5 Restaurant Mobile App Optimization Tips to Boost Your Conversion Rate
Date: 7/24/2019

It is estimated that by 2020, orders placed using smartphone and mobile apps will touch $38 billion. (Source). Consider these two additional stats:

1. 60% of users order delivery or takeout at least once a week.
2. 63% of consumers are of the opinion that ordering delivery is a more convenient option compared to dinning out with their family.

Given these stats, one cannot dispute the importance of mobile apps in driving conversions for restaurants even on top of the stellar economy. However, it’s not enough to simply have an app – restaurants need to ensure that their mobile apps are optimized for improved customer experience as a way of expanding their customer base.

The most successful apps are the ones that cater to exactly what customers today expect. And the only way to understand is by analyzing what kind of actions users perform on their app – which in most cases in not limited to simply ordering delivery. Consider these five steps in restaurant app optimization.

Ensure Portions of your Ordering Process Happen in Real-Time to Drive Customer Experience

Most restaurant customers are used to ordering food in-person rather than over an app. Therefore, your restaurant mobile app must have that real-time interactiveness. This should spread through every aspect of the ordering process – from allowing customers to choose what they want to order based on the food items available to notifying them that the order has been accepted and is being prepared.

Also, it is essential to have an estimated real-time delivery timeframe for the food. This should take into account how long it would take to prepare the meal and transport it to the client. You could even program the app to send the customer updates on the order.

For example, the customer could get a notification once the order has been packaged and put on the road for delivery. Customers should also be notified if the delivery will take longer than the estimated time and what may be causing the delay.

Ensure Your Restaurant App Accepts Multiple Payment Options

There are many ways to pay for goods and services today. Therefore, it can be a real put-off to find a business that only accepts a particular payment option. This will drive some customers away.

Therefore, it is highly important to accept different payment options on your restaurant mobile app. This could include cash on delivery, credit/debit card, Bitcoin, PayPal, and other options. Make it a point to accept as many payment options as possible on your app.

As usual, receipts should be emailed to customers or sent as a text. But you must also have a page on the app where customers can check their transaction history with your restaurant.

Make Reviews Social and Interact With Customers

What if there was a way to advertise your restaurant while letting the world know what people think about your food and service? Yes, it is possible to do that by allowing your customers to share their reviews and ratings on social media. But this would only work positively if you are getting good reviews.

Apart from ensuring you provide good food and the best service, it is essential to make your customers feel like they are part of a community and you care for their patronage.

Be active on social media and make it a point to respond to both positive and negative reviews. Also, take the time to follow up if there are any complaints about your food or service. Allow customers to see the reviews that others have left for your restaurant.

Poignant Points

The goal with increasing conversion on a restaurant mobile app is to ensure your customers enjoy an interactive and seamless ordering experience. Therefore, even if you are holding up your end of the deal, be sure that third-party services you rely on (like the delivery service) are not letting you down.

Create an open channel of communication with the delivery service and ensure that orders always get to customers at the right time or even earlier.

Additionally, you could automate some processes on your restaurant mobile app to speed things up and avoid unnecessary delays. For example, the process of making a reservation or ordering food for an upcoming event could be fully automated.

Ultimately, you must make it a point to understand the demographics that patronize your restaurant and design your marketing efforts to suit them.