ng sure that you do it properly by starting with a solid foundation that you can build on.

Normal common sense rules should come into the process. Make a checklist of what is on offer and research the companies that you are considering using. First and foremost, check that the provider is Payment Card Industry (PCI) compliant and certified. If they are not, you could be fined heavily or lose your merchant account. Always be cautious about a service provider with no telephone number on their website.

Have a look at the service provider’s list of customer’s sites on their website. How user friendly is the system, can you customi

A simple Google search of the term “restaurant online ordering software” will bring up pages of results of companies offering to set up online ordering for restaurants. Unfortunately, it is also a list containing some good, some bad and some downright ugly! So how should you as a restaurant operator go about selecting the right service provider to supply online ordering for your restaurant?

There are a number of considerations to take into account when selecting the best fit for your company and care should be taken before signing up with the first “quick and easy” solution, no matter how attractive the offer of a “free site within hours” may be. As with all things in life, you have choices to make but be aware that the choice you make now may haunt you for a long time to come. It will pay dividends if you spend some time doing your homework.

Firstly, as a restaurateur, you should know that ordering food is very different from ordering a book. When you buy a book online, does it really matter if the supplier is temporarily out of stock and that you have to wait an extra day? Do you expect to customize the book? How about delivery zones, kitchen capacity, menus by time of day or day of week, specials, meal deals, half and half pizzas, group orders? The first lesson is that a “shopping basket” does not suit the needs of the restaurant industry, period. There are, unfortunately, a lot of service providers who have taken the simple shopping basket and modified it slightly or sometimes not at all and are now offering it as a solution for restaurant online ordering.

So, before leaping into offering online ordering to your customers, try to think of your online store as a the opening of a new “brick and mortar” store – imagine that this store is going to be your flagship store in time to come. It needs to be carefully designed, planned, built and implemented after consideration of your needs rather than thrown into a “one size fits all” template. Going back to the brick and mortar example, if you were opening a new store, would you choose your shop fitter because he offered to fit your shop in a few hours or simply supply you with the tools to do it yourself? Would you buy your tables and counters from the local DIY store? The answer should be easy but yet many restaurant operators (even large chains) opt for an ill fit when it comes to building their presence on the web.

All of the rules that apply to creating a store and enticing customers to order from it apply equally to your presence on the web; so you should be making sure that you do it properly by starting with a solid foundation that you can build on.

Normal common sense rules should come into the process. Make a checklist of what is on offer and research the companies that you are considering using. First and foremost, check that the provider is Payment Card Industry (PCI) compliant and certified. If they are not, you could be fined heavily or lose your merchant account. Always be cautious about a service provider with no telephone number on their website.

Have a look at the service provider’s list of customer’s sites on their website. How user friendly is the system, can you customi

hours” may be. As with all things in life, you have choices to make but be aware that the choice you make now may haunt you for a long time to come. It will pay dividends if you spend some time doing your homework.

Firstly, as a restaurateur, you should know that ordering food is very different from ordering a book. When you buy a book online, does it really matter if the supplier is temporarily out of stock and that you have to wait an extra day? Do you expect to customize the book? How about delivery zones, kitchen capacity, menus by time of day or day of week, specials, meal deals, half and half pizzas, group orders? The first lesson is that a “shopping basket” does not suit the needs of the restaurant industry, period. There are, unfortunately, a lot of service providers who have taken the simple shopping basket and modified it slightly or sometimes not at all and are now offering it as a solution for restaurant online ordering.

So, before leaping into offering online ordering to your customers, try to think of your online store as a the opening of a new “brick and mortar” store – imagine that this store is going to be your flagship store in time to come. It needs to be carefully designed, planned, built and implemented after consideration of your needs rather than thrown into a “one size fits all” template. Going back to the brick and mortar example, if you were opening a new store, would you choose your shop fitter because he offered to fit your shop in a few hours or simply supply you with the tools to do it yourself? Would you buy your tables and counters from the local DIY store? The answer should be easy but yet many restaurant operators (even large chains) opt for an ill fit when it comes to building their presence on the web.

All of the rules that apply to creating a store and enticing customers to order from it apply equally to your presence on the web; so you should be making sure that you do it properly by starting with a solid foundation that you can build on.

