4 Reasons Why You Need a Pizza Ordering System for Your Restaurant

Does your restaurant have a pizza ordering system? If not, it might be time to rethink your digital strategy. After all, 43% of pizza customers want their local pizzerias to use a pizza order system, and more and more eateries are adapting to meet this demand. 

Rather than giving up a huge slice of profits (and restaurant data) to third-party delivery apps, many pizzerias are opting to get their own online ordering systems to take unlimited orders on their own terms. Here are four key reasons why your restaurant should consider doing the same.

1. Pizza ordering systems boost revenue.

Simply put, when customers order online, they make bigger purchases. On average, pizzeria ticket sizes are 18% larger online compared to those made over the phone.

According to J. Patrick Doyle, the president and C.E.O. of Domino’s, “Everything about the online transaction is better. The frequency of orders is higher. The average ticket is higher—[customers] will buy more food when they order online.”

It’s not only large chain restaurants that implement and benefit from pizza ordering systems. Take the example of The Good Pizza, a three-location pizza concept that uses ChowNow. In just one year, they increased their online revenue by 138%, and now make over $8,000 in sales per month.

See exactly how The Good Pizza worked with ChowNow to save over $100,000 and drive more than 14,000 orders online.

2. Online ordering increases customer loyalty, too.

Pizza ordering systems increase restaurant customer satisfaction by offering your guests convenience, ease of use, and better order accuracy. This is why 41% of adults say that the availability of online ordering makes them more likely to choose a restaurant over another.

Beyond customers’ demonstrated preference for online ordering technology, there are two critical reasons why having your own online ordering system—as opposed to working with a third-party marketplace app—will lead to significant growth in repeat orders.

• You get valuable marketing data. Having your own pizza order system enables you to gather your guests’ email addresses and other useful data. You can use your customer data to send them marketing emails that prime them to order from you again and again. Third-party apps, meanwhile, withhold this information and sell temporary access to the highest bidder.
• You reinforce your brand. Your pizza ordering system will give your guests more exposure to your marketing efforts. Rather than directing customers to a middleman, you’ll be sending them to your pizzeria’s website or app, complete with your own branding. Custom ordering apps are especially effective at keeping your pizzeria top of mind—on average, they increase repeat orders by 300%.

3. Online ordering makes your operations more efficient.

A pizza ordering system streamlines numerous parts of the order-taking and pickup experience for restaurateurs, staff, and diners. It simplifies the ordering process, effectively upselling customers for you while cutting down on time spent on the phone. It eliminates the issue of unpaid takeout orders, since guests are required to pay before placing an order.

Just ask Lance Enos, the general manager of Domenico’s, a 65-year-old Italian restaurant in Southern California. Thanks to their ChowNow-built pizza order system, Enos remarks, “Order accuracy has improved because guests are typing exactly what they want. It’s made it easier for our order-takers and cashiers, and our guests, too.”

4. Getting your own pizza ordering system will help you keep up with the competition.

Fifty-eight percent of pizzerias offer online ordering, and that number is only going to grow. In just the past two years, the number of restaurants that take orders online has jumped by 210%.

From the large chains all the way down to small, independent operators, everyone is seeing their digital takeout business take off. At Pizza Hut and Papa John’s, digital orders account for at least half of takeout sales. Even at Domenico’s, which just has a single location, digital sales make up 17% of the restaurant’s to-go business.

If you don’t have online ordering yet, consider this an opportunity. You have the power to increase your revenue, strengthen customer loyalty, and make your pizzeria more efficient—simply by getting online.

Not sure where to start? See how Domenico’s went digital and made over $100,000 in fewer than two years. Read their case study today.