Posts tagged mobile websites for restaurants
Why Every Restaurant Needs A Mobile App and Website
Nov 15th
You might think the success of your restaurant is decided in the kitchen, but the Internet’s role in a restaurant’s success has grown steadily since it was first launched. Now, the vast majority of customers find restaurants after an Internet search.
And where are most Internet searches being conducted nowadays? The answer surprises many . . .
Mobile devices have become the most popular means of searching the Web! The mobile web is not the same thing as the “desktop web,” either. Simply having a website is no longer enough to ensure that the connection is made with online searchers – businesses, including restaurants, must now have mobile-optimized websites.
The process of creating a mobile-optimized website is not difficult, but the small effort that’s required is definitely essential in today’s modern restaurant industry.
Why is a mobile site essential?
Without mobile optimization, visitors that use mobile browsers will find a site hard to view, difficult to navigate, and ultimately, unpleasant. The result is that they will quickly hit the back button, and head to a competing site, where checking out the menu is easy. When searching for a restaurant, it’s easy to click into a restaurant’s site, reject it, and click on to the next one. And that’s just what users do.
Business is lost, and for a pretty silly reason, too.
The overlooked opportunity
Easy-to-view mobile sites are still a huge competitive advantage for the restaurants that adopt them because, to date, only 5% of restaurants have created mobile websites. Many are still reliant on traditional channels to bring them business. So, for those restaurants that are ready to move with the customers and meet them where they now are, the rewards will be significant. The others stand to lose market share gradually to those restaurants that are connecting with an increasingly mobile world.
What about apps?
Not appetizers, mobile applications!
Apps open up communications between your restaurant and your customers, making promotions, reservations, visits, and many other things easier. In fact, if you make your app with Bizness Apps, customers will be able to call your restaurant or get GPS directions with a single click, make reservations from their mobile devices, and receive messages (like coupons, or invitations to special events) that you can send at will.
An app is a big revenue booster, and a great way to get your fans more engaged and visiting more frequently.
“I’ll only do this stuff if it’s easy.”
Don’t worry, it is! Click here to learn more about Bizness Apps Today!
How Restaurants Are Using Mobile to Grow Their Business
Feb 15th
The mobile revolution is creating huge opportunities for an endless variety of industries and players, and restaurants are no exception. Mobile apps, mobile websites, QR codes, and more, are all contributing to the growth of restaurants’ bottom lines.
Now, each of these things may seem like just another headache, but they lead to real, tangible benefits. By starting up a few simple mobile projects, a restaurant can enjoy more customers, more business, and more revenue. Here are some basic strategies that any restaurant can implement:
Mobile Apps
Mobile apps are easy for developers to create and can offer a restaurant an amazing way to boost business, especially from existing customers. For customers that are fans of your restaurant, it’s fairly easy to get them to download your app. (If they need a little push, you can offer them entry into a contest, coupons, or other incentives.)
After that, you have a lot of choices about what you want your app to do. Apps can allow customers to:
• View menu items and daily specials
• Submit orders for delivery or pickup
• Make reservations
• Submit comments and feedback
• Post to your social media profiles
• Obtain coupons
• Participate in loyalty and reward programs
• And more
All of these functions are geared towards increasing your orders, visits, customer base, buzz, customer satisfaction, and ultimately, revenue.
While current methods like direct mail and other channels rely on disruption to gain a customer’s attention, an app is something fans can engage with directly and voluntarily. In addition, the convenience of an app can’t be overstated. Our devices are always with us now, and as usage continues to increase, the value of mobile connections and experiences will increase as well.
Mobile Websites
If people search for your business on the Web from their devices, and they don’t find a mobile website, you’re in trouble. People tend to quickly flee from sites that aren’t mobile friendly and head right over to competing websites.
Creating a smooth, simple, functional mobile site, on the other hand, is a great way to open up a new path for customers to find your restaurant.
Much like an app, a mobile website can serve a number of functions. While some restaurants prefer ultra-basic sites that just have their name and number, it’s possible to create user-friendly mobile sites that perform most of the app functions listed above. Accordingly, mobile app opportunities cannot be ignored, especially by restaurants that are in need of revenue growth.
QR Codes
A third mobile strategy is to make use of QR codes. If you haven’t seen one, a QR code looks like this:
These can be placed on ads, in your storefront window, or elsewhere, and they enable customers to scan them with their mobile devices. Once scanned, the customer is taken to a website on their mobile device, and can take any action they might normally take on a website.
For example, this means that customers can scan a QR code, view your menu, and then go on to place an order, if they like. As with the strategies discussed above, QR codes open up an unlimited variety of opportunities.
The sky’s the limit!
To learn more about mobile solutions for restaurants from Bizness Apps, click here.