This is our final piece in a 3-part series in the lessons we learned during the pandemic. Part one covered why dedicated online ordering solutions are worth the investment and the benefits of a first-party online ordering platform over third-party solutions. Part two highlighted why not all ordering solutions are equal and the importance of guest trust and a consistent customer journey. While the pandemic will soon be in our rearview mirrors, here are two final things we learned during the pandemic and strategies to drive restaurants forward into 2022.

This week we are sharing two more lessons that we learned while the restaurant industry as a whole was trying to figure out operations, customer service, and customer experience during a pandemic.2020 and into 2021 has pushed QSR and restaurants to really take a deep look at their online ordering solutions and how they impact not only revenue but also customer experience and loyalty. Both the mobile experience as well as guest trust became crucial deciding factors for customers looking to purchase their next meal. 

The COVID -19 pandemic has been a harrowing, stressful period for restaurant and franchise owners. To survive, restaurants had to quickly offer take-out/delivery and online ordering or risk closing up shop. Because the entire industry was thrown into the fire at once, we can glean some important lessons about customer behaviors and preferences. We can also pinpoint some of the failings of cheap, temporary online ordering solutions. Consider these observations from part 1 of our 3 part series as you assess your current online ordering platform and plan for 2022.

Here at Onosys, we collect a lot of data. We process a large volume of transactions so that means we have lots of customer data, transaction data, and general order information.

Here at Onosys we're putting a lot of thought into our upcoming catering offering. Currently, Onosys handles catering orders for our brands similarly to how we handle online orders.

Catering is an interesting topic in today's world given the pandemic. Prior to COVID-19, we started to see a serious rise in the number of restaurants that were offering catering to businesses. Afterwards, however, the catering industry took a big hit once office work and gatherings were limited. What we do know is that catering will come back and will once again be an important facet to the restaurant industry.

Restaurants have quite a few options to enable delivery in today's world. The easiest method with the lowest barrier to entry is to sign up for the many third party American marketplaces. But this isn’t necessarily the best way for restaurants to enable delivery.

Delivery has become a very important requirement in the restaurant space. In the last 5-7 years alone, third party marketplaces have increasingly disrupted the space and lowered the barrier to entry in offering delivery services.

Here at Onosys we maintain our own library of POS (point-of-sale) integrations with a lot of our client base. But if you scan the technology landscape, you’ll find that there are hundreds of POS technologies to choose from.

A good web ordering platform should have strong integration capabilities in multiple areas.

There are four things you should consider when choosing an online ordering platform: profit, branding, data ownership, and flexibility.

Every restaurant brand should invest in a direct channel. If you’re on a third party marketplace then those third party marketplaces own your customers and your customer data. Even though a customer is potentially buying food from your restaurant and having it delivered, that customer data is owned by the third party, not you.

Customizability is one of the things that we've always prided ourselves on here at Onosys. We encourage our clients to make sure their branding comes through as strongly as possible on our platform.

The top metric you should be tracking in your web ordering platform is going to be order volume. Order volume, or your total number of transactions, is ultimately where your revenue is coming from.

Call centers create a lot of efficiency for restaurants. We hear from many of our restaurant partners that they miss a lot of phone calls in the store during peak hours. If you're missing a phone call, that is a missed opportunity for revenue. Depending on your average check size, you might be missing out on $20 or more per missed call. This lost revenue can add up fast.

In the traditional restaurant business model, restaurants need technology inside of their store to take orders from their customers coming up to a counter, or if they need to punch in orders that come in over the phone. This in-store ordering technology is the POS (point of sale) system.

This is one of the most common questions that restaurant brands have, and for good reason. As an operator, you always have to look at cost. But because there are different cost structures available and costs scale with the size of your restaurant business, it’s difficult to generalize what an online ordering platform will run you, even on average.

In the digital ordering world all software exists “in the cloud” and it seems like a simple process to be able to make that software do, and integrate with, whatever we want it to. But when it comes to integrating different technologies, there's always two sides to the coin.

While Onosys is typically an enterprise level platform that serves businesses with 50 or more locations, we also have a number of brands that manage 10, 20, or 30 locations. And even these smaller businesses are seeing huge returns on their investments in a custom online ordering platform.

In dealing with COVID-19, many restaurants have had to deal with their dining-in services being either significantly reduced or shut down completely. The only way customers can get food from those restaurants is through an online ordering platform or calling-in for their take-out options.

Having an online ordering platform is very beneficial for almost any restaurant brand. Having a platform gives you a centrally located place to drive customers to so that you can better drive revenue and meet your financial goals.

Digital online ordering platforms can have a large impact on revenue. There are many different ways you can capitalize on this. One common strategy is to use third-party marketplaces to help make customers aware that (1) you offer takeout food and (2) that you are getting in the digital space.

Onosys is a PCI (Payment Card Industry) Level 1 company which is the highest and most stringent of the PCI Data Security Standards. We protect the security of both credit card and cardholder data for both e-commerce and in-store transactions.

Onboarding a new brand can be a rewarding experience for both us and the restaurant owner. When implementing this kind of project, we get to work closely with the owners and their staff to train them on the online ordering process.

Whether you are a small eatery or a large restaurant chain, a web ordering platform will give you access to new customers, increase your takeout business and improve your profit margin. Putting together a successful web ordering platform, however, requires lots of planning, design and white labeling to get the branding just right.

The restaurant industry has changed forever due to COVID-19. ‍Every single restaurant on the planet has been forced to rapidly understand that their digital technology presence is of paramount importance right now.

A restaurant online ordering platform can greatly increase your restaurant’s revenue by making it quick and convenient for customers to place orders. Setting up an online ordering platform will involve many facets of your business including marketing, operations and legal.

A restaurant online ordering platform is a system that allows restaurants to take orders from customers online. With it you can collect customer data and everything that is needed for the order including customer name, contact information and pickup instructions. It can accept orders directly from your website or a third-party vendor.

Implementing a digital ordering platform system for your restaurant is a smart way to bring in new customers and increase revenue. It lets you introduce yourself to consumers that otherwise may have never heard of you. But there are a few things that you must do to make it work for you.

Restaurants worldwide are looking for new ways to get customers in the door. One way of doing this is with taking online orders and offering food delivery services. As the lives of consumers become busier and more complicated, these services are paramount to the success of both local eateries and restaurant chains.