Small Business

Keep ’Em Coming Back: Key Ways to Improve the Customer Ordering Experience

EpsonMarch 26, 2018

Make sure that your customer’s entire experience is just as memorable as the fantastic food you serve. Here are four basic, cost-effective ways that technology can elevate your customers’ perception of their ordering experience at your restaurant:

Adopting mobile point-of-sale tools

Consider incorporating mobile point-of-sale (mPOS) technologies into your business. They make the restaurant experience smoother for staff and customers alike. You’ll help your staff meet customers’ expectations while raising the efficiency of your entire operation. For example, mPOS allows customers to place orders themselves and pay for meals while standing in line.

Setting up an automated ordering process

Look around your restaurant, and you’ll see lots of your patrons talking, texting, and browsing the internet on mobile devices. But when you glance over at your staff, they may be writing down orders and handing tickets to your kitchen. Think about automating your ordering process with mPOS devices and digital kitchen displays. They can boost your staff’s productivity, reduce ordering errors, and shorten wait times — big wins for you and your customers.

Creating a streamlined online ordering experience

A growing number of customers want the option to order online, via the web, or a mobile app, even when they plan to dine in. Even thinking about creating an online ordering system — or revamping your existing one — may give you a headache, but one of the pay-offs is that customers who submit orders online are far more likely to upsize their purchases, according to a recent IHL Group study.

One way to build or improve your restaurant’s online ordering experience is to put yourself in your customer’s shoes and ask yourself: “Does my online ordering system make it as easy as possible to place an order? How does the experience on my website or app compare to my competitors’ online ordering systems?”

Investing in customer loyalty

Many restaurants have discovered that customers don’t mind sharing personal information when they can earn meaningful rewards. Even better, by integrating your customer loyalty programs with an mPOS system, you can get a holistic view of your customers, spot trends, provide more personalized service, and offer enhanced rewards to your most loyal customers.

Making the move to a tablet point of sale is an important step. We’ve built an expert guide to choosing the right Mobile POS for your business. Use this guide to learn the basics of tablet POS systems, how to find the right partner and solution, plus questions to ask potential service providers through the process.