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With 59 percent of customers hanging up after calling in and waiting for a minute or less, according to Linga, restaurants are missing out on a lot of business. menu, hours, etc.), or place an order (for take out). menu, hours, etc.), or place an order (for take out). What Are AI Agents and What are They Used For?
Onlineordering has transformed the restaurant industry, turning what was once a convenience into an absolute necessity. In 2025, the US online food delivery market is expected to reach $424.9 Customers expect to browse menus, place orders, and pay for their meals with just a few taps of their phones.
A huge part of this experience is the customerservice they receive at every contact point within the restaurant – and even after they’ve left. Here, we share practical and actionable ways to enhance your establishment’s customerservice.
Nowadays, running a successful restaurant takes more than great food and good service. With 90% of diners checking a restaurant online before visiting, you also need a strong online presence to attract and boost reservations. Let’s explore 26 proven online marketing strategies to help your restaurant thrive.
A customer in Miami should bite into the same perfectly seasoned burger that delights diners in Seattle. One location might offer seamless mobile ordering, while another struggles with glitchy payment systems, creating inconsistencies that can frustrate customers and impact revenue.
Understanding your target market is the foundation of making smart decisions for your menu, pricing, and overall guest experience. Without a well-defined target market, restaurants risk wasting resources on strategies that dont connect and menu offerings that dont selltrying to appeal to everyone, but standing out to no one.
Restaurants collect a ton of customer data. Every onlineorder, email sign up, and reward program interaction generates valuable insightsbut if that data just sits there, youre missing a major opportunity. Think about it: What if you could automatically send a special offer to a customer who hasnt ordered in a while?
If youre one of the thousands of restaurants that added online food delivery in recent years, you might be wondering: is it actually helping my business grow? These metrics give you a clear picture of your delivery performancefrom order volume and customer retention to delivery speed and profitability.
And no, increasing restaurant sales doesn’t mean turning your restaurant staff into pushy upsellers trying to squeeze a few extra dollars out of every order. Create Limited-Time Offers That Drive Action Limited-time offers (LTOs) give potential customers a reason to order now, not later.
Have you ever walked into a restaurant, excited for a great meal, but the server can’t answer your questions about the menu? There was a time when 70% of F&B employees didn’t receive training for customerservice. A well-structured restaurant training program will let you turn this around.
Are you doing all the right thingsserving amazing food, delivering top-notch service, crafting perfectly balanced drinksbut the tables still arent filling up like they should? Youre delivering a great dining experience, yet foot traffic remains inconsistent, online engagement is low, and new customers arent coming in as often as youd like.
What was once a gradual process turned into a rapid transformation, permanently reshaping how restaurants operate and interact with customers. Customers have now fully embraced the benefits of using restaurant technology, and to keep up with guests evolving expectations, the tech industry is growing at an incredible rate.
How you approach restaurant marketing can be broken into two main categories: Attracting new customers to your restaurant Earning more from the customers you already have Most restaurant operators pour time and money into the first, but often overlook the massive opportunity in the second. Let’s say you run a neighborhood pizza shop.
The tool from the East Coast vegan chain — a digital take on a split-flap mechanical display that appears on its website and in the chain’s ordering app — estimates the amounts of water, land, CO2, and oil saved by eating vegan burgers. The “ PLNT Impact Tracker ” on PLNT Burger’s website wants you to think about what you’re eating.
A spike in food costs, a drop in sales volume, or one slow season can wipe out months of hard work. That includes the ingredients and packaging for your menu items, but not things like rent and payroll. This gives you a sense of how effective your menu pricing is. Why are restaurant profit margins so thin?
Third-party delivery apps start out as a convenient way to reach new customers, but they always take a significant chunk of your profits. While these platforms do bring in orders, they also come with the price of high commission fees, loss of customer data, and a weaker connection between you and your guests.
Every day, youre juggling staff, food quality, inventory, customerservice, purchasing, and moreall while trying to cultivate a dining experience that wows your customers enough to keep them coming back. CustomerService and Experience Great food and drink is only truly enjoyed when its coupled with a great service experience.
Youre not just managing food and staff, youre battling slim profit margins, high operating expenses, and constantly changing customer preferences. Part of it comes from lumping together all service-providing businesses or misunderstanding what failure means. Who are your customers ? So why the disconnect?
These are tools that can help you streamline operations, easily schedule staff, and make sure you never run out of ingredients for your best-selling menu items. AI is no longer just a buzzword, its a reality that is reshaping how restaurants operate, interact with customers, and make decisions.
89% of people do dining research on their phones, so if you’re not making the most of your online presence, you're missing out on a huge opportunity. Whether through supporting local charities or participating in food drives, local restaurants can become go-to places for customers who want to support their community.
Are your regulars ordering the same drink and entree every time they come in? Does the energy feel flat, and the customers look bored. Get some fresh customers through the door and start the neighborhood talking about whats happening in your restaurant again. Has your restaurant hit a plateau?
Start by tracking all the income your bar generates, including sales from drinks, food, and any additional services. Reevaluating the prices of your drinks and knowing the types of drinks you sell can help you earn more for each bottle, as well as implementing portion control and even redesigning your menu. Did you know that just 1 oz.
