You could have the best set up online ordering platform with beautiful branding, a quick and easy checkout process for customers and delicious products for them to buy. But if you’re not generating enough traffic, it won’t make a difference.
Traffic is the number of visitors a website or web page gets. You can track where the ‘traffic’ has come from i.e. did they just google your name? Or maybe they came from a link or an ad on one of your social media platforms.
Regardless of how they got there, (although this is important when looking at growth) the main thing you need to know is that in order to increase your sales, you need to be generating enough visits to your website. So here are five things you need to do to increase your traffic…
We talk about this one a lot but it’s for a reason. How do you expect anyone to order from you if they can’t find your online store? Priority number one should be making sure you have multiple buttons on your website and links on your social media that send customers directly to your shopping page. Make sure these are in easy to find places i.e. link in bio or at the top of your homepage. It’s also worth keeping the CTA (call to action) something clear like “Order Now”.
Just because pretty much everything is digital now does not mean print & physical collateral no longer has a place in your marketing strategy. In fact things like flyering are a low cost, high return activity, with 89% of people remembering receiving a flyer, more than any other form of advertising.
Connect your in-person customers with your online platform using QR codes that provide a direct link to your website. You can print them onto flyers, loyalty cards and even window decals, so customers can scan and instantly start browsing.
If you’re going to do one thing with print, make sure you pair it with some kind of incentive. Flyers that include a discount code are 50% more likely to be kept for at least a week and are more likely to drive sales.
Similarly to our first point, how do you expect customers to order from you if you don’t tell them they can? Email and SMS continue to be incredibly effective methods of communication, for the best results we recommend the following:
This doesn’t even have to be a discount, it could be a quick message to let customers know about your new menu or a limited edition product.
Putting a time limit on an offer, creates a sense of urgency and fear of missing out, encouraging customers to commit to buying.
In the case of communications they are really best done in tandem. One of our partners saw a 190% increase in revenue when they used email, SMS and push notifications simultaneously.
We know what you’re thinking, apps are very expensive, but you’d be wrong. With Slerp you can have your own branded ordering app for as little as £25pm. There are so many pros to having an app, it’s a really smooth ordering process for your customers, goes hand in hand with digital loyalty and when done properly is the perfect way to display your brand and own a spot on your customers phone. We won’t go on too much but if you’re interested in an ordering app you can read more here.
Back to driving traffic… if you already have your own ordering app or are getting one, make sure you’re utilising app/push notifications. If you’re not sure what this is, they’re the notifications that pop up on your phone home screen from various apps and they’re FREE to send. Unlike SMS and email that can feel a little spammy at times, push notifications are an ‘official’ looking way to communicate an update or promotion.
Last but not least, social media. Whilst this is a pretty obvious one, it’s still worth mentioning. To see results you need to be posting regular and consistent content reminding your customers that they can order from your online store.
Try utilising features like story links where you can edit CTAs and send customers directly to your store. Paired with an enticing image of your food and posted just before lunch or dinner time, this can be a great way to boost traffic and orders.
Summer is fast approaching now, but as we well know, warmer weather can cause a noticeable change in consumer buying habits. So what you should be doing to weatherproof your sales for the summer months, and a different set of customer demands.
Well one thing’s for sure, demand is definitely still there. Just because customers might be ordering fewer takeaways on their sofas, doesn’t mean they’re not still after your delicious dishes. UK sunshine is often in short supply, so when it’s out, so are we! Here are some tips for how you can make the most of online ordering this summer.
Summer means warmer days, lighter nights and customers that are more likely to be out and about. So are you offering click and collect?
Click and collect really is such a win-win for the customer and the business, whether you’re a restaurant, cafe, bar, bakery or coffee shop. Walking in and skipping the queue is always a great feeling. It also gives you as the operator a chance to prep and get an idea of order volume for the day.
