Alternatives to online food ordering systems for takeaways and restaurants

Us Brits are a nation of takeaway lovers, and never more so than during the past year or so. We needed to get our top-quality, effort-free food fix, and since eating out was off the menu, ordering in boomed.

The food service delivery market is valued in the region of a whopping £8.5 billion and experts don’t expect this trend to go anywhere, any time soon, even once the country fully re-opens. 

But for hospitality businesses looking to cash in on the ever-growing popularity of takeout, knowing which avenue to pursue can be a real headache - do you partner with one of the big names on the market or go it alone and keep your hands on all your hard-earned profits?

In this article, we’ll offer some alternatives to third-party online food ordering systems and more importantly, explain why going solo can offer businesses big benefits. 

Third-party online food ordering systems: yay or nay?

Understandably, the idea of signing your takeaway or restaurant up with a third-party service like JustEat, UberEats, or Deliveroo can sound pretty appealing to business owners looking to up their orders and boost visibility.

While it might seem like they make life easier, do more of the heavy lifting, and make setting up for takeout a breeze, they do take a chunk out of your profits for the privilege…

Correct as of April 2021

Alternative solutions

1. Build a website for your business

We’re going to preface this one by saying building your own website is not as difficult as you might think, so don’t panic.

Choose a platform

Unless you’re a tech boffin physically building your own website from scratch is probably a non-starter, but thanks to the technological boom of the last decade there are now heaps of platforms on the market that make building a website a piece of cake (last one, promise). 

Top tip: check out our guide - how to create a website for your business.

Add a payment gateway

A payment gateway is essentially a nifty bit of kit you add to any website in order to take card payments online.

If you’ve already got a well-established website and want to start offering a takeaway option, reputable payment providers (spoiler, like us) will help you or your developer integrate a payment gateway extension and you’ll be ready to roll. 

Websites made easy by takepayments

Here at takepayments, we like taking the hassle out of running a business, and that’s why we offer a website design and build service to our customers. And the best bit is our service can include a payment gateway so that you can take card payments online through your website.

The benefits of takepayments

• UK development team
• 7 days a week support
• Fully optimised website
• Built to the latest security standards
• The safest level of payment security.

2. Order & beepaid

Order & beepaid is our revolutionary app developed during the pandemic that lets hospitality businesses take orders and payments both tableside and using a takeaway/delivery service. 

How does it work?

It’s powered by the latest craze - QR codes - and we’ll develop a custom one for your business. All you have to do is provide us with your menu and we’ll do the leg work, upload the menu and link it to your unique QR code.

Pssst: You can learn all about the wonderful world of QR codes here. 

Then customers, whether ordering at the table or from the comfort of their sofa, can scan your code using their smartphone, browse your menu, order, and pay. Clever, right?

You can pop your QR code around your premises, in your window, on your website, and on menus delivered right to consumers’ doors. 

The benefits of Order & beepaid

• Customise your menu to reflect your brand, item availability, and special dishes/offers at the push of a button.
• Uber convenient and streamlined service for consumers
• Manage incoming orders across multiple devices
• Super secure payments for your customers
• Affordable and simple pricing for you - you’ll only pay for rental and card processing fees with us.

3. Mobile payments

Last but not least you’ve always got the option to allow your customers to ring up or pop by to order their food and pay upon collection or delivery with a mobile card machine.

Top-notch machines will allow for chip & pin plus ever-popular contactless and mobile wallet payments as standard and boast powerful batteries that’ll keep you going all service long.

The benefits of mobile card machines

• Take payments anytime, anywhere in the UK
• Light and durable
• Print instant receipts
• Accept the latest and most popular payment methods
• Super safe and secure payments.

Top tips for success

The only short-term drawback of going solo is not getting your hands on the large user bases on offer with the big third-party hosts, but worry not, we’ve got some workarounds.

They’ll require a little more effort on your end in the interim, but nothing worth having comes easy, right? These workarounds don’t need to cost you a penny and you’ll be keeping all your profits where they belong, in your back pocket.

a. Local SEO - 80% of consumers use search engines when looking for local information like where to order food, so if you don’t localise your SEO you could be missing out on four out of five potential consumers. In a nutshell, this is a must. First things first, claim your Google My Business listing, then check out our comprehensive guide to nailing local SEO.

b. Reviews and recommendations - customer testimonials are a goldmine since 92% of consumers surveyed admitted they’d trust the recommendation of their peers over branded content and marketing. So, if you’ve not done so already, ask your existing happy customers to hop online and spread the word. 

c. Social content - Get onto your social pages and start shouting about your unmissable new takeaway food service, share visuals of mouth-watering dishes and always tag your location to boost local reach. Another top tip - keep your eye on mentions of your business by consumers and respond and repost to up your game.

d. Optimise for mobile - 90% of smartphone users make local searches using their device, so be sure to check your website is optimised for mobile or you could be missing out on a huge pool of potential customers. Remember, with beeonline, we’ll do this for you.

e. Business directories - online directories like Yelp, Yellow Pages, and TripAdvisor are a powerful tool at your disposal. By getting your business listed on these sites, it’ll boost your local SEO to no end and also help with visibility in searches, plus they’re a great place to collect reviews. 

For tonnes more ideas and tips on how to market your restaurant and/or takeaway service be sure to check out our comprehensive guides designed especially for small businesses:

• 10 marketing tips for SMEs
• A guide to marketing on a budget
• How to create your own marketing material
• And heaps more over on our jam-packed blog.

We wish you every success in your takeout venture, to find out more about Websites made easy, Order & beepaid, our market-leading card machines, or any of our solutions, reach out to one of our dedicated experts today! 

¹https://restaurants.just-eat.co.uk/

²https://www.hartlepoolmail.co.uk/read-this/heres-how-much-it-costs-a-business-when-you-order-food-via-uber-eats-deliveroo-and-just-eat-3128207 

Bryony Pearce

Copywriter