4 Tips to Going Digital as a Restaurant

By Joshua Botello

Since the advent of the internet and its progression to mass delivery of takeout orders, restaurants and diners have had the opportunity to invest in technology to reach a larger section of customers. Since the coronavirus pandemic started, many business owners have been tested to embrace technology or ignore it. The challenge will be how many businesses will use technology to survive in the age of COVID-19 and beyond. So, here is a list of tips to get your business to “go digital” and live to open another day. 

But first...Why is “Going Digital” important?

Going digital as a restaurant may sound like an absurd proposition. Besides, many new restaurant owners start their establishments for the ambiance and service for customers. 78% of Millenials focus more on service and experience than actual food quality. In 2017, 58% of customers considered delicious food when choosing a restaurant. So what do you do?


Customers are still looking for delicious food even if they don’t dine in and still look for great service even when ordering to go. The idea of going digital should further than the idea of having a great meal to old and young alike and still giving your restaurant the needed personality to stand out. Going digital should be a consideration, even in difficult times like an outbreak or disaster, and more importantly for providing for the future and protect it from seasonality.

Here are the tips:

These are some attributes of successful restaurants that maintain their service and personality even when you are not in the building and ways you can emulate it. 

Create A Digital Presence

If you have been operating successfully without the aid of a website, congratulations you're one of the few. Having a website is not necessarily essential for you to operate as a restaurant, but it does give you an edge and opens you up to a wider audience. The website can be as simple as showing the storefront, interior, an array of food items, and contact information. This is the bare minimum for a simple website to promote your business.

If you are already open to the idea of starting a website, that's great! Now, how are you going to do it?

Gone are the days where every website needed a professional developer and technical assistance. Website builders like Squarespace, Wix, and Weebly are what is known as WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) or drag and drop programs. Websites can be set up and built in a little as a day and for about $150 a year.

Have no idea how these programs work or are technically challenged? There are resources to help teach you how to build these websites like Squarespace and Wix from LinkedIn Learning (Formerly Lynda.com) where you can see instructional courses in digestible bites for free. The LA County library currently offers free digital library cards to gain access to this learning library. Having a website might be all you need, but if you want to crush it as a restaurant, read on.

Consider Delivery Options

So now that you have a website, you may want customers who can't come into your location for some reason like they got home late or need to take care of the kids, to have a nice meal. Enter Mobile Delivery.

Companies like Grubhub, DoorDash, PostMates, and UberEats, provide support for delivery to customers without having to hire a bunch of part-time staff that inflates your payroll.

How does it work? Well, the process and terms vary between all the providers, but generally, you submit your business information on a provider’s website and a representative will contact you to finish the process and send you a setup kit that can include a tablet to receive orders, support to integrate your existing POS system and access to a merchant account to check progress.

Each provider has loads of resources from ebooks, to webinars and blog articles to get you acquainted with your provider and how to up your game as a restaurant, and business as a whole.

Become Social

Social media networks like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, and Snapchat have quickly become a staple for marketing in every kind business including restaurants. But I know you probably have a few questions, so I'll answer them here and help you with your social media prowess.

I don’t know anything about social media. That’s a-ok. Just like there are plenty of courses for learning how to use Squarespace and WIX, there are even more on each social media network ( Facebook, Instagram, Twitter), social media and digital marketing to take your business to the next level.

Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram, which one do I do? Should I do them all? Hold on there partner! Don’t head into something you don’t know without doing your research or without a plan (see below). Suffice it to say start small with one network you know most of your customers will be on. If you find people are popping up on other social networks, learn about it, and test it out or get some help.

What am I supposed to be posting and how often? Normally for a business, I would suggest a blog but restaurants are a unique business so here’s some advice. Posting pictures is usually the way to go. People will “eat with their eyes” as they say or will find things so good they want to eat it. Also, if you have specials or deals that come and go post that stuff regularly and remember to add a picture that looks good. How often you post is a challenge as well. Like I said, if you have deals, post them, but if you have milestones (birthdays, anniversaries) of the business or national holidays, plan posts for those in advance so you know that is something to not forget.

Those are all my tips for starting out with social media. Remember to read up on what other ideas you can use with the resources I provided.

Planning Ahead

If you got this far and you are ready to get into this “digital stuff”. Whoa there! Don’t make the mistake of going all-in with no plan. Yes, having a plan is essential, especially when it comes to building a presence and social media marketing. Creating a marketing strategy can be as easy as writing 7 sentences or a few pages and sticking to them.

“But I am ready,” you say. That’s great! As I mentioned, you don't need to go all-in on technology. You can phase things as you need based on your plan. If you don’t have the talent or money to invest but want to do it yourself (for some reason) you can always use Linkedin Learning and brush up on your marketing. The point of strategizing is taking the time needed to think things through and making an effective plan that will work.

Conclusion

When it comes to how or how much you need to change the business to accommodate all that goes into “going digital”, you need to have a heart to heart. My boss always puts it this way: Do you have the time, talent, or treasure to get this done? You don’t need to go full bore. Especially, since as the business owner, you will need the time and treasure to invest to make it happen or find the talent to get it done.

Remember planning is essential. Everything can be done in phases, but what counts is how many of these measures will mesh with your overall business. So far, some businesses have survived to be as detached from tech as possible. The biggest question is can you and how long will you be able to stay that way?

Are you a restaurant that relies on good customer service and an unplugged attitude or has just started transitioning to “going digital? How does it work for you? Let us know in the comments. 

Funded in part through a Cooperative Agreement with the U.S. Small Business Administration. All opinions, conclusions, and/or recommendations expressed herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the SBA.