locations in the Dallas metropolitan area - asked for help with their  “Build Your Own Salad” menu offering.  This popular menu item allows diners to customize their own salad with  numerous ingredients, including the choice of lettuce, toppings, and a variety of dressings.

"The Build Your Own is a favorite of our customers," said Casie Caldwell, owner of Greenz Salads."  While we were  able to list the nutritional content of our other dishes, we didn't have a way to do it with that offering.  Every order is  different."

 NetWaiter worked with Greenz to integrate a nutritional calculator into their menu for the “Build Your Own Salad”  item.  As a diner builds their salad with their selections, the nutritional calculator instantly calculates and updates  the nutritional information as each option is selected.

 One of the goals was to create a tool that consumers were already familiar with.  The calculator reads like a  nutrition label found on items in a supermarket - listing not only calories, but also cholesterol, potassium, sodium,  carbohydrates and protein.

"NetWaiter was able to produce a great tool," said Caldwell. "The functionality is right on.  It gives us a competitive  edge.  We've since seen this concept copied by several large chains."

If you would like to learn more about NetWaiter’s nutritional calculator, or its implementation, please contact NetWaiter.

A recent study shows the branding advantage of a mobile site, especially for a restaurant. 

Consider these facts:

• Consumers attach to a brand faster using mobile devices than anything else, because they hold the device in their hands, as opposed looking at a computer screen or television.  They make it a part of their identity, and therefore, trust it more (the study calls it psycho-haptic — “what I touch is real”). Amazing factoid: Studies report that 65% of mobile owners admit to sleeping with their device next to their bed.

• Choices to messages on a mobile device tend to be Yes or No, and responses come fast.  This is because mobile devices are designed, in part, to make things convenient and quick.  Amazing factoid: According to a Litmus study, entitled Email Analytics, as of December 2013, 51% of emails were opened by a mobile device.

• Branded content on a mobile device is more likely to get a positive response.  This goes back to how people take personal ownership of their mobile device, which is much more than a desktop or laptop computer. 

• Want to counter a couple of bad reviews on Yelp?  Spend a little money for a great mobile site.  Consumers are more likely to change their perception of a brand if the message or experience comes via a mobile device.  Remember, their device is their personal property.  They are emotionally attached to it.  It wouldn’t lie to them.