Online Food Ordering System: Impacts On The F&B Industry

Online food ordering has become the new norm, especially with the COVID-19 pandemic. Let’s take a look at how impactful it had on the F&B industry landscape.

Food and beverage industry: Before emerging food ordering software

Market overview

Before the emergence of the online ordering system software, the Food and Beverage (F&B) industry functions mostly in-store and phone orders. If you are looking for a way to order from your local stores and restaurants, you have to pick up the phone and call that pizza parlor or fast-food chain near your home. You only have to wait for the delivery guy to knock on your door with your order. In the US, this outdated ordering has been around for years and now contributes about 90% of the market share. Most of these orders (75%) are placed only by phone (McKinsey, 2015).

Challenges of the manual process in food ordering

At this stage of the home order, both restaurant owners and consumers are facing several challenges. Some of the risks or inconvenience can be listed as below:

• Stolen food and beverage: Without an online food management system, there are many cases that the food and beverage never reaches the customer’s hands because of the unreliable delivery man/woman. Alternatively, they only deliver a part of the item, not all of them. The restaurant only knows about the incident once the customer reports it. There is no other way for the owners but to replace the delivery team, which takes much time and effort.
• Limited restaurant choice and menu selection: If customers want to order from your restaurant, they will have to take the flyer or menu from your store or remember all of your servings. Other than that, there is no way they can place an order. It limits the chance of having new customers for restaurants as well as limits the customers’ choices.
• Order overload: For the traditional method, the restaurant staff likely to get overloaded with the coming calls. They might make mistakes such as wrong address noting, wrong order, or miss out on orders.

F&B industry: After the food ordering software development arises

New Market Overview

The online ordering system software market has thrived in the last few years as the demand keeps rising. Up to August 2020, the growth rate of the market has reached 20.2% YoY, the highest rates since 2018 (Statista, 2020). The number of users has reached 111.7 million worldwide (Statista, 2020). Accordingly, these numbers represent the attractiveness of the market and the impact on millions of people living around the globe. Especially in the context of COVID-19, when everyone has to comply with the social distancing measures to prevent the spread of the virus, an online food ordering system is on the rise.

Opportunities for the online ordering system software

The food ordering services app has brought a whole new way of ordering food in our world. Mobie app development companies defined clearly two main segments in the market: platform-to-customer and restaurant-to-customer. Both are growing fast as they serve different needs for customers. However, the benefits and opportunities they bring are pretty much in common. Let’s take a look at how they impact the food and beverage industry:

Better customer experiences:

• The online ordering system software makes it easier for restaurants to get to know their customer persona and behavior. The transaction history associated with a well-constructed customer profile helps the companies generate meaningful reports and predictions for their own businesses. Along with the developer team’s effort, customers enjoy a more personalized experience and are generally happier with their orders.
• Mobile app development companies also provide online food management system solutions to make the ordering experience more like a ‘game’ than a duty. They can compare restaurant reviews, prices, and menu effortlessly without making any phone calls.
• On-demand food delivery app development can promote transparency for customers as they can see where their food orders are going and who is in charge of their food. From the pick-up to drop-off points, the process happens very smoothly.

Enhancing productivity

• In the old days, one staff had to handle 5–10 phone calls at the same time and made tons of mistakes. Now with the help of the online ordering system, a worker can manage 30–40 orders at ease and with precision. The CRM for restaurants can show him/her the exact amount of stock left and help to make a quick decision on that.
• Another aspect of productivity that concerns a restaurant ordering system is that you can utilize the generated reports to keep track of your business performance, which might commonly take a salesman days to complete.

Increasing sales while optimizing resources

• Online food ordering apps can also function as the advertising strategies as they provide push notifications right on the users’ phones. This way can save businesses so much money while increasing the chance of sales growth.
• As the online ordering system emerges, it has lowered the barriers of entry for small enterprises. It creates a golden opportunity for them to be seen as much as a big famous restaurant in town with a reasonable budget.

In conclusion, the online ordering system software, including a lot of other on-demand food delivery app developments, has enabled both businesses and customers to do more with less. From the mundane ERP system to the restaurant point of sale app, they are all gathered to make the food and beverage industry more efficient and enjoyable.