Last year, 4 in 10 orders on Slerp were for collection, so if you’re not offering it, think of the number of sales you’re missing out on. You want to ensure your customers can order from you in multiple ways. Our most successful partners are those offering customers both click and collect and delivery. For commuters and other busy customers, it pairs perfectly with app ordering too – our PressPay feature allows them to order in as little as six seconds, saving them from long queues! Find out how here.
And in summer it means the consumer can pick up their order and take it outside to enjoy. Maybe in the park, on a bench or back home. It’s versatile and it’s easy. Which brings us nicely onto our next point…
If you’re lucky enough to have outdoor space, use QR code ordering on your tables. It will allow you to collect customer data for marketing and save your staff time. It also gives your customers a better experience when they no longer have to disrupt their conversation flagging down a waiter to order.
Park deliveries… the gen z answer to a traditional British picnic. Sushi in the park, pizza in the park, noodles in the park… the possibilities are endless. Is there really anything better than having a takeaway brought to the exact spot you’re sitting in the park? But how you might ask? Well you could just wing it and send your delivery driver into the depths of the trees to locate your customer. Or you could use apps like ‘what 3 words’ who have assigned 3 words to every 3 square metres in the world! Ask your customers to provide this in the notes of their order and you have an exact location without any faff.
This might sound like an obvious one but a seasonal menu is a great way to tempt customers into ordering with the excitement of new dishes. Take some photos and get them on your socials to drum up some buzz. In summer customers might prefer a lighter, fresher dish with the warmer weather. Take advantage of local seasonal ingredients, it’s better for the environment and a nice added detail to your menu when you can tell customers exactly where an ingredient came from.
Crosstown
Willy’s Pies
Pavilion
This one likely brings some mixed emotions for some parents. But for the restaurateurs in the room, it brings opportunity and more families to your venue. Now is the perfect time to run a promotion such as ‘feed four for £x’ or create a bundle for kids and adults. Everyone loves a deal and the school holidays are the perfect time to take advantage of that. There is a big demand for family dining both at home and in-house. 54% of people want more kid friendly options when ordering. That can mean smaller portions, fuss free dishes and healthier options. Either way, you don’t want to miss out on that business, so make sure your menu caters to everyone.
54% of people want more kid friendly options when ordering
KAM Media X Slerp
Consumer survey
So in short, let’s look at this summer as a great opportunity to make the most of the weather and the consumer habits that come with it. You’re already used to adapting to all sorts of situations, online ordering in summer will be a doddle.
We know all about the challenges with delivery fees. There’s no two ways about it, delivery can be really expensive! Customers have been conditioned by marketplaces to believe that delivery fees should be below £3.99, which just isn’t reflective of how much it actually costs. The fact is customers have little to no clue of the expense that delivery incurs for operators, and frankly they don’t care. What they care about is the convenience of having food delivered straight to their door.
Unfortunately for us operators, everyone has their limit and no matter how good it might taste, nobody wants to pay £10 delivery for a £2 croissant. In fact, 58% of people say they would be put off ordering because of high delivery charges, and with the cost of living soaring, customers are more conscious of how and when they spend their money. So how do you bring down the cost of delivery for your customers? We’re glad you asked. We’ve negotiated new delivery rates with the UK’s best courier partners so you can offer delivery at rates that are impossible for your customers to resist.
But before we get over excited with all of the benefits let’s give you a little more context.
Delivery rates have always been here. Essentially, they’re the prices set by courier partners to cover the cost of delivery. They vary based on vehicle type (bike, moped, car) and distance travelled. The challenge with delivery rates is that it can be hard to strike a balance between affordability and covering costs so having set rates that take this into account is key.
In true Slerp style, we’ve done the heavy lifting for you. We spent a lot of time looking at the cost of delivery across our partners, and the impact these have on sales. It’s clear high delivery fees are a huge cause of abandoned carts. So we set about trying to work out a delivery rate card that calculates fees that are both customer and operator friendly. It’s taken some number crunching to find the balance between what customers will pay, and what operators can absorb. But we think we might have done it!
