5 Important Restaurant App Features You Need To Scale Your Food Business

According to Statista Co., online food and general order trends are expected to have an approx. worth of $200 Billion by the year 2025. While customers might be oblivious to the reasons behind such growth trends, we attribute them to two main factors: the latest restaurant app features, and the overall spurt in the quick commerce enablement sector. 

In addition to the speculative $200 Billion growth spike, Statista also expects the Food & Beverage industry to have a compound annual growth rate of +16.23% over the next 4 years.

Both the retail and the food sector will experience phenomenal scalability in near future. 

Similarly, the aforementioned expansion wasn’t only the result of viral marketing campaigns or technology. Modern-day restaurant app features have played a vital role in the entire B2C & B2B journey. 

Whereas when we talk about restaurant app features, you should know that customer-facing mobile/ retail item apps aren’t the online way of improving sales. Many holistic solutions help retailers, and food operators increase their revenue over time. 

For instance, if we were to take the example of our previous blogs, we have highlighted food ordering systems, restaurant side management apps, inventory management, and menu engineering – all within the confines of how each of these attributes bring value to the restaurant app features.

In this post, we will talk about some of the benefits of having your own branded restaurant app, the Pros of restaurant app features, and different types of restaurant apps to start with. 

Let’s see what we’ve got in store for you:

The 4 Main Benefits of Having a Restaurant Management App

As far as your customers are concerned, ordering food through a dedicated restaurant app is a huge convenience for them. Instead of booking reservations at a dine-in facility and waiting until the last minute for their orders to arrive, customers can simply log on to your restaurant’s online food ordering app and place orders on a whim.

However, the reason why customers would consider using your restaurant’s online food ordering app is mostly based on your restaurant app’s features. Whether those features simplify the ordering process itself, brings added value in terms of different business development-related benefits. All of these factors allude to the hyper-growth enablement trend that industries are aiming for these days.

Meanwhile, an increased customer base isn’t the only thing that businesses are normally concerned about. Some of the other benefits of a platformed well versed in restaurant app features are appended below:

1. Increased Sales Factor

During rush hours, it is normal for popular dine-in facilities to become overcrowded. Therefore, it isn’t convenient for such restaurants to serve all the customers with a 100% order fulfillment rate. Restaurant management apps, on the other hand, allow businesses to handle increased orders and eventually convert them into sales without any major setbacks. 

Online booking options are another way for restaurants to offer the confidence of reserving tables in advance. 

2. Better Customer Engagement & Brand Loyalty

Brand awareness for any business is partly tied to intelligent marketing campaigns. For many companies, it’s about sending out push notifications through restaurant app features, deploying customer-facing app straplines, offering discount codes, etc. 

Such tactics are a great way of surveying customer expectations and making improvements along the way. However, overdoing any branding process leads to invasive marketing practices. This, in turn, leads to customer churn over time. Therefore, have a mediocre approach and keep up with it through consistent hard work. 

3. Convenient Payment Processing

Blink offers restaurant app features centered around flexible payment modes. For instance, vendors can deploy payment modes to help customers looking to pay for their online food and general orders through credit cards, debit cards, and E-wallet systems. The latter has to be requested manually by the vendor side, but it’s a viable option in case a refund is in order, and the customer account needs to be credited with an amount equivalent to the order. 

4. Improved Customer Feedback Experience

These days, many restaurant app features have integrated customer feedback system(s). Anyone who has a verified food or retailer item order can log into the app to leave a Star rating & a detailed review against his/ her order.

The feedback system serves two purposes. It allows first-time customers on the restaurant mobile app to shop with confidence. Similarly, these reviews are also an insightful resource for restaurants, and any online business in question, to maintain the standard of their high-quality service. 

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Restaurant App Features Divided In Terms of Category

As of right now, there are many different restaurant apps that either has dedicated toolsets that either serve a single purpose, or they’re designed as multi-purpose platforms. We’ll take a look at some of them below:

1. Multi-Purpose Restaurant App Platform(s)

If we were to take the example of Blink, it is an amalgamation of food + retailer items ordering app. At its core, Blink is categorized as a direct online ordering platform, which means that, as a vendor, you don’t have to deal with the hassle of 3rd party aggregator constraints. That way, you will have your own white-labeled customer-facing mobile food, or general item ordering app, alongside a Desktop website.

Similarly, Blink integrates restaurant analytics, rider monitoring (*through a dedicated fleet management portal), instant food ordering system, discount code program, and many other perks that elicit a wholesome user experience for vendors across different verticals. 

2. A Restaurant Review Only App

In case, vendors are interested in deploying their restaurant review-only portal, there are plenty of apps for that. The concept is simple, just like TripAdvisor and similar applications, there are dedicated apps that are meant to share restaurant reviews. 

Yelp is a phenomenal example of such a platform with features that are made for reviewers across the world. 

3. Local Restaurant Finder Apps

There are many location-based directories that lend data to restaurant app features for finding places to eat. Such apps are a huge convenience for tourists who are on the move; looking for new places to explore and try different cuisines along the way. 

