Food is something that needs no marketing! Absolutely wrong. In this article, we are going to explain why food marketing is important and how apps can help you do so. Every other day, a restaurant opens in the market. There are millions of restaurants in the world.
Three to four decades ago, the number of restaurants was too small. There were a few restaurants and all used to do good business. What about a business where there are less competition and a huge customer base? When such a scenario occurs, everyone wants to do that business.
This is what happened to the restaurant business. There were 647,288 restaurants in the USA in the year 2017. The report was released by Statista. In India alone, there are more than 1000000 restaurants and that’s a huge number. This is one of the main reasons why we need mobile apps to promote our businesses online.
What Makes a Restaurant Business Attractive?
- Higher profits: Do you know what is the making cost of the pizza that you spent hundreds of rupees? The owner can get higher profits from the restaurant business as the food market never shows descending graphs. The profit margins are higher.
- Break-even point: When any person or a group of people start a restaurant, a break-even point is the first target. A break-even point is a phase where you cover all the money invested in the business. In the restaurant business, this break-even point is achieved in less time as compared to other businesses.
- Everyday revenue: Restaurants surely generate revenue every day. As money flows, the capital increases every day.
- People love outside food: This is one of the main reasons why people opt for the restaurant business. The market is huge and never falls down.
What Are the Challenges Faced in a Restaurant Business?
Now that we know why the restaurant business is so attractive, have you noticed any challenges in this business? To learn how mobile apps can play a significant role in formulating the restaurant marketing strategies, you first need to understand what are the challenges faced by the restaurant business:
- Resources: You hired 4 chefs, 15 waiters, 5 helpers, 6 janitors, 1 manager. You started at a restaurant and it is doing great. People are loving it. Then for any reason, 5 waiters left. Still, you are managing and doing well. What happens when 2 chefs left? Here starts the toughest situation. Resources have not been retained. Unlike corporate jobs, restaurants do not have any bonds signed. On the other hand, what if the resources are not skilled? What if the chef cannot provide tasty food?
- Location: It is difficult to buy a small flat in a prime location; how can you easily get a good prime location for your restaurant? Even if you adjust to a not so good location, who is going to notice it? Many business owners are now even opting for building their own location-based apps to sort this issue.
- Competition: Assume you have got a great location and amazing staff. But what about the other restaurants? They are sustaining the market because they too are good at their jobs. How different are you offering? To stand firm in any competition, you need to have something unique in your business.
- Lack of marketing knowledge: As they say, great business without proper marketing is like running on a treadmill. You are not going anywhere. A person who manages a restaurant might not have time to promote it too. Or you might just not have enough knowledge.
These were the challenges. Now let us discuss solutions. Technology cannot assure you great chefs and prime location. But it can definitely help in offering the best promotional activities. We are living in a world where no one survives without smartphones.
People love their smartphones and especially the cool mobile applications. Restaurant mobile app development is seeing a great peak due to this fact. There are thousands of restaurant apps. On average, a person has 60 to 80 apps in smartphones.
How Mobile Apps Can Help With Restaurant Promotion?
The average user spends around 3 hours on mobile phones. According to a survey conducted in the USA, 81% of respondents stated that they prefer searching for restaurants through mobile apps. No matter how tasty the food is, it needs an online presence.
Is your restaurant active on the internet? No? High time to do so. Here are some ways in which mobile apps can help in promoting restaurants.
1. Social Media Apps
Most downloaded and used mobile apps are Whatsapp and Facebook. Why? Because people nowadays love being social on the internet. According to a report generated by Statista, Facebook has 2.23 billion monthly active users.
As per another report generated by Statista, Twitter has 335 million monthly active users. Do you have an official page on social media channels? Are you active on these pages? Do you have your own hashtags? Start working on these since these are social media trends. These trends are a great way to help when it comes to promotion.
Here are some tips for promoting your restaurant on social media apps:
- Create your own hashtags
- Upload high definition images of restaurants and food almost every day
- Organize fun contests
- Focus on content marketing
- Display offers here
2. Convenience Apps
As the name suggests, these apps offer convenience. These are apps that allow users to book tables in advance. In rush hours like 1 to 3 and 7 to 10, restaurants are full and it becomes difficult to get a vacant table. People with busy schedules usually take the help of convenience apps to book tables. These apps are usually offered to put an order first option.
Users not only book a table but also give a food order. Restaurants can benefit a lot. The first benefit is that the user considers the restaurant as a responsible business being on such apps. Another benefit is that you can schedule table timings and reduce the waiting time of other customers. This ultimately adds to the revenue.
3. Restaurant Finder Apps
These are the apps where you are supposed to register (paid registrations) and the app displays your restaurant details. These apps are used to find the best restaurants on the basis of various filters like location, cuisine, top-rated, cheapest, etc.
For instance, if your restaurant server only has Italian food, it will get into the category of Italian food restaurants. Every time a user inserts keywords like the best Italian food near me, your restaurant details show up. Zomato is a great example of such apps. As mentioned before, many people, especially millennials, trust apps, and decisions are mostly app influenced.
4. On-Demand Apps
Users are ready to pay some extra money to get delicious favorite food on the doorstep. These on-demand apps are amazing. Users can select the restaurant, read the menu, select the favorite item, but the address of delivery, pay online and a delivery guy delivers it within some time. Users who have hectic schedules or are simply not willing to travel or eat can order from on-demand apps. All you need to do is simply register here and start serving online too.
5. Payment Apps
These are apps that need to be integrated. Restaurant mobile app development usually involves third party payment apps. Users can easily pay bills using these apps. You don't always need to use it in some restaurant apps. People who visit your restaurant shall be able to pay bills from these payment apps like Paytm, Phonepay, etc. People are being cashless and turning towards plastic money.
6. Crowdsource Review App
These apps are like a community where different users come in and share their thoughts, reviews, experiences, etc. One of the best examples of such apps is Yelp. One important thing to learn here is that customers always believe in other customers. Reviews and ratings must be taken very seriously. Set up a page with enticing images of food items, ambiance, staff, etc., you can get good reviews on these apps. Once you get good reviews, the promotion is done.
7. Create Your Own App
Offer all mentioned facilities and features in your own app. Offer online ordering, home delivery facility, online payment options, online table booking, order, etc. It is recommended to hire the best and most professional restaurant mobile app development companies.
Final Words
Apps can be a great help in promoting restaurants and other than that quora is also helping people to solve their confusion in an efficient way. As the competition is increasing every day, restaurants must start using technology. For instance, NineHertz is one of the best restaurant mobile app development companies and has a solution to all your problems.
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By Sakshi Kaushik
Content Writer
A passionate writer and tech lover, she strives to share her expertise with mobile app developers and fellow tech enthusiasts. During her moments away from the keyboard, she relishes delving into thriller narratives, immersing herself in diverse realms.
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