Do's and Don'ts of taking your business online #orderdirect

Has your restaurant business been hit by the downfall in the economy? Or are you seeing wide gaps in your revenue? You need to think innovatively and find out alternative ways to boost sales and make your business stay afloat during these tough times! 

The COVID-19 pandemic has wreaked havoc in the restaurant industry, but it hasn’t hindered the restaurateurs from running their operations. Restaurant owners keep implementing different strategies to boost their revenues. 

In this race of leveraging sales and making a benchmark in the industry, the F&B sector has become completely dependent on 3rd party food aggregators like Zomato and Swiggy. While these food aggregators have increased the traction of customers’ manifolds. The restaurant owners need to understand the importance of #orderdirect, i.e independently taking up orders. Many famous food tech SaaS providers in the market are coming up with exclusive services like #orderdirect, omnichannel marketing, Customer analysis, etc. Some of the major SaaS companies that are helping the food industry grow are DotPe and YumzyX. 

YumzyX is a Hyderabad-based SaaS provider which offers a clear roadmap to run restaurant businesses in the future. YumzyX became the foundation for an assortment of restaurant businesses that wish to run independently and generate another primary source of revenue, besides the food aggregators like Zomato and Swiggy. Believing that every business has the potential to grow independently YumzyX comes up with turnkey solutions that help the restaurants grow in every situation. 

To help you understand the utmost importance of #orderdirect, here are a few do’s and don'ts that would help your business to boom. 

Do’s
 
Build your brand
The pandemic has indeed taken a heavy toll on the restaurant industry. In these difficult times, building your brand image for luring more and more customers should be the top priority. Pre-pandemic restaurants were running smoothly even without their brand image because food aggregators like Zomato and Swiggy helped them acquire a huge number of customers. But, as the world was hit by an unprecedented pandemic, the whole economy has gone through a downfall, which of course led to a heavy dip in revenues. This, in turn, resulted in food aggregators charging hefty commissions. 

Now to repair the loss in revenues, restaurateurs need to build their brand image, for winning their customer’s loyalty. Once the brand has won its customers’ trust, it would lead to a long-term association and loyalty with the customers. 

The brand-building could be done via packaging, logos, promoting brand values, doing CSR, etc. To avoid the hassle of such excruciating activities, restaurants should consider associating with SaaS providers like YumzyX and DotPe, which will help them align all their operations properly. 

Market Your Restaurant Business 
While brand building should be a long-term activity, marketing campaigns should also be carried out regularly. Unlike branding which helps your customer know your brand, marketing is keeping them engaged. Thus, be it a corporate or a restaurant each brand needs to be marketed well. 

In an ultra-modern world, marketing is no longer limited to newspaper ads, hoardings, or distributing flyers. Now that online marketing has taken over traditional marketing, restaurants should engage with their customers via social media, Customer relationship management tools (CRM), newsletters, dedicated emailers, exclusive deals, etc. for running stellar marketing campaigns. 

Customer Engagement 
Expanding your restaurant services online is not limited to a website. So, always be open to various possibilities and think as creatively as you can. Be it a few seconds of instagram reel or sharing the IGTV Video of your restaurant kitchen, your customers will always find it nice and sweet. This way you can retain more people on your platform, who will most likely be your long term customers. 

So broaden your business horizons by frequently rolling out instagram or FB campaigns and let your audience connect with your brand.

Interact with the Employees 
One of the major concerns for running a successful restaurant business is maintaining an efficient workforce. Hiring diligent and trustworthy employees is quite a task, therefore always prolong good relations with your workforce and try to retain them for as long as you can. In the end, a trustworthy workforce is going to become a pillar for your business, especially during uncertain times. 

Don'ts 

Don’t break your association with Food aggregators 
Food aggregators are the ones who help you get customers to your restaurants. Although their customer behavior is quite different from those who prefer to dine in on the restaurant floor. 

Even though food aggregators charge heavy commissions, the restaurant shouldn’t break association with them, rather they can focus on the brand building so that they will end up having two substantial sources for revenue generation. 

Don’t solely rely on food aggregators 
Primarily, the target audience for a restaurant could be segregated based on new users and loyal customers. As the audience for both the categories has different buying behavior, the customer needs would also be different. Therefore, the third-party food aggregators come into play, as they help in getting new customers, while your independent platform would turn them into brand loyalists. This way it is a win-win situation for your restaurant business. 

The above do’s and don'ts might help you figure out the crucial steps you need to take for skyrocketing sales and improving customer satisfaction during this pandemic. 
Last but not the least, laying all your eggs in one basket is not a safe option and you should always find alternative ways for generating revenues.

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