Winter is Coming: The Top 5 Things a Restaurant Can do to Survive a COVID-19 Winter

Winter is Coming: The Top 5 Things a Restaurant Can do to Survive a COVID-19 Winter
By Tapmango Customer Loyalty General

Winter is Coming: The Top 5 Things a Restaurant Can do to Survive a COVID-19 Winter

Now that the days are getting shorter and the nights are getting colder, day to day interactions with your customers are starting to change– especially with the looming COVID-19 crisis making indoor dining all that much harder. 

Many restaurants have quickly started to digitize their service by offering contactless delivery, mobile ordering and curbside pick-up. However, this leaves the question: how will small businesses that don’t have the budget for big agencies and app development survive this coming winter?

The good news is that demand for online ordering from restaurants is only going up and it’s never been easier to start accepting online orders and to start serving your customers directly at their doorstep. Third Party apps like UberEats and DoorDash make delivery easy but tend to cut into your profits. So, what’s a restaurant to do?

Here are the top 5 ways restaurants can serve more customers, more often and keep all the profits: 

  1. Expose your Brand 

Third party apps use their branding and influence to provide consumers with a variety of options to choose from, usually putting your business right next to your competitors. By creating your own app and online ordering site that allows your customers to place orders directly from an app and website that’s fully branded to your business, you keep them focused on what you have to offer. This means your customers will not be distracted by other options or discounts from competing restaurants and you’ll save on the commission fee. 

  1. Set up a Rewards Program 

A rewards program is a great way to motivate customers to purchase from you as opposed to your competitors. You can reward your customers for ordering from you directly instead of a third party system, offering them aggressive incentives to download your app and sign up to your loyalty program. You can also reward them for each individual purchase and for recommending your restaurant to their friends and family.

  1. Cast a Wide Net 

Offer customers an option to order for immediate pickup, scheduled pickup, curbside, or delivery. Manage delivery with your own fleet or through delivery partners like UberEats and DoorDash. Plus, when you cast a wider net and give customers EVERY option of ordering, sales increase and barriers to ordering go down.

  1. Own your Data

Keep full ownership of your customer data. Meaning you can apply those metrics to improve your demand forecasting, ordering, and scheduling. Having and owning your customer information is one of the best things you can do to make sure your customers are coming back. Without customer information you have no real control over what happens next. With the ability to market and communicate directly to your clientele, you can reach out with timely information they will appreciate such as specials, events, modified hours etc. Enable push notifications to send personalized offers and updates even when they are not using your app.

  1. Offer a Mobile Wallet 

Customers can load funds into a mobile wallet for convenience. Since they collect rewards every time they order, they will want to use it every chance they get. Plus you can offer additional incentives for customers to refill their mobile wallet. Meaning you make the money right away and customers can purchase at their leisure. 

With TapMango you can offer all of the above and so much more without having to break the bank (or without giving up a portion of your sales).

The most important thing to know is that TapMango is geared to small businesses just like yours. Helping you serve as many customers as possible, as competitively as possible without emptying your wallet. All TapMango merchants receive the aforementioned services for the same monthly subscription fee: no hiddens costs, extra fees or hardware purchases. We even provide you with a customer facing tablet and fully branded keytags. 

Now that you know about the money you can save and all the other benefits of having your own custom-branded app and website, all that’s left is to take the plunge! 

Set up your mobile and online ordering today, just click here to speak with a representative.