How to Increase Restaurant Sales With Online Ordering

Jun 13, 2019

How to Increase Restaurant Sales With Online Ordering

Wondering how to increase restaurant sales? You’re not the only one. Sales in the restaurant industry are steadily growing, but food and labor costs are rising, too. Meanwhile, slim margins and high competition are constant concerns.

Detailed business planning, a smart marketing strategy, and—of course—quality food and service will always help your restaurant’s numbers. That said, if you haven’t yet considered online ordering for your restaurant, you could be ignoring a lucrative sales channel.

The online ordering market is growing quickly, and orders placed online are, on average, 20% larger than in-restaurant purchases. Many ChowNow restaurant partners have found that their online checks are as much as 55% larger than on-premise ones. There’s a wide variety of reasons why customers make larger orders online, including the following:

  • Online menus present ripe opportunities for upselling.
  • Customers have the time and ability to study the menu and choose precisely what they want.
  • Customers feel uninhibited because they don’t need to interact with anyone to place an order.

In short, implementing an online ordering system—or optimizing the one your restaurant already has—will grow your sales. Read on for three essential steps to maximize your profits.

How to Increase Restaurant Sales With Online Ordering:

1. Find the right online ordering provider—one that doesn’t charge commissions.

An increase in sales is meaningless if those sales are not profitable, and in the world of online ordering, it’s easy to get tricked. Many third-party delivery apps will fool restaurants by bringing in new business and then charging paralyzing commissions. Look for a vendor that will build your restaurant its own system to take commission-free orders. Keep control over your branding, and make sure you have access to your customer data.

Learn more about what to consider when choosing an online ordering provider in our complimentary guide, 4 Steps for Finding an Online Ordering Partner.

2. Promote your online ordering system to your customers to increase repeat sales.

In order to reap all the benefits of your online ordering system, you need to market it. Spread the message with in-store signage, email promotions, digital marketing, and word-of-mouth tactics. By convincing your in-store customers to order online when they want takeout, you’ll increase check sizes. and gather valuable customer data that you can use for email marketing.


Understand the value of restaurant customer data when it comes to business strategy, menu design, marketing, and more. Read our ebook, “Why Customer Data Is Critical to Your Restaurant’s Success,” today.

Read the eBook

3. Don’t limit online ordering to just your website. Instead, use multiple digital channels.

Your presence online doesn’t just consist of your website. Rather, your customers can discover your restaurant through platforms like Google and Yelp, too. If you don’t have online ordering on these channels, you’ll end up selling yourself short and missing out on orders.

This isn’t to say that your restaurant should sign up for anything that’s not financially and operationally sustainable. Look for commission-free online ordering channels that put the power to increase restaurant sales in your hands. Depending on your goals and audience, this could entail getting a mobile ordering app to drive loyalty and repeat orders, or signing up for Food Ordering With Google to capitalize on Google’s massive user base and find new customers.

How to Increase Restaurant Sales: Food Ordering With Google drives new customers to your business straight from Google Search, Maps, and Assistant.



Food Ordering With Google, powered by ChowNow, drives an average of 19 new orders per month to a restaurant brand. Learn how to wield this powerful tool and maximize your restaurant’s Google presence in our guide, “4 Proven Tactics to Turn Google Searches into Takeout Orders.”

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These three tips provide an essential foundation for increasing your restaurant’s sales with online ordering. Make sure that you stay on the right track with most effective strategies and tools by scheduling a call with a ChowNow online ordering specialist today.

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