Your Football Season Power Play: Online Ordering

The air is a little crisper, pumpkin spice is back, and America's favorite autumn tradition is back in play: football. Unlike any other, football season is a truly magical time...especially for restaurants (pizza restaurants in particular). Family and friends gather around the flat screen donning jerseys...and they're hungry. Football games are a prime opportunity to grow your business, and online ordering is your touchdown play. 

In the pizza marketplace, independents have been losing share to franchises and chains, largely due to not investing in business boosting technologies like online ordering and mobile apps, things that today's consumers have come to expect when it comes to ordering their food. That is, more of today's pizza eaters want the ability to order online via their smartphone. Facebook even announced this week that users will be able to order food without leaving the social networking app. 

"Not only do people prefer the convenience of digital ordering, studies show that people spend more when they order online. They are also more likely to order again - once they’ve ordered, you can market directly to these consumers again. They’ve also likely saved their payment information and possibly stored delivery preferences. Higher sales per ticket and repeat business are crucial to restaurants – and many independent operators are missing the boat". 

READ: 8 Online Ordering Mistakes Hurting Your Business

Football Sunday isn't the only opportunity to leverage this business boosting tool. Halloween is one of pizza's busiest days of the year. For these anticipated high volume days, it's important to plan ahead by encouraging customers to place deferred orders in advance so you can make sure your inventory stays on point. A few key success factors for making online ordering work for your restaurant:

• Make sure that when you add online ordering service to your website, it looks great on both a computer and a mobile device
• Even better, get your own branded mobile app to make it a seamless experience
• If you go with a third party provider, make sure the system integrates well with your POS and other technology business tools, and be prepared to pay extra fees
• It's a prime opportunity to incorporate your loyalty rewards marketing and boost your business and enhance brand loyalty among your customers
• Be sure to leverage your suggestive selling features to maximize ticket averages 

So turn local football fans into fans of your business by delivering them a delicious and convenient alternative to the sub par "big chains". 

If you're not yet on the online ordering train, industry and consumer trends indicate that it's a necessity to stay competitive and profitable in the current marketplace. But don't worry, we can help with that!