The Importance of Customer Ownership in the Age of Takeout

Consumer dining choices in the U.S. are rapidly growing – from meal prep kits, to groceraunts, to grab-and-go quick-service options. As a result, it is more important than ever that restaurants start using data to create relevant and granular marketing strategies that better connect with their current and potential online customers.

In this competitive landscape, it’s increasingly important for restaurants to develop relationships with – and understand – their customers.  Restaurateurs need to access and identify their current customer trends and habits, and target new potential customers by identifying those with similar needs and wants. With takeout sales rapidly increasing, a great place to start acquiring this data is through a branded online ordering company like ChowNow.

Robust customer data can help a restaurant not only compete with, but surpass it's competition, by providing the tools needed to effectively target and incentivize its customer base. Data provides the insights restaurants need to retain their hard-earned diners by identifying different groups of customers. It is crucial that restaurants understand who their customers are – and how to best communicate with those segments.

Consider this:

● You might have a core group of loyal customers who order the same thing from your restaurant three times a week.

● There may be an untapped segment of customers who have eaten at your restaurant once and have never come back.

● Some customers order religiously through your website, while others order on mobile when they’re on the go.

Additionally, a restaurant operator should make sure they have the ability to track important metrics like how these customers are buying online as well as what customers are buying online. These insights allow an operator to target audiences with relevant, personalized marketing campaigns – to achieve the highest possible conversion. Once customer cohorts are identified, restaurants can design a marketing plan to best connect and re-engage customers to increase return orders. 

One of the most effective marketing strategies restaurants can easily implement is email marketing. With the customer data and email addresses collected, restaurants can begin to target consumers with promotions, specials, or storytelling. With the ROI on email marketing for restaurants at 43 to 1, restaurants can’t afford not to start engaging customers with by email.

This particular restaurant has seen a 59% increase in their monthly online sales – as well as a 144% increase in online sales from recurring diners

Using customer data can lead to success in real restaurants. Take, for example, a burger joint in Georgia that began to use email marketing with targeted promotions sent to the customer email addressess they’d collected through their online ordering system, ChowNow, in February of this year. Since implementing these campaigns, this particular restaurant has seen a 59% increase in their monthly online sales – as well as a 144% increase in online sales from recurring diners. By re-engaging and re-targeting their customers through data-driven marketing, this restaurant has not only increased their sales, but most importantly they’ve increased their customer loyalty.

The return that data-driven marketing can create for restaurants is evident in thousands of stories like the one above.  As the transition to online ordering for takeout operations continues to rise, it offers a new opportunity to collect valuable information about your customers.  An operator should always consider what type of data is being provided to them when choosing an online ordering provider. Otherwise, they could be missing out on a big opportunity for growth.

About ChowNow: ChowNow powers an online food ordering system as part of CHECK^® Business Tools. ChowNow allows customers to place orders directly from a restaurant's website, Facebook page, Instagram profile and custom-built mobile apps – commission-free. Learn more about ChowNow by visiting online ordering in CHECK Business Tools.