The concept of mobile technology and mobile apps in the restaurant industry isn’t all that new. It’s been around for years but it always felt like it was the big players who were doing the most and getting the most out of mobile.
And that’s not all too surprising. Big restaurant chains have the most capital to throw around. They can experiment and spearhead frontiers that the average restaurant owner just can’t do.
The good news is that mobile tech and strategy for restaurants reaches far beyond just mobile apps. How restaurants can leverage mobile in their marketing efforts is much easier and more affordable.
Below is a nifty infographic how mobile is reshaping the restaurant industry, created by NetWaiter.
Mobile Ordering is Exploding
Over the past years, we’ve relentlessly talked about the importance of mobile ordering is to the success of modern restaurants. And here’s why:
Mobile ordering is expected to explode to a whopping $38 billion this year.
That’s a huge amount of revenue. Not only that, but there’s a huge frequency of mobile ordering use among the modern diner. More than half of people with a restaurant app use them at least once a week.
Modern restaurants just can’t afford to skip out on that amount of money and order frequency. And while running your own delivery team might be too much of a strain for you, there are third-party food delivery apps that can do the heavy lifting for you.
Third-party delivery apps are also so prevalent and popular that potential guests are more likely to find you on there than via your own app or by ordering through your website. Of course, third-party delivery companies aren’t without their own issues, so operators need to do their homework before jumping in headfirst.
What are Diners Looking for on Mobile?
Mobile isn’t just being used to make online restaurant orders. In fact, only 32% of consumers using mobile are using it to place an online order. What a lot of consumers are doing are looking for good deals or coupons (42%).
More than a third of potential guests are also using mobile to look up restaurant’s menus (38%) while 37% use it to search for local food options. This is why it’s important for restaurants to get control of their pages on sites like Yelp and TravelAdvisor, as well as set their restaurant up on Google My Business. But it’s not just enough to have those accounts set up. Your also need to put your full menu on the sites for easy viewing and keep it up to date as your menu changes.
