Do you have a smartphone?
Of course you do. The power of these personal pocket computers continues to percolate through our everyday lives, and people who live without these mobile devices are becoming hard to find.
In fact, the Global Web Index recently found that four out of five of American adults who use the Internet own a smartphone.
And according to a ComScore report released in August 2014, 60% of digital media consumption now happens on smartphones and tablets, while the remainder still occurs on desktop-based systems.
Finally, an eMarketer report predicts that the global smartphone audience will surpass 2 billion in 2015, and shows no signs of slowing.
As the Restaurant Technology Guys, we couldn’t be happier about these developments. And you should be happy too, because the smartphone platform is your next significant opportunity for growth.
By setting up a mobile ordering platform for your business, your guests will be able to access your menu instantly, and personalize their orders for pickup or delivery.
Secure credit card payments make the process easy and inviting, for you and your customers alike.
And that’s just the beginning. These 6 ways mobile ordering will change your business will rewrite the way your company functions online, and open paths to your products that you never knew existed.
6 Ways Mobile Ordering Will Change Your Business
1) Increase Sales
Adding a mobile ordering platform for your business is like opening a door for your customers where a wall used to keep them out.
As the data above shows, more and more people are relying on their smartphones for Internet and digital media access. By adding a mobile platform for orders, your business can meet this growing group of individuals where they are. You can increase sales by encouraging customers, and potential customers, to enjoy your products through the personal device that many Americans can no longer live without.
2) Accelerate Mobile Payment Use
Offering a secure payment method for your clientele’s mobile devices makes purchasing easier.
The customer’s comfort level with your platform and products will increase with every purchase, so that pretty soon, ordering from your business will become as routine as checking for Facebook updates.
3) Improve Data Capture
Mobile ordering is an excellent way to not only boost sales, but grow your customer base through email and data capture.
Every time a customer uses your website or application to place an order, you’ll gain valuable information – their email address, ordering preferences and more, depending on the analytics available through your system.
A variety of methods are available to convert these one-time orders into long-term customers: email newsletters, online-only discounts, referrals, social media offers, etc. This form of direct customer connection can be a powerful tool that pays off significant dividends as your mobile and online presence grows.
4) Build Loyalty & Customer Connections
Easy-to-recognize brands from Apple to Zappos persuade customers to come back over and over again.
How?
By building a culture around their products and services. Choosing a pair of shoes from Zappos or an iPhone often goes beyond convenience, or even cost. Customers keep coming back because they believe in the company’s purpose, even if they can’t define it beyond a basic feeling.
Making your business accessible on a mobile platform is an important step toward this same kind of brand loyalty.
Customers who can order from you through their smartphones – literally holding your business in the palm of their hand – will be able to make a personal connection that can grow and last for years.
5) Personalize Future Orders
Your growing connections and data collection can work together to customize a mobile-ordering customer’s experience when they return.
From acknowledging them by name when they log in to pre-loading personalized orders based on previous purchases, you’ll be able to create an virtual version of the “Cheers” experience – at this (online) restaurant, everybody knows your name.
6) Stay Ahead of the Curve
Maybe the reasons above haven’t convinced you that mobile ordering will change your business for the better. Our clients are happy enough, you might think. We don’t need to invest in this new technology that disrupts the comfortable, familiar way we have been doing things.
You might be right… for a little while.
But the fact is, the mobile ordering space is going to become more and more crowded as businesses optimize their systems for smartphone orders.
Your competitors are going to figure out how to make this work for them, and start building the connections – and personalized client database – we have been talking about.
Since you are here, you have the opportunity to get a mobile ordering system up and running sooner than those who don’t yet know about these possibilities.
These 6 ways mobile ordering will change your business by giving you the chance to be a leader in your industry, instead of playing catch-up as your potential market share shrinks.
Don’t get left behind. Your mobile ordering future starts today!
