Building your restaurant’s online presence is crucial in today’s market – it’s an essential element of brand building, bringing more customers in and increasing online orders, too. Whilst you’re likely aware of the benefits of social media, a blog is an often overlooked way to up your digital marketing game. From increasing your Google traffic to building a strong customer relationship, there are plenty of benefits to a blog.
SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is the process of improving your website to help visibility on Google search results. Having new, dynamic content like a blog will help with this – a blog offers the opportunity to use keywords that may otherwise be tricky to shoehorn in, meaning people are more likely to come across your site.
Google favours sites that are updated regularly, which can otherwise be difficult to do on a restaurant site. Plus, a blog can include a call to action that will encourage visitors to order, so the traffic converts. Bonus points if Slerp is integrated – there can be a direct, fuss-free method for readers to order food right away.
This one is simple – engaging your customers and giving them more content around your restaurant is always a good idea. People are likely to share your content if they enjoy it, driving more traffic to you. It also gives you more content to share on your own socials – a win-win!
Show your customers what makes you special! Setting a brand tone of voice and sharing insights into your industry gives a personality to your restaurant, connecting with your customers. It also gives you authority in your industry.
Ready to take the leap? Get started with some of these ideas for blog topics:
Got an ever-evolving menu? Your blog is a great place to keep customers up-to-date about new dishes, seasonal offerings, and upcoming events. Nothing encourages people to try a dish like a mouth-watering description.
For the real foodies out there, you can deep-dive into the ins and outs of a spotlighted dish; talk about the inspiration, sourcing the ingredients, cooking techniques, and more.
Your blog shouldn’t just be about your restaurant – provide value with industry insights, info on seasonal eating, and other general topics. This is more likely to reach a wider audience.
Is there a trick to enjoying your food at its best? Create a blog that provides tips and tricks into reheating and serving your food. It sounds simple, but it might be helpful for readers to know.
Put a spotlight on your local community and write a round-up of your favorite food places in the area – including yourself, of course! Whether there’s a particularly good specialty store or fantastic café near you, sharing the love supports other local places and can also help you rank higher when people search for the best places locally.
Blogging is a great way to invest in yourself and build up your online presence, strengthening your brand and increasing orders in the process.
This year for the first time in 25 years, the UK is hosting Eurovision. If, like us, you failed to get tickets or didn’t fancy spending thousands on a hotel in Liverpool, then why not celebrate at home in the best way, with food. Maybe you’re planning a night in and fancy branching out from your usual burger? Or maybe you’re hosting a Eurovision party. Either way, it’s a good excuse to celebrate with great food that would be sure to get the judge’s top scores – no nul points here!
Slerp works with a huge range of partners that can deliver food from many of the countries you will watch on the night. Whether you plan to champion Spain, Sweden, Georgia…or even the UK, you will be guaranteed a tasty treat to accompany what is always some memorable performances.
And as Slerp powers direct online ordering – meaning restaurants, QSRs, bakeries and more directly benefit from their own ordering system, you know you will be doing your part to support a local business.
So here are our 9 top eats for the best Eurovision celebration this weekend:
Is there anything more French than cheese? Why not order some of their freshly baked bread too for the ultimate cheese board, perfect for a party.
Did you know that Khachapuri is the national dish of Georgia? That’s our top pick on this menu – it’s a delicious classic filled with a speciality cheese mix and finished off with an egg yolk.
Serving up modern Greek food, pick your favourite classic dish direct from OPSO, or branch out and try their grilled octopus with caramelised onion, sherry vinegar & black eyed beans.
You’ve likely heard of Ottolenghi, maybe you’ve tried one of his amazing recipes? But have you been to one of his restaurants? Here you’ll find a selection of food rooted in middle eastern and mediterranean tradition. Choose from a selection of delicious salads, small plates and cakes.
Whilst we’re aware pizza is a very familiar concept in the UK, have you tried Basilico? Traditional thin crust pizza topped with seasonal ingredients, they were actually London’s first wood fired pizza delivery company!
The perfect dessert, treat yourself and your mates to a party box and choose from 8 different flavours, ranging from classic to chocolate to fruit.
La Maritxu specialised in authentic Basque Cheesecake (originating from the Spanish coastal town of San Sebastian). They consist of burnt caramelised crust and a rich & creamy interior – need we say more?
Delicious, swedish, cinnamon buns to be enjoyed at any and all hours of the day. But you can also directly order all kinds of delicious pastries and breads.
Is there anything more British than pie and mash? Born in lockdown, Willy’s pies are some of the best you’ll ever have.
The speciality roastery, Allpress will offer ordering and loyalty via web and app, making use of Slerp’s Award-winning PressPay technology.
