How to make your FREE Takeaway Ordering Website work for you
By Darren Hiles
So you have your brand spanking new FREE takeaway ordering website from Cheap Takeaway Menus. You know what to do with printed takeaway menus; you distribute them to your catchment area using at least 1000 menus per week. But now you have a new takeaway ordering website? What do you with it now? How do you use to your advantage? How do you make it work for you?
Firstly your website needs your help and it will not be of any benefit to you unless you do so. You cannot simply sit back and expect it to be successful; unfortunately you have to help it to grow into a vital and integral part of your business. Until it gains momentum and develops its own SEO you will have to help promote it. Websites take time to improve in search results so it is important that you assist in its development. You have to put some effort in so that you can reap the rewards later.
There are a number of simple things you can do:
- Put the website address on the front of your menu with a strong call to action something along the lines of “Order Online” or “Now taking orders online” next to the URL website address.
- Create a special A5 flyer and use one side to promote your new takeaway ordering website and the reverse side could have your banquet evening details, new products, meal deals, Wednesday Specials, upcoming football event specials etc. on it.
- Tell all your regular customers and especially customers from portals like Just-Eat that you now have your own website for taking food orders. Why give Just-Eat commission when you could keep it for your business
- End all telephone orders by telling the customer that next time they may want to consider ordering conveniently online.
- Put posters up in your shop window and next to the shop counter in a prominent position. We would advise you to remove any mention of ordering portals like Just Eat, let them earn their commission by bringing in new customers and not by using your existing customers.
- Offer an incentive to use the website like a 10% discount for all online orders. A number of our clients have recently put up their prices by 10% but offer a 10% discount for all online orders, this encourages people to use the website and if customers in store complain about the price hikes they are directed to the website where they can save 10%.
- Hold an “online order” raffle with prize draws, all online orders will be placed into the draw – the more online orders you make, the higher the possibility of winning the raffle.
- Always put a clean new menu in the takeaway delivery carrier bag.
- Anywhere that you promote your business (like Yell, Thompson etc) add your website URL address to the information displayed by them.
- Put your website link on all your social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter and G+ so your social network know about your new website.
What are the advantages for your takeaway business to making your website work?
- You can change the prices whenever you want to
- You can add new products whenever you want to and run trials to see which are the most popular which can be added to your takeaway menu on the next print run.
- You can try new special offers or meal deals without commitment to see if they are successful
- You can have a “Special of the Day” to help use up food nearing its expiry date.
- Free up a member of staff who would normally be answering the phone so they can help prepare the food. This will help make the food ready quicker for a faster delivery.
- You will have an email address to use for marketing of new products, offers and meal deals. Sending emails is free so this marketing technique is FREE.
- You can take card payments through PayPal.
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