The U.S. restaurant takeout business generates about $70 billion a year in sales, and online ordering, driven by the demands of consumers, continues to rise in popularity. Online ordering gives consumers a convenient way to place pick up or delivery orders, helps restaurants increase sales, as well as cut back on phone calls during peak hours. 9fold, (9fold.me), led by Orly Reitkop, CEO, has been helping restaurants with branding and marketing since 2009, and currently manages the websites and online ordering systems of hundreds of restaurants nationwide.
Online ordering portals, similar to shopping malls, host many restaurants on a single site, and charge restaurants a hefty commission (12%-15%) on every order they process, including tax and tip. These sites have become popular with consumers, and many restaurants view them as an easy and low risk solution to capturing online ordering business, considered by many, to be a “new revenue stream.” Initially, restaurants are pleased with the new (or increased) online ordering business, but as online sales grow, so do the commissions and fees, which have a direct impact on a restaurant’s bottom line.
“People are creatures of habit” says Orly Reitkop “most of the time they know exactly where they want to get their food from”. Studies show people order from the same restaurants 80% of the time, increasing the benefit of a flat rate system, that encourages loyalty, without having to pay commissions on customers they have already earned .”
It is for this reason, that hundreds of restaurant operators, frustrated by the commission based model, have already embraced 9fold’s easy to use, custom designed, commission free online ordering system.
9fold’s system operates on a no contract, $49 monthly service fee, regardless of the volume of orders a restaurant receives. For example, a restaurant that has online sales of $10,000 per month, on average, would save $15,000 per year capturing those sales on their own system vs. a portal. These savings could be used to further promote and market a restaurant’s own brand instead of sending them to a web portal that uses special offers and discounts to lure loyal restaurant patrons to competitors.
Another advantage a restaurant has by managing their own online ordering is how quickly they get paid. Most web portals handle customer payments themselves, and issue checks only once a month, which can put serious pressure on maintaining cash flow. Orders placed directly on a restaurants online ordering system, gets them paid as quickly as a call in order, through an online payment gateway that deposits the payments to the restaurants account, or by collecting cash.
When it comes to online ordering, a restaurant can have it’s cake and eat it too, by maintaining a presence on web portals, as well as offering its own customized online ordering system, hosted on their own branded website.
To learn more about how 9Fold can eliminate commissions and put you back in control visit:
www.9fold.me
212-706-0785
its@9fold.me