A pretty spot-on example of such a restaurant app features category is the ‘Restaurant Finder’ app. 

4. Restaurant Menu Application(s)

Exemplified by FineDine Co., and many such other companies, menu-centric restaurant app features enable vendors to curate a digital food ordering menu. This menu can be created and managed through an admin account at the back end of the restaurant management app, while front-facing customers are able to peruse food items through the interactive front-end display.

However, most of the food business operators prefer going for a one-off centralized solution such as Blink because the addition of powerful marketing, customer analytics, and ordering tracking features comes off as a huge convenience. Why spend extra money on only a menu-related feature, when you can get a bundled experience for the same price, after partnering up with a direct online ordering services provider?

5. Delivery Apps for Restaurant

Given that the restaurant app features are developed around fleet management systems only, restaurants can use the integrated support for order deliveries. However, if we were to take a deep dive into the science behind restaurant delivery only apps, there are two sub-categories

1. Custom restaurant apps for Domino’s
2. Aggregator-style apps, such as GrubHub, Postmates, and UberEats. 

Both of them not only allow food operators to take orders but also divert the delivery process to operators, instead of getting directly involved in the business schematics. The aggregator is only providing a platform, where are the operators are working in co-habitation to scale their business.

6. Reservation and Booking Apps for Restaurants 

Lastly, depending on the restaurant app features, many food brands have a reservation system that can be accessed from within the mobile app for the restaurant. The functionality is convenient for those food operators who usually have to deal with a large number of on-site customers due to the popularity factor going on. 

OpenTable is a nice example of such a reservation system which is a standalone app for restaurants looking to cater to booking requirements. 

What Are the Ideal Restaurant App Features To Look For?

If you are a food business operator in need of a restaurant management application, the following are some of the restaurant app features to look for:

• Online item manager and a digital menu creator. Ideally, it should include the feature to add front-facing app photos, detailed menu information, etc. 
• Back-end sales and customer analytics dashboard with filters
• Multiple payment options to accept payments through credit cards, debit cards, coupon codes, etc. 
• Customer loyalty program
• Integrated SMS marketing tool with customer attribute filters to help restaurant owners send highly targeted marketing messages directly to their verified contact lists
• Customer support with a live chat system
• Free push notifications tool to communicate promotions, news, and new product launches to app users

In addition to the aforementioned restaurant app features, here are a few more that are centered around business operations for food startups:

• Waiter call, employee management, and monitoring system
• Order review feature in a customer-facing restaurant app
• For restaurant app users, the app should have the ability to locate the nearest restaurant branch. Especially if it’s a multi-location restaurant.
• Integrated GPS tracking system for customers and restaurant owners to keep tabs on the delivery statuses and en route riders’ real-time locations. 
• Social media sharing for marketing purposes

All of the above restaurant app features are designed to serve customers and businesses, simultaneously. These features are available individually in the form of standalone apps, and sometimes as bundled app, such as Blink. The latter is a hyper-growth and quick commerce enablement platform for food business startups, retailers, and delivery business owners who are looking for smart solutions available at one dedicated platform. This way, these businesses do not have to keep up with multiple app sign-ups, subscription fees, and exorbitant percentages. 

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Grow Your Business with Blink – The No. 1 Direct Online Ordering Platform for Food Businesses & Retailers

Blink is a quick commerce enablement platform that allows restaurants and retail business operators to grow using the technologies discussed in this post. 

In that sense, the company reportedly outdoes many other service providers who do not offer a lot in terms of adoption. If you are a first-time business owner, your product discovery phase can start with Blink Co. All you need to do is visit the ‘Blink for Restaurant Page’- i.e. if it’s a food business that requires services on the get-go or Blink for Retailers page to get started. 

Needles to say, the amazing back-end + front-end UX/UI design, visual aesthetics, and powerful, comprehensive set of tools will arm you with a clear vision of the end business goal that you are ideally looking to achieve. 

With Blink, you save on high commission percentages, since the company charges a nominal monthly subscription fee and transactional charges, the platform is ideal for food business startups, and name-brand restaurants looking to scale fast.

We have the skills and the technology to bring your ideas to life. Sign up today to scale your restaurant business like a pro.

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Frequently Asked Questions – Restaurant App Features

1. What software do restaurants use to take orders?

Blink is an online ordering system for restaurants that enables restaurants to sell online. Blink is trusted by more than 250+ restaurants across Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and UAE including the likes of Burger King, Burger Lab, Cheezious and Baskin n Robbins.

2. Which is the best restaurant app for iPhone and iOS operating systems?

Blink is a robust restaurant management and marketing platform that enables quick commerce for restaurant businesses by providing iOS based apps. Get your restaurant business online within seven business days with a branded iOS based app now!

3. Why should a restaurant choose an online ordering system for restaurants that provides Android based Restaurant App and associated features?

87% of Americans who use third-party food ordering services said these apps make online ordering smoother. Another interesting fact is that more than 70.97% of the global phone users have an an Android operating system. So it’s essential you as a restaurant owner provide your customers with an Android based Restaurant App as well. Check out our Blink for Restaurants solution and get in touch with our product experts now!