How to Encourage Mobile Ordering

Given that we are living in the middle of a major digitalization of many day-to-day processes, mobile food ordering technologies have become more popular than ever. 

Living amidst a pandemic and the associated stay-at-home orders means that many customers need restaurants to offer more covid-friendly ordering options. Many places that didn’t deliver or offer mobile delivery previously are adapting to offer those services now.

If you’ve decided to start offering delivery, you should consider mobile ordering technologies over a standard order form on your website. Most of your customers are likely to have a smartphone, and apps are much more smartphone-friendly than websites. 

You have to do your research before you dive into investing in an app, but if you want to encourage mobile deliveries from your customers, then you should look into the tips below.

Ask your customers what they want

The top way to find out what your customers want from you is to ask! If you want to develop an app that is perfect for your customers, consider running some polls and conducting market research with focus groups of customers. 

Another good way to get feedback from customers is to include a comment card in deliveries that customers can send back physically or digitally with things they’d like to see in your app. 

Conducting the right research means that you can focus your energy on creating the right app the first time, and avoid redoing it three or four times to get it right. Consulting with your customers will ensure that you are pinpointing their needs, and your app will be more successful as a result.

Advertise

When it comes to advertising your new mobile ordering app, make sure that your advertising campaigns are mobile-focused. 

Including a pop-up link to your app when your customers get to your website is a great way to convince customers to download the app. Not every customer will click the link to your new app, but they’ll see it every time they will order, which will make a big difference to how many eventually download it.

Embrace social media

Facebook and Instagram are powerful advertising tools, but let’s not leave out mobile-only sites such as TikTok. If you can target some of your audience on TikTok, do it! 

Social media is a fun, free way to advertise your new mobile ordering app, and you can use social media to run competitions and contests for likes and shares for your mobile ordering app. 

Using social media is a great way to reach out to your customers, their friends and the local community, too. It shows your customers who you are and makes your services more appealing.

Pour money into your mobile website

Once you have a mobile website, you should invest in making it easy to use. If you are worried about people not wanting to use the app because the mobile ordering site is there, make the app exciting to use. Offer discount codes that are valid through the app or online only, and you’ll have people flooding to your preferred ordering system.

Contact your mailing list with coupons

If you have an email list already built up, use it to advertise your newly developed app! Send coupons and discount codes over to your customers if they will download and use your app.