We are excited to announce that we have joined forces with the speciality coffee roastery Allpress Espresso to offer an innovative new ordering offering directly through their app, together with a new loyalty programme for customers.
The partnership means that Allpress will be utilising Slerp’s revolutionary technology whilst Allpress will retain full control of their own customer experience. This includes Slerp’s new and award-winning PressPay app function that won the Restaurant Marketer & Innovator Award for Best Technology earlier this year.
“We want to keep that local feeling, but also offer customers the benefits that come with larger chains, like loyalty programmes and having both this and click-and-collect in one app, that we fully own, means we can offer even more benefits to our customers.”
For those ordering via the app, Slerp’s unique PressPay option allows customers to repeat order their favourite coffee directly from their phone’s home screen without needing to even open the Allpress app. A ‘long press’ on the app icon immediately enables a customer to reorder their preferred coffee followed by a quick action payment. Alongside the new ordering technology, Allpress will also be rolling out a new digital loyalty programme, powered by Slerp, to reward regular customers to their London roastery’s.
Allpress, in addition to its three East London locations, also has cafes across Australia, Singapore, Japan and in New Zealand – where they were founded over 30 years ago from a single Allpress Espresso Cart. Today their coffee is also available in over 1,200 independent cafes globally.
Ollie Simon, UK Communities Manager for Allpress said: “One of our company values is that human connection is at the heart of what we do. In today’s increasingly digital world keeping that human touch with our valued customers is ever important, and Slerp is the hospitality technology company on the market who can help us to facilitate that connection.”
“We want to keep that local feeling, but also offer customers the benefits that come with larger chains, like loyalty programmes and having both this and click-and-collect in one app, that we fully own, means we can offer even more benefits to our customers.”
Customers can repeat their last order by pressing and holding down the Allpress app
JP Then, Founder of Slerp said: “It is great to have Allpress Espresso on board and to be able to support them in creating brilliant customer experiences through technology, whilst still keeping that independent roastery flavour which is so important to the brand.
“PressPay is the perfect technology for Allpress to introduce to their customers – buying coffee is habitual and customers tend to have the same regular order, so just repeating that order with one touch is a speedy and easy way to get your daily caffeine fix.”
We know all about the challenges with delivery fees. There’s no two ways about it, delivery can be really expensive! Customers have been conditioned by marketplaces to believe that delivery fees should be below £3.99, which just isn’t reflective of how much it actually costs. The fact is customers have little to no clue of the expense that delivery incurs for operators, and frankly they don’t care. What they care about is the convenience of having food delivered straight to their door.
Unfortunately for us operators, everyone has their limit and no matter how good it might taste, nobody wants to pay £10 delivery for a £2 croissant. In fact, 58% of people say they would be put off ordering because of high delivery charges, and with the cost of living soaring, customers are more conscious of how and when they spend their money. So how do you bring down the cost of delivery for your customers? We’re glad you asked. We’ve negotiated new delivery rates with the UK’s best courier partners so you can offer delivery at rates that are impossible for your customers to resist.
But before we get over excited with all of the benefits let’s give you a little more context.
Delivery rates have always been here. Essentially, they’re the prices set by courier partners to cover the cost of delivery. They vary based on vehicle type (bike, moped, car) and distance travelled. The challenge with delivery rates is that it can be hard to strike a balance between affordability and covering costs so having set rates that take this into account is key.
In true Slerp style, we’ve done the heavy lifting for you. We spent a lot of time looking at the cost of delivery across our partners, and the impact these have on sales. It’s clear high delivery fees are a huge cause of abandoned carts. So we set about trying to work out a delivery rate card that calculates fees that are both customer and operator friendly. It’s taken some number crunching to find the balance between what customers will pay, and what operators can absorb. But we think we might have done it!
What do you need to do? Nothing! This will automatically roll out across your online stores, much to the delight of your hungry customers.
So why are we doing this? Well we touched on it but we can’t sit by and watch our partners lose sales because of high delivery fees. 11% of our cart abandonments happen at the point that delivery fees are added on. Customers hate hidden costs! Fewer cart abandonments = more sales.
We’ve negotiated new, lower delivery costs with top UK couriers to give you the best last mile service. Now, by absorbing a small amount of the cost, you can hit delivery fees that are competitive with that of marketplaces.
This will help you grow your direct ordering platform. The more affordable your service is, the more likely your customers are to order directly from you and the more sales you will bring in. Your customers already love you, they love your product. By bringing down delivery fees they’ll also love your prices, and that makes all the difference.