Normal common sense rules should come into the process. Make a checklist of what is on offer and research the companies that you are considering using. First and foremost, check that the provider is Payment Card Industry (PCI) compliant and certified. If they are not, you could be fined heavily or lose your merchant account. Always be cautious about a service provider with no telephone number on their website.

Have a look at the service provider’s list of customer’s sites on their website. How user friendly is the system, can you customi

sson is that a “shopping basket” does not suit the needs of the restaurant industry, period. There are, unfortunately, a lot of service providers who have taken the simple shopping basket and modified it slightly or sometimes not at all and are now offering it as a solution for restaurant online ordering.

So, before leaping into offering online ordering to your customers, try to think of your online store as a the opening of a new “brick and mortar” store – imagine that this store is going to be your flagship store in time to come. It needs to be carefully designed, planned, built and implemented after consideration of your needs rather than thrown into a “one size fits all” template. Going back to the brick and mortar example, if you were opening a new store, would you choose your shop fitter because he offered to fit your shop in a few hours or simply supply you with the tools to do it yourself? Would you buy your tables and counters from the local DIY store? The answer should be easy but yet many restaurant operators (even large chains) opt for an ill fit when it comes to building their presence on the web.

All of the rules that apply to creating a store and enticing customers to order from it apply equally to your presence on the web; so you should be making sure that you do it properly by starting with a solid foundation that you can build on.

Normal common sense rules should come into the process. Make a checklist of what is on offer and research the companies that you are considering using. First and foremost, check that the provider is Payment Card Industry (PCI) compliant and certified. If they are not, you could be fined heavily or lose your merchant account. Always be cautious about a service provider with no telephone number on their website.

Have a look at the service provider’s list of customer’s sites on their website. How user friendly is the system, can you customi

ther than thrown into a “one size fits all” template. Going back to the brick and mortar example, if you were opening a new store, would you choose your shop fitter because he offered to fit your shop in a few hours or simply supply you with the tools to do it yourself? Would you buy your tables and counters from the local DIY store? The answer should be easy but yet many restaurant operators (even large chains) opt for an ill fit when it comes to building their presence on the web.

All of the rules that apply to creating a store and enticing customers to order from it apply equally to your presence on the web; so you should be making sure that you do it properly by starting with a solid foundation that you can build on.

Normal common sense rules should come into the process. Make a checklist of what is on offer and research the companies that you are considering using. First and foremost, check that the provider is Payment Card Industry (PCI) compliant and certified. If they are not, you could be fined heavily or lose your merchant account. Always be cautious about a service provider with no telephone number on their website.

Have a look at the service provider’s list of customer’s sites on their website. How user friendly is the system, can you customi

ng sure that you do it properly by starting with a solid foundation that you can build on.

Normal common sense rules should come into the process. Make a checklist of what is on offer and research the companies that you are considering using. First and foremost, check that the provider is Payment Card Industry (PCI) compliant and certified. If they are not, you could be fined heavily or lose your merchant account. Always be cautious about a service provider with no telephone number on their website.

Have a look at the service provider’s list of customer’s sites on their website. How user friendly is the system, can you customize an item; are meal deals offered and easy to use? Try a search of the term “powered by ……. (Vendor’s name)” this should bring up a list of all the sites which have online ordering by that provider. Does the provider have any chains of restaurants as customers or are they all single locations – if there are no chains, ask yourself why not? What associations is the provider linked to – endorsement by an association is a vote of confidence. Ask the service provider if you may inspect the facilities where they host the service and store your customer data – if only to make sure that the hosting is not being done from a garage in someone’s home! Check whether they provide 24/7 support and if so ask for the number and try calling it after hours.

The list could go on and on, dealing with issues such as feature sets, functionality, versioning etc. all of which can seem daunting. Don’t be scared to ask questions, remember, there is no such thing as a silly question and you should view entering into a contract with your provider as the beginning of a relationship – make sure it is a relationship that you are comfortable being in.

Above all, remember that restaurant online ordering really does work and can prove to be a very profitable venture if it is done right. However, merely having a website with online ordering is not going to dramatically increase your orders. You will need to market your site, encourage customers to sign up and introduce new customers through promotions and specials, increase customer loyalty through loyalty programs etc. All of these marketing activities are vital to the good health of your new store. So remember, this is not just a website that is “nice to have” - this could be the most profitable store you have ever owned. The choice is yours!