What do you need to do? Nothing! This will automatically roll out across your online stores, much to the delight of your hungry customers.
So why are we doing this? Well we touched on it but we can’t sit by and watch our partners lose sales because of high delivery fees. 11% of our cart abandonments happen at the point that delivery fees are added on. Customers hate hidden costs! Fewer cart abandonments = more sales.
We’ve negotiated new, lower delivery costs with top UK couriers to give you the best last mile service. Now, by absorbing a small amount of the cost, you can hit delivery fees that are competitive with that of marketplaces.
This will help you grow your direct ordering platform. The more affordable your service is, the more likely your customers are to order directly from you and the more sales you will bring in. Your customers already love you, they love your product. By bringing down delivery fees they’ll also love your prices, and that makes all the difference.
58% of people are put off ordering because of high delivery charges
Most importantly, don’t let delivery be the reason you lose out to competitors. 26% of UK shoppers went on to purchase the same item with a different retailer after abandoning a cart. You’ve developed an amazing product, you’ve marketed it, you’ve built your brand and you’ve brought it online. Imagine how you’d feel if the reason you lost out on a sale was over something as small as a delivery fee! When customers are put off by a hidden cost, they don’t just think ‘ahh well’, they go elsewhere. Don’t give them a reason to.
Tell your customers! These new and competitive delivery fees make ordering from you hard to resist. Where some may have been previously put off by hidden added costs, you’ve now opened up online ordering to a bigger audience. So get on social media, add it to your newsletter, send an SMS. We don’t mind how you tell them, just tell them.
If you’re determined to make a success of online ordering, (and trust us you should be) affordable delivery is key. If you still need a little more information, we’ve got lots of resources available to help you out. Remember we’re here to support you at every step, with any questions or concerns.
Reading the title of this blog, you might already be thinking yep already offer loyalty. But we’re not talking about the easily lost paper versions that you hand out to each customer as they order. We’re talking about the kind of loyalty programme that actually keeps customers coming back for more… the digital kind.
Before we get into the juicy info, let’s cover the basics. Our digital loyalty programme is essentially the same as a paper stamp card but 10x better. To start with it’s online so your customer can’t lose it or confuse it with 100 other cards they have in their wallet. It’s also interchangeable between web, app and in person. So it doesn’t matter how they order, they collect points either way.
So now we’ve sparked your interest, let us tell you why we reckon digital loyalty is a must have for your restaurant.
We all love a freebie. So the thought of getting a coffee for free or 50% of a burger for the small price of becoming a regular is definitely worth it. Think about it, if you find a cafe that you like that offers you your 10th coffee for free, you’re going to keep going back. In fact, we recently paired up with KAM media for a research project and found that 84% of people would be more likely to order from a venue if they had the opportunity to gain loyalty points. That’s a lot of business you could be missing out on!
We’ve always said there’s a time and a place for a marketplace, they’re great for getting your name out there. But they should not be part of your long term strategy. Direct ordering has a lot more potential for growth and that’s where loyalty comes in. This is a great way to tempt your customers into ordering direct. And trust us, they want to. 62% said they would order direct if they could, they might not even know you offer it! Loyalty helps you stand out from the marketplaces and once your customers branch out, they’ll keep coming back.
84% of people would be more likely to order from a venue if they had the opportunity to gain loyalty points
SLERP X KAM MEDIA 2022
We know it’s not a super original point but we also know it will always be an important one. If nothing else, loyalty drives repeat business. You probably already have a loyal band of customers, you just don’t know it. With direct ordering you have full access to all of your data, so you know who’s ordering regularly and you can reward them.
If that isn’t enough to convince you, loyal customers actually spend more, 67% more! So if you want to grow your business and your online presence, loyalty programmes really are a great way to do so.
