When was the last time you check your phone? or use it to research online? ( I wouldn't be surprise if you are reading this from your phone)
Believe it or not with a mobile app you could get 98% of your customers attention, just take a second to imagine about all the benefits that could bring to your restaurants.
If you target market is millennials and your restaurants are not or their phone, (through a mobile app, mobile site or mobile search) chances are they will not know who your are, meaning your restaurants do not exist in their world. Whether you like it or not chances are your competitor is getting a mobile app.
Many restaurants ask me this question, why would my restaurants need a mobile app? The answer is why not? Let’s take a look at the benefits and at the end of this article you could come up with your own conclusion...
Getting 98% of your customers attention:
Where else would you be able to get this much attention from your customers? How can you use this attention to your advantage? Let’s say you have an special event coming up, a new item in the menu, a holiday invitation or any other reason to get your customers to come back to your restaurants. A mobile app allows you to send a notification through your restaurants mobile app announcing and inviting your customers to visit your restaurants. According to statistics 98% of notifications get open, which means 98% of your customers could read your invitation or promotion.
Your restaurant in your customers hands:
Imagine your restaurants information on your customers hands available for them all the time. They would not have to go on the internet to find your restaurant near them or a phone number or make a reservation. All your customers have to do is go your your restaurants’ app and find all they need right there, at the palm of there hands.
Increase sales:
Imagine, it’s peak time, (breakfast, lunch or dinner) and your restaurants sends a notification to all your customers about lunch specials, happy hour or whatever you have going on during those hours. Your customers receive the invitation right at the moment they are probably making a decision on where to go, changes are, if your special is appealing, they would pick yours.
I love the restaurant industry, it has the advantage that one customer usually brings more customers, (eating is social, people usually prefer to eat with company). Therefore, for every customer that takes action after a notification, it means at least 1 more person is impacted, which in short could mean double your results and an increase in your sales.
Geo-Targeting Customers:
Take a second to imagine sending a notification to the customers who are currently within a mile of one of your restaurants and invite them in. How does it work? As soon as these customers are close to one of your locations an invitation gets sent directly to their phone. It could say for example: “Hey, you are close by, why not stop a grab a bite to eat.” or a more aggressive approach “Hey, you are around the corner come and get a free appetizer”. Imagine how many more customers can this bring to your restaurants, plus how it can contribute to customer retention. Amazing right?
Cost effective:
A few years back getting a mobile app for restaurants was a possibility for very big national chains with large budgets and manpower. But now, mobile apps are becoming more affordable which makes it possible and cost effective for restaurants to have one. Mobile app start by paying itself, then it becomes a very cost effective marketing tool for restaurants.
How much it costs? For less than $1,000 you could get a mobile app designed (based on a template not custom-made) for your restaurants, then a low monthly fee that can easily be paid with getting a few customers a month from the mobile app. Monthly fees varies from $30 to $150. Keep in mind that some companies develop the mobile app and you have manage it, while others include marketing strategies on their monthly services and fees. Just a like website hosting services, monthly fee is just for the hosting in most cases, however, sometimes it is hosting, management and marketing strategies. Make sure you make a fair comparison when choosing a company for your app (compare apples to apples).
I am passionate about technology and restaurants. I think both can get a long so well. Restaurants can take so much advantage of the many technologies and marketing to increase sales. It is one of the industries that a mobile app could really have a positive impact on their sales and customers retention. I don't know any other technology or marketing tool that could give such of unique advantages to restaurants than what a mobile app could provide.
Now that you have seen the value of a mobile app and the benefits for your restaurants, what are your thoughts?
Request a demo of your restaurants mobile app
