Food Delivery: The Need for A Restaurant Booking Plugin Amid COVID-19

Amidst all the changes that are happening all over the world, for consumers, having access to food service, restaurant delivery, and delivery items are necessities during these hard times. Regulations and policies given by respective governments in their countries hinder people from going outside the confines of their homes. That is why a lot of them have turned to panic buying or have stocked up on their daily necessities to survive the lockdowns. 

With people staying inside, one of the industries that have been affected is the global restaurant industry. Because of social distancing and the precautions placed, there has been a rapid decline in consumers dining out. According to Statista, “the year-over-year decline of seated diners in restaurants worldwide was a staggering 100 percent on April 18, 2020.” As seen by the figure below, the restaurant industry has been negatively affected by the pandemic.

Source: statista

An Increase in Demand for Food Delivery

To help mitigate the costs and the effects of less foot traffic, restaurants have been offering food delivery services or takeouts. As previously mentioned, in this period of crisis, consumers prefer to get food deliveries. Despite the lockdown, it is one of the services that are increasing in demand. With people stuck in their homes, these are the only means that they could get access to their favorite food. So, how have restaurants been taking advantage of this situation? Well, they have been improving and updating their websites with the help of restaurant booking plugins.

What is a Restaurant Booking Plugin?

If you are using popular publishing platforms such as WordPress, you can have access to thousands of plugins and one of which is a restaurant booking plugin. These plugins are add ons or something that enhances your website. You can customize your content in whichever way you can. With restaurant booking plugins, for example, you can use it to have reservations. Or, a more appropriate use of it in times like these is to feature an order form on your website. You can offer takeouts or food delivery services for your customers.

A March 2020 survey asked consumers in the U.S. whether they would likely purchase restaurant food delivery online if they were confined to their homes because of the Coronavirus. A majority (41.7%) of them agreed that they would purchase online.

  Source: statista

 With the demand for food delivery services, restaurants need to keep up and improve their websites. They can utilize online ordering systems and make the process easier. And the process makes it simpler not just for them but for the consumers as well. The following are some of the advantages when it comes to effective online ordering for restaurants.

Boost Operational Efficiency

First and foremost, what makes an online ordering system reliable is the convenience, efficiency, and accuracy that it provides. For restaurant owners and their employees, it makes it easier for them to manage control over the ordering process and inventories. With restaurant booking plugins, you can customize them so you’ll have an efficient online ordering system. Customers can place their orders on an order form on the website. It will then send notifications to the restaurant staff to make the order execution quickly. Because food deliveries and takeouts are necessities during this crisis, your website needs to keep up with the orders and make the transaction process smoother for the consumers.

Increase Customer Reach for Food Delivery

The reason why you need to strengthen your online presence is because you want to get better customer reach. Because there is less foot traffic due to the pandemic, the only means that you can market and get customers is with an online ordering system. You need to provide an end to end Customer Relationship Management system for a complete sales dashboard. Through this, you’ll be able to manage orders and even offer your customers with an order management system. It will stream the ordering process from start to final delivery. With online ordering, your customer reach is limitless compared to your brick and mortar location. You can encourage others to buy your foodservice since most often than not, those who visit restaurant websites with online order forms have higher conversion rates.

Alternative Revenue Stream

By improving your website with the help of a restaurant booking plugin, you’ll boost your sales because there would be an alternative revenue stream for your business. You wouldn’t be limited to your physical location. That is why many restaurants have now converted their services online. WordPress booking plugins will help you enhance your restaurant’s operations. This is necessary because of the influx of consumers who want to order online. You’ll get a wider audience since nowadays, most people are on the internet looking to buy for their needs. eaSYNC Booking is one example of a plugin that is easy to use and install on your website. You can customize its features and make your website accessible and convenient for those who want food delivery services.

Despite the reduction in consumers dining out, the restaurant industry is still increasing in demand because of the help of online ordering systems and food delivery services. By visiting websites with online order forms, customers can place their orders by checking the menu list, get the exact amounts, and then get the food delivered. All of which are fast and convenient. That is why it’s one of the sectors that will thrive in this pandemic.