They stick to time-tested methods using hardwood smoke and simple seasoning to bring out deep flavors in each plate. 29 – Drake’s BBQ Source: Drake’s BBQ Drake’s BBQ in Greenwood, Mississippi, is a trusted local spot known for its slow-smoked meats, generous portions, and steady service.
Keeping menus updated across various onlineordering systems and third-party delivery apps can feel like a never-ending game of catch-up. Manually updating menus across multiple onlineordering channels is tedious, time-consuming, and prone to mistakes. What is Menu Management Software?
They play a big role in overseeing your inventory and attending to customer complaints. They also bring creative ideas to the table, such as improving the drink menu and coming up with new events and promotions to drive sales. How would you improve or refine our current drink menu? what did you do?
Even your most reliable menu items can lose their shine over time. Dining habits change, food costs fluctuate, and customer preferences can shift depending on what’s trending. All of these things are ok, so long as you’re menu is evolving with the changes. But together they add up. A shift in dining trends.
Understanding what customersorder, when they order, and how often is an untapped goldmine of information for restaurant operators. Using that data can help you answer questions like: Are we pricing our bestsellers too low or overpricing items customers arent buying? Ordering data includes more than just what gets sold.
New ideas, improved service, and a fresh appearance help draw clients back quite regularly. Facility services remodeling contractors handle changing old floors or painting walls to give the space a fresh new look. The design also reveals that the company values customer comfort and takes immense satisfaction in its space.
The primary response was menu price increases, with nearly 61 percent of respondents adjusting prices to cope with the new reality. How leaders meet these needs will become increasingly important, as nearly half of respondents said third-party delivery services account for between 11 percent and 30 percent of revenue.
The research found that businesses worldwide – particularly restaurants – intend to experiment more in 2025, especially with customer retention programs like loyalty, as they face the triple challenge of sustained high inflation, shrinking consumer wallets and the need to raise prices across the board.
The next youre racing to keep inventory stocked while customers wait for tables. Whether youre a seasoned owner or just starting out, this advice will help you boost efficiency, keep your team motivated, and turn customers into regulars. One pro we know tested a cook with a plate this order challenge under a timer.
In recent years, consumer behaviors have drastically changed to now preferring delivery services and an increased willingness to pay a premium for a seamless experience. The data revealed that 60 percent of consumers surveyed prefer human staff versus AI-managed customer support, despite the potential for increased service efficiency.
Foot traffic or heat mapping, menu item engagement, or consumer demographics by time of day. – Misty Chalk, vice president, Americas at BrightSign AI Continues to Revolutionize Restaurant Operations and Guest Services: The restaurant sector is poised for a seismic shift as AI integration takes center stage.
One of operators most difficult challenges is balancing restaurant operating costs without compromising the food, service, and customer experience that makes your restaurant unique. If youre pushing out more orders, getting more ingredients, and staffing more servers, these costs will reflect that.
Restaurant review sites aren’t just for diners—they’re also savvy tools for restaurant operators to gather customer feedback and help control the narrative around their dining experience. Think of it as the online hub of your restaurant’s online reputation, and it’s often the first impression you make in local search results and Google Maps.
These are the places people keep coming back to, not just for the food but also for the experience and the way they treat their customers. Many reviews highlight the friendly service and how the staff makes visitors feel welcome, with some noting that the owner is often seen checking in with customers.
It’s the first impression most customers will have of your restaurant. Restaurant operators who neglect their Google Business Profile are missing out on the 62% of customers who turn to Google when looking for a place to eat. This is ChowNow customer, Maple Block Barbecue’s Google Business Profile.
From improving customer satisfaction to managing inventory, every day presents a new opportunity to optimize operations. Far more than just a way to process payments, todays POS technology is transforming the restaurant industryhelping you streamline operations, cut costs, and deliver superior customer experiences.
Thanks to accessible reporting from Soup’d Up’s quick service restaurant POS , Gordon knows what’s popular and lets those numbers steer her daily menu. Moving more product means more sales, and by optimizing her menu Gordon has increased daily sales by up to 35%. But you don’t have to feed them.”
While each place has its own way of doing things, they all share a focus on slow cooking, seasoned pits, and a strong sense of community. The list is based on online reviews, local opinions, and overall popularity across the state. This article rounds up 30 of the best BBQ spots in Arkansas.
POS systems do more than just process payments they enable restaurants to personalize menus by analyzing customer data. Learn more in our latest post: How POS Systems Enable Menu Personalization. Customer Insights : Track orders, dietary preferences, and trends.
Restaurant email marketing is your secret ingredient to standing out, creating memorable dining experiences, and significantly boosting revenue by nurturing strong customer relationships. Why Restaurant Email Marketing Works So Well It Reaches Customers Directly Emails bypass social media algorithms and land directly in customer inboxes.
Restaurants can now use customer data to enhance restaurant menu design, creating smarter menus that increase profits and improve the dining experience. This approach also helps reduce food waste and maximize customer satisfaction. Spot Best-Sellers : Focus on the 16% of menu items that drive 80% of sales.
Look at your financials — steady profits, a loyal customer base , and strong staff retention are all signs of readiness. Include key milestones like finalizing the lease, completing renovations, hiring staff, ordering equipment, and doing test runs of your menu. Start with your target opening date and work backward.
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