58% of people are put off ordering because of high delivery charges
Most importantly, don’t let delivery be the reason you lose out to competitors. 26% of UK shoppers went on to purchase the same item with a different retailer after abandoning a cart. You’ve developed an amazing product, you’ve marketed it, you’ve built your brand and you’ve brought it online. Imagine how you’d feel if the reason you lost out on a sale was over something as small as a delivery fee! When customers are put off by a hidden cost, they don’t just think ‘ahh well’, they go elsewhere. Don’t give them a reason to.
Tell your customers! These new and competitive delivery fees make ordering from you hard to resist. Where some may have been previously put off by hidden added costs, you’ve now opened up online ordering to a bigger audience. So get on social media, add it to your newsletter, send an SMS. We don’t mind how you tell them, just tell them.
If you’re determined to make a success of online ordering, (and trust us you should be) affordable delivery is key. If you still need a little more information, we’ve got lots of resources available to help you out. Remember we’re here to support you at every step, with any questions or concerns.
Reading the title of this blog, you might already be thinking yep already offer loyalty. But we’re not talking about the easily lost paper versions that you hand out to each customer as they order. We’re talking about the kind of loyalty programme that actually keeps customers coming back for more… the digital kind.
Before we get into the juicy info, let’s cover the basics. Our digital loyalty programme is essentially the same as a paper stamp card but 10x better. To start with it’s online so your customer can’t lose it or confuse it with 100 other cards they have in their wallet. It’s also interchangeable between web, app and in person. So it doesn’t matter how they order, they collect points either way.
So now we’ve sparked your interest, let us tell you why we reckon digital loyalty is a must have for your restaurant.
We all love a freebie. So the thought of getting a coffee for free or 50% of a burger for the small price of becoming a regular is definitely worth it. Think about it, if you find a cafe that you like that offers you your 10th coffee for free, you’re going to keep going back. In fact, we recently paired up with KAM media for a research project and found that 84% of people would be more likely to order from a venue if they had the opportunity to gain loyalty points. That’s a lot of business you could be missing out on!
We’ve always said there’s a time and a place for a marketplace, they’re great for getting your name out there. But they should not be part of your long term strategy. Direct ordering has a lot more potential for growth and that’s where loyalty comes in. This is a great way to tempt your customers into ordering direct. And trust us, they want to. 62% said they would order direct if they could, they might not even know you offer it! Loyalty helps you stand out from the marketplaces and once your customers branch out, they’ll keep coming back.
84% of people would be more likely to order from a venue if they had the opportunity to gain loyalty points
SLERP X KAM MEDIA 2022
We know it’s not a super original point but we also know it will always be an important one. If nothing else, loyalty drives repeat business. You probably already have a loyal band of customers, you just don’t know it. With direct ordering you have full access to all of your data, so you know who’s ordering regularly and you can reward them.
If that isn’t enough to convince you, loyal customers actually spend more, 67% more! So if you want to grow your business and your online presence, loyalty programmes really are a great way to do so.
Crosstown loyalty
We’ll say it one more time for the people in the back. Paper stamp cards really do suck. How many times have you lost one or found an old crumpled one in the back of your jeans? Yep, us too.
Digital is more reliable, more convenient and eco-friendly. Continuously printing them out just for people to lose them really is such a waste of paper. And at a time where we can and should be making as many swaps as possible to make a difference, this seems like a no brainer. Save yourself the money and the trouble and the planet some trees!
Whether you’re a longstanding partner, new to Slerp, or looking to get into direct ordering full stop, a loyalty programme is something you should consider. Stay ahead of the competition and start implementing yours. New to Slerp entirely? Sign up today! Or if you’re already a partner, get in contact with your account manager now.
Dark kitchens, ghost kitchens, cloud kitchens… they all sound a bit odd to be honest. But although they’ve been around for a while, since the pandemic these delivery only kitchens are on the rise.
So what exactly are they? Imagine a restaurant with no front of house, seating space or waiters. They are designed solely for food preparation, packing and delivery, creating a super efficient takeaway haven. And it’s not just the Wagamama’s and the Five Guys of the world that are using them. Smaller, independent restaurants are seeing the benefits of utilising them too.
There has been some speculation in the industry that dark kitchens are taking business away from hospitality venues offering traditional in person dining. But we’ve really not found that to be the case. In fact, when asked, 74% of people said they ordered in to replace cooking, not eating out. Businesses can fulfil online orders more efficiently, without getting in the way of, or detracting from those eating in. They are different experiences, requiring different planning and preparations, and dark kitchens can help with that.
Thinking about exploring the dark kitchen route? Here’s what you might need to consider.
