Getting your own restaurant app - why is it useful?

18-10-24Read Time: 8 min

Today, there are many programmes for the restaurant industry that simplify the processes of administration, accounting and management, but for full automation, one important link is missing – a convenient mobile interface that allows customers to select dishes for delivery or in the restaurant and pay online. How do you implement such a solution? The best option is to purchase your own mobile application for the restaurant, which can be synchronised with third party services, but is not dependent on them. The app is downloaded to the customer’s smartphone, so it remains a convenient and accessible ‘restaurant in your pocket’ for instant orders. Business benefits:

• Increase the average cheque size;
• Increase the percentage of repeat customers;
• Increase sales through simplified ordering functionality;
• Increase the effectiveness of the loyalty programme;
• Simplify the work of staff.

The concept is universal, suitable for restaurants, cafes, fast food outlets, pizzerias, pubs, patisseries, bakeries, sushi bars and other establishments that want to develop delivery and automate the online ordering system.

Why is a proprietary restaurant app a profitable solution?

A proprietary restaurant app is different from other solutions on the market today. Let’s take the example of our RestUp product – a ready-made mobile application that integrates into your existing business and works in sync with your existing software. If you are a restaurant owner, you will benefit after launching your own app:

• You don’t depend on third party services, you maintain your autonomy;
• You get a branded application;
• Get technical support that addresses your issues on a one-to-one basis;
• Choose a tariff plan that suits your business needs and budget;
• You can start with the minimum plan and scale up gradually;
• In the largest service package, you receive services for developing marketing strategies and promoting the application;
• The operation of the application is fully synchronised with the software you use to automate your business.

A mobile app for a restaurant – why does the customer need it?

The benefits of the app are first felt by the customers – the online ordering process becomes simple and clear, they can easily familiarise themselves with the menu, choose a dish and pay for it in a few seconds without getting up from the sofa. Customer loyalty has a positive impact on the operation of the restaurant – it receives more online orders, increases profits and enhances its image. Let’s take a look at the options available to the user.

Quick access to the menu

The mobile application presents a structured restaurant menu, categorised and searchable by name. The customer can add dishes to the basket or mark them as favourites to return to later. If a restaurant’s menu is very large and complex, sorting and filtering of dishes by various parameters is added to the catalogue for convenience.

See a detailed description of each dish

The dish page contains a photo gallery and all the necessary information – weight, composition, price, calories, variations of the product, especially the size of the dish. Before adding the product to the shopping basket, the customer specifies the number of items and chooses additives (sauces, spices, individual components of the dish).

Order and pay online

There is no need to call a manager or find a form on the website to place an order. The customer adds items to the basket, selects the delivery method and pays in a convenient way – via Google Pay/Apple Pay or WayForPay acquiring service, LiqPay, Stripe, etc. With instant online payment, customers are more likely to place impulse orders in the ‘here and now’ rather than putting them off until later.

Participates in actions

The customer can take advantage of special offers and purchase dishes with discounts. Percentages and discount amounts are displayed in the menu and automatically calculated when an order is placed through the shopping basket. Depending on the terms and conditions of the loyalty programme, other privileges may be available to the customer – promotional prices through a promo code, partial payment of the order with accumulated bonuses, cashback, etc.

Receives personalised offers

The mobile application sends push notifications to users containing personalised offers – birthday greetings, bonus accrual information, etc. When generating push notifications, the programme takes into account the user’s preferences and analyses their in-app actions to make personalised offers as effective and accurate as possible.

Uses the personal account

When entering the application, the customer registers by phone or authorises via an Apple/Google account. Registration creates a personal account that stores contact details, delivery methods, order history, bonus account, personalised promotions and a feedback form.

Quickly learns about new products and promotions

The application notifies the user of restaurant news – menu updates, new dishes, launch of promotions, discounts on certain groups of goods, announcements of events in the establishment. Fast notification in the application, without the use of SMS and e-mail newsletters, increases audience engagement and increases the efficiency of marketing strategy implementation.

In-app management – why it’s convenient for the restaurant

The restaurant and cafe app includes an easy-to-use admin panel – a dedicated interface for restaurant and cafe operators:

• Manage orders with delivery and self-delivery;
• Define delivery zones on the map with corresponding courier rates;
• Payment processing;
• Menu editing;
• Setting up a loyalty programme;
• Collect statistics.

The admin panel has several levels of access for responsible people with different roles and responsibilities, e.g. owner, director, manager, courier, kitchen staff, hall manager, etc.

Convenient order processing

Each order placed is displayed in the admin panel – the administrator can see contact details, list of dishes ordered, discounted price, delivery information, payment status. The order is launched with the ability to track the stages of fulfilment – from preparation to delivery. If integration is set up, all the information about the order is automatically reproduced in the restaurant’s automation programme. Today, the main programmes used for synchronisation are Syrve and Poster.

Quick menu editing

The administrator can make changes to the menu at any time – add new dishes, update the gallery, set prices. The data entered is immediately displayed in the application, on the website and in other applications with which the application is integrated. This functionality makes it possible to keep the menu up to date, avoid errors in the automatic generation of orders and update prices in the POS system.

Setting up a loyalty programme

Discount amounts, list of promotional items, criteria for creating personalised offers, push notification mechanism, bonus accumulation and deduction algorithms – all of these loyalty programme parameters can be set flexibly and individually for each restaurant marketing campaign in the mobile application’s admin panel.

Detailed analysis

The application collects statistics on orders, payments and deliveries, identifies popular menu items, calculates the rating of dishes and the average check by category, and evaluates the effectiveness of the loyalty programme. This data can be very useful for improving marketing strategy, enhancing customer service, expanding the menu and optimising pricing policies.

Can you quickly integrate a mobile app into an existing restaurant business?

Today, most restaurants use Poster, Syrve and other specialised software for business automation, efficient organisation of work processes, stock and order management, team and financial management. In addition, almost every restaurant has its own website and a telegram bot for receiving food delivery orders. To synchronise the work of the mobile application for online ordering with the website, bot and restaurant automation software, these services are integrated via API. There is also a separate option to launch the Telegram mini-app – a mini-app that integrates into the Telegram ecosystem and allows you to place orders without leaving the messenger.

Data on orders and payments through the application are stored in a single database, included in financial statements and added to the general statistics of the establishment. Price corrections, menu updates, discount settings via the application’s admin panel are automatically reflected in the automation programme and on the website. And vice versa – when changes are made via Poster, Syrve or any other service, the data in the application is automatically updated. What are the benefits of such integration?

• Full synchronisation minimises manual entry and editing of menus and prices as data is updated instantly and automatically across all platforms;
• Integration with existing restaurant services allows you to quickly implement the mobile format into your existing business and reap all the benefits without disrupting the established automation system.

Buying your own app for a restaurant is a simple step, but it opens up new horizons for business development and profitability growth. Creating a mobile tool improves the quality of customer service and becomes a significant competitive advantage for the establishment. Contact us to find out more about our new product RestUp – a ready-to-use mobile application that can be quickly implemented into an existing restaurant business.