According to NRN, digital ordering has grown 300% faster than dining since 2014. As customers nowadays prefer convenience, speed, and personalized experiences, restaurants are turning to digital ordering systems to meet these expectations while streamlining operations.  

From quick-service restaurants to fine-dining establishments, digital ordering systems are helping reduce wait times, increase order accuracy, and drive higher sales through upselling opportunities and advanced analytics.  

In this blog, we will discuss what a digital ordering system entails and why modern restaurants need them to ensure success.

What Is a Digital Ordering System for Restaurants?

A digital or online ordering system is any technological solution that facilitates ordering over electronic media. It replaces or supplements manual order-taking methods, leading to fewer manual errors and enhanced guest experience.

These digital ordering platforms integrate with other Back of House tools, such as the kitchen display system, to ensure the placed order is prepared accurately and on time. These systems not only facilitate ordering but also help in real-time menu customization, tipping management and distribution, payments, and feedback.

The main digital ordering systems include:  

Online Ordering - The restaurant’s website, where customers can browse the menu and place their orders.  

Mobile App Ordering - The restaurant’s official app that customers can download to place orders and view reward points.  

Third-Party Delivery Platforms - These are platforms, like DoorDash, Uber Eats, or Grubhub, that accept digital orders on your restaurant’s behalf. While convenient, these services often charge high commissions and limit brand control.

Main Advantages of Using a Digital Ordering System

A comprehensive digital ordering system can help your restaurant reach new heights by increasing profitability and lowering costs. Let’s check out the benefits of a digital ordering system for restaurants.  

Boost Sales

Digital ordering systems help you enhance sales by giving customers the option to order from their preferred medium, such as a mobile app and website. Moreover, AI-powered digital ordering systems can offer customers automated prompts for add-ons and combos based on customer preferences and order history. It not only increases upselling but also enhances customer experience.    

Digital ordering systems can also modify menu items and prices in real time based on demand, locations, and time. Moreover, they integrate with loyalty programs to enable customers to redeem the offers at the right time.  

Customers tend to spend more when they order online because they can easily browse menus and add extras without pressure.

Optimize Operational Efficiency

The traditional process of taking orders manually leaves ample room for errors. Servers often forget a special request (like no pepper or extra cheese), leaving guests annoyed or even canceling their orders.  

With digital ordering systems, there is no scope for human errors. The customers place their order on the app or website right from their phones. The order is populated on the kitchen display system in real time, leaving no chance of miscommunication between the FoH and BoH teams.    

In addition to minimizing errors, digital ordering systems also enhance operational efficiency as the time taken to order and prepare is reduced significantly.  

Get Deep Data Insights

Every modern restaurant aims to provide the best customer service while enhancing profitability. However, this is not possible without identifying the areas of improvement. With digital ordering systems, it becomes easy to track menu performance and understand customers’ needs.

The new-age digital ordering systems for restaurants have advanced reporting and data analysis capabilities powered by Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning. It helps you:  

• Identify the bestsellers for a given period

• Offers a real-time update on inventory, so you can dole out the items that are nearing the expiry date.

• With predictive analysis, you can identify demand levels during a specific time of the day, helping you to optimize employee scheduling.      

• Analyze customer ordering history to offer better menu suggestions and offers.  

• Design personalized marketing campaigns for customers.

• Offers employee performance reports for bonuses and rewards, ensuring retention.

Data-backed decisions make your operations more efficient, and your menu more profitable.

Improve Customer Experience

Modern diners value speed, accuracy, and convenience. A digital ordering system for restaurants delivers all three. Earlier, customers had to call the restaurant to order, which led to a long waiting time. However, with digital ordering systems, customers can just pick up their smartphone or laptop and order within minutes.

A digital ordering system also offers repeat customers better visibility of their reward points, which they can redeem instantly. Moreover, their order status is updated in real time on their phones. The ordering systems are also integrated with multiple payment gateways, letting customers pay as per their convenience.  

Reduce Costs

A restaurant must maintain at least the break-even point to survive in the market. It can happen only if they keep COGS and labor cost percentage in check. Digital ordering tools ensure that you serve more customers without additional staff. As everything, from ordering to tipping and payments, can be done on the ordering platform, employees can focus on personalized interactions rather than worrying about getting the order right.    

Moreover, digital ordering systems offer waste management reports to help you reduce waste and optimize inventory, reducing COGS.

Contactless Ordering and Payments

According to the National Restaurant Association, 79% prefer contactless or mobile payments, with 73% opting for digital wallet options, like Apple Pay, Samsung Pay, Google Wallet, PayPal, or Venmo.

Since the pandemic, customers prefer minimal-contact experiences. Restaurant ordering software tools support contactless payments, QR code menus, and curbside pickup, ensuring both safety and convenience.

NOVA: Powering Smarter Digital Ordering for Modern Restaurants

With the NOVA restaurant management platform, you can give customers a wholesome ordering experience. NOVA offers multiple digital ordering systems for restaurants, including a mobile app and a webstore, to optimize online ordering. All the platforms are integrated with Back of House tools to ensure seamless data flow and better decision-making. Let’s check out all the ordering solutions provided by NOVA:

Restaurant Webstore  

NOVA enables you to create your own customer-friendly restaurant webstore. You can design the webstore to suit the aesthetics of your brand. Also, you get inventory updates in real time, so you can alter the menu accordingly. Be it pickup or delivery, let customers choose their preferred payment methods. NOVA also offers hands-on training to all your employees to facilitate quick onboarding.  

NOVA App

NOVA offers an online ordering system built to suit your restaurant business. Enable customers to track their orders in real time. Integrate the NOVA app with other third-party platforms or use it independently to get rid of commissions.    

Opting for NOVA’s one-stop online ordering system offers you -  

Menu Management - All ordering platforms are integrated to offer consistency in menu design and prices. You can roll out menu updates simultaneously on all systems.  

Tip Management - NOVA offers an integrated tip management system across all online ordering platforms to ensure a convenient tipping process for the guests. Optimize tip distributions and pay the employees instantly.  

Seamless Integration - NOVA does not offer only ordering solutions - it is the complete package you need for efficient restaurant management, including a restaurant CRM, kitchen display system, loyalty program, and POS. It enables a fully automated restaurant operation with AI-infused intelligence.  

Contactless payments - Empower your guests to pay from their preferred payment methods, right on any of our digital ordering platforms.  

Smart Loyalty Program - Our loyalty program is integrated with all online ordering systems, so customers can redeem reward points at any time. You can also create personalized loyalty programs for repeat customers.  

Real-time Scalability - Expand from one location to ten. Our cloud-based ordering system maintains consistency across all locations and platforms.  

The Time to Adopt a Digital Ordering System is Now

Adopting a digital ordering system for your restaurant means higher sales and lower operational expenses for restaurants. It also enhances guest satisfaction while increasing table turns. If you want to experience the benefits of a digital ordering system before adopting it, book a free demo of NOVA to get a clear picture.  

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