There’s a definite balance to be achieved when it comes to finding the perfect location for your delivery kitchen. Whilst dark kitchens are industrial, need space and are not consumer facing, they do need to be close to where your customers are. Remember these are solely for delivery and in order to use bikes and mopeds (which are much more cost efficient for delivery) you need to be near residential areas, not on the outskirts.
You also need to have enough space so the delivery drivers and riders can park safely to pick up your orders. Parking, as we know, can be difficult to find in city centres. Our pals Jacuna Kitchen really nail this. Like us, they’re from hospitality, so they get what it’s like for operators, and they understand delivery. They have kitchens all across England’s major cities, from London to Leeds.
Jacuna Kitchens
It’s no secret that staffing in today’s market is a challenge. Another fun effect of the pandemic, cheers covid 19. But let’s not be negative. This is kind of the beauty of dark kitchens. They’re built for efficiency. You don’t need waiters or front of house staff and whilst packaging and presentation are still important for takeaways, it’s not the same as plating up in a restaurant kitchen. So whilst you need to make sure you have enough staff to meet customer demand, your dark kitchen really might not need as many as you think!
We know we bang on about it a lot, but building your brand online really is key. Remember, with a dark kitchen there’s no natural footfall or external signage to tempt your customers in. They’re called ghost kitchens for a reason! Without you shouting about it, your loyal customers might not even realise you have one. So get on social, write emails, spread the word, send out flyers… we really don’t mind, just tell people.
Excuse us during this quick ad break… but you definitely need to consider partnering with a sophisticated D2C provider, like Slerp. You’ll probably already be using a marketplace to get your name out there in the world of online ordering. But long term, direct ordering is where it’s at. If you’re relying on only marketplaces, you can’t access any of YOUR data! With Slerp you keep it. This is so important when it comes to starting a dark kitchen because as we said, there’s no footfall to rely on. Take it one step further with your own loyalty programme and drive loyalty amongst your existing customers. You can also control your volumes and set limits by time slots, so you never have to sacrifice on quality. Adverts finished, have a read here for more info on this.
Naturally not all your dishes may be suited to takeaway and delivery, and that’s okay! It can be better to do less, well, rather than trying to do it all. You might want to start out with your most popular dishes if you’re not sure what will work. Think about how food might transport, what people actually want to eat at home or whether you simply want to have a bit of separation between your online menu and bricks and mortar one. You could even create a couple of ‘delivery exclusive’ dishes to encourage online ordering.
There’s clearly lots to think about here. Opening a dark kitchen is not something that should be rushed, but it is definitely something you might want to consider. Hopefully we’ve helped you to take the first step.
With the unpredictability of the market over the last two years, the chances are that your eatery has already tapped into a food delivery market that was already steadily on the up each year well before the pandemic.
However, with Slerp you can take it to the next level and launch a dedicated food ordering app for your brand. So here’s why you should consider having your own app.
Your takeaway or restaurant might have arrangements already in place for online food ordering, but is it user friendly or ‘good looking’ from the customer’s perspective.
A dedicated food delivery app for the customer’s phone is just that. It will save the customer who wants to repeatedly order from you the hassle of fiddling around with a main website that may not even be optimised to display well on their phone.
Own a spot on your customers phone. We aren’t just referring to the fact that the customer has downloaded your brand’s online ordering app. They will be reminded of your restaurant or takeaway every time they look at their screen.
Your own app will also give you the scope to directly incorporate a loyalty programme. Customers could quickly accumulate stamps or points that would give them perks later on and be available at just a touch.
Own a spot on your customers phone and remind them of your business every time they look at your screen
If you’re going to invest in an online ordering app you want it to incorporate any and all ordering options. By that, we mean not just traditional ordering for delivery to the customer’s home, but also the ability to ‘click and collect’ or ‘order at table’. Which will mean customers further associate your hospitality firm with the utmost convenience.
If your business is still depending on manual orders – such as over the phone – you have even more reason to invest in an ordering app.
The fact is, human errors happen. Whatever the cause of the mistake, it is always best to avoid anger or disappointment with your customer. A dedicated food ordering app will formalise the ordering process and reduce errors.
At Slerp, we work with you to create your very own app. We will take care of maintenance and updates, leaving you to do what you do best! You simply need to add your restaurant’s branding and images.
Your team will no longer have to spend time or energy taking orders over the phone. They can turn their attention to your customers, maximising their experience, or spend their spare minutes on other important aspects of your restaurant or eatery.
Many of us may associate the rise of online ordering with the pandemic, but the reality is that it simply accelerated something that was already happening. This makes a smart-looking, feature-packed and easy-to-use ordering app one of the best investments your hospitality firm could make for the future.
Connect with Slerp today and we can help you to realise the full potential of 21st century online ordering for your restaurant or takeaway in 2022.