Crosstown loyalty
We’ll say it one more time for the people in the back. Paper stamp cards really do suck. How many times have you lost one or found an old crumpled one in the back of your jeans? Yep, us too.
Digital is more reliable, more convenient and eco-friendly. Continuously printing them out just for people to lose them really is such a waste of paper. And at a time where we can and should be making as many swaps as possible to make a difference, this seems like a no brainer. Save yourself the money and the trouble and the planet some trees!
Whether you’re a longstanding partner, new to Slerp, or looking to get into direct ordering full stop, a loyalty programme is something you should consider. Stay ahead of the competition and start implementing yours. New to Slerp entirely? Sign up today! Or if you’re already a partner, get in contact with your account manager now.
D2C (Direct to Consumer) is not a particularly new concept in the world of E Commerce. But in hospitality, it still feels like people don’t know a lot about it. So what is it exactly? Essentially it’s a B2C strategy where a business will make, promote, sell and ship a product directly to the customer. And in the case of Slerp, we help you do all that but online.
D2C is only growing and research shows a key reason for this is convenience and ease of use. The modern day consumer wants to buy goods from you in the simplest and easiest way possible. And it doesn’t get much easier than having your food cooked and delivered directly to your doorstep.
In fact, D2C is getting a bit of a rep for being a real positive force in the industry. And not to brag but we were recently dubbed “the ethical one” in Time Out’s round-up of best Deliveroo alternatives for order-in takeaways. So why is D2C so popular?
Unlike with third party platforms, with D2C you know who you are selling to because you have access to your data. Hospitality people are people people! D2C combines the convenience of online ordering with the personal touch of customer service. Allowing you to expand your customer reach without taking the human element out of it. What’s more, you can reward them. Thank your customers with built in digital loyalty schemes and they will keep coming back.
It also streamlines the whole process. There are naturally some benefits to market places, and we’re not saying there isn’t a place for them. But D2C simplifies things for the business and the consumer. In fact, 62% of people would actually prefer to order directly if given the option. And you have more control over the process, which is key, this is your online business! With Slerp you can manage your order volumes so you never have to sacrifice on quality. You also take more home. We know how difficult the current climate can be (we’re from hospitality too, so we’re in it with you). With lower commission comes higher margin and that is always a win.
62% of people would actually prefer to order directly if given the option.
You’ve kitted your physical store out to represent your brand, with your logo, your colours and your style. With D2C you can do that online. Slerp sits behind your brand handling the logistics and operations but you would never really know it! We’re naturally biassed but we reckon our software is some of the best looking out there. Now imagine it in your colours…
What’s more, D2C creates a much more personal experience for customers. Just as buying items from your own physical store might be compared to a retailer or department store. Some businesses are taking personalisation to the next level with their own app, opening up yet another D2C channel. You might think that this is a luxury only the big players can afford, but you’d be wrong. With Slerp you can own a spot on your customers phone with a branded app all of your own without the sky high prices.
We’ve talked about how important convenience is to the consumer. Online ordering and D2C were not just a trend in the pandemic. People want the flexibility of being able to eat their favourite food on their sofa (in their pyjamas). D2C doesn’t replace eating out in your restaurant, it saves customers the time and effort of preparing a meal, with 74% of people saying they order in to replace cooking. It really is a fantastic way for restaurants and cafes alike to get online and satisfy their customers.
📸 Pavilion Bakery
It’s not a quick fix, D2C provides businesses with the opportunity to grow, and grow sustainably. It’s an affordable and long term solution to success in the online market. It can help businesses open up new channels for sales, reach new customers and ultimately future-proof your business. If there’s anything we have learnt from the last two years, it’s that relying on one method of sales can be risky. At Slerp we adapt to your needs. We work with big and small businesses, multi and single site, to help you grow your business.
So with all that to consider, it’s safe to say that D2C is not only a positive force but one to be reckoned with. It offers a multitude of opportunities for the hospitality industry and if it sounds like something you want to explore, get in touch now.
