Restaurant app or website: what to launch first

A guest saw your pizza on Instagram and wants to order dinner. They need a link to the menu, prices and delivery. Another guest buys lunch from you every week. For them an app can be convenient: it makes returning to an order easy and lets them receive updates about the lunch menu.

When you choose between a website and a mobile app for your restaurant, start from these situations: how people find you and how they come back to order again. That tells you which launch deserves your money right now.

When to start with a website

If orders arrive in messages and by phone, a website can simplify the work: the guest picks the dishes, enters the address and completes the order. You can put the link in your social profiles, in your restaurant’s map listings and on your packaging.

For a new guest this is a short path to the menu. They open the page in a browser and see straight away what they can order. Registration and payment depend on how the service is set up.

Before launch, check where people will arrive from. Is the link visible in your restaurant’s profile? Do regulars know about it? Who will update the menu and handle the orders? These questions are worth settling along with preparing a restaurant website with online ordering.

If the website already works, place an order on your own phone: find a dish, choose delivery, fill in the fields and check the payment. Compare that with what guests tell you and with your data on unfinished orders. You will find the specific problems you can fix before the next launch.

When adding an app makes sense

An app is worth considering once your restaurant has guests who come back regularly. Plan in advance how you will invite them to install it and what will make it useful day to day.

For example, a restaurant changes its lunch menu every week. Guests who order lunch often and have agreed to receive notifications can hear about it through push. In the Eatery Club app push notifications can remind guests about your restaurant and link to the offer.

For that, someone on the team prepares the offers, chooses the send time and checks the result. Track how many guests used the offer and placed an order. That number shows whether this kind of communication justifies the cost.

The website can stay the easy entry point for new guests, while regulars are offered the app. The mobile version of an Eatery Club website has a banner with links to the App Store and Google Play for this, described in the website settings.

How to account for loyalty and menu management

Loyalty points have to be clear to the guest: what earns them, where the balance is visible and how much of their next order they can pay for with points. In Eatery Club the loyalty program covers the website, the app and the kiosk. The rules for earning and spending are set for every ordering method.

At the demo, ask to see a scenario the guest would recognize: an order, points added, and those points used next time. Check it on the website and in the app. It shows you how clear the program is, and setup details are in the loyalty guide.

Ask as well how the menu and prices update from your POS system. After a price change the guest should see the current amount, and a dish marked as unavailable should not be orderable. Updating the menu does not require publishing a new app version in the stores. Before launch, confirm how synchronization works and whether your POS system is compatible.

Which costs to include

Ask for a separate quote for the website and for the website together with the app, at the same expected order volume. That shows what adding the app costs and what the amount covers.

The quote should cover these parts:

• Platform fee. The subscription, the percentage per order, the services included and support. Eatery Club terms are on the pricing page.
• Setup. The one-time fee, the conditions under which it is waived, and the possible cost of a custom integration. For a chain, ask for the calculation across all locations with any applicable discounts.
• Online payment. Payment processing fees under your contract.
• SMS. Messages, including confirmation codes, are billed at the rates of a separate SMS provider. Check the price, the payment terms and availability for the countries where your restaurant operates with that provider.

For SMS, estimate the number of messages; for card processing, the volume of online payments. Charges can be applied under different rules and at different times. Compare recurring costs over the same period, such as a month, and show one-time costs separately.

Add your team’s time for the launch: preparing the menu, checking orders, training staff and telling guests. For the app, also plan the work on offers and push notifications.

What to do about your domain

If your restaurant already has a recognizable address, it usually makes sense to keep it. Links from search, maps and partner sites may point to it, and the address may be printed on your packaging. Before moving, check that you control the domain and that the plan you choose allows connecting it.

A new domain can suit a new brand or a separate project. If the reason for changing is lost access, first find out whose name the address is registered in and ask the registrar to recover it.

If your current site has a blog, location pages or other useful content, discuss keeping those pages along with launching online ordering. The agreement about connecting the domain should cover those pages too.

When addresses change, you need a plan of redirects from the old pages to the matching new ones. You will also have to update your own links and check indexing after the move. Google describes the steps in its site move guide.

How to make the decision

Come to the demo with a specific goal: simplify orders coming from Instagram, remove an awkward payment step, or offer regulars an app with lunch deals. Ask to see the whole path and to have the launch priced with your POS system, your payments and your domain.

Before you start, write down the current numbers you will use to judge the result: completed online orders, repeat orders, or orders that follow a notification. Pick the ones that match your goal. Then the decision about your next investment rests on your own restaurant’s experience.