Mobile App for a Restaurant: How Your Own Application Helps Increase Repeat Orders

Just a few years ago a mobile application for a restaurant, pizzeria or sushi bar was perceived mainly as an expensive image project. It could be afforded by large chains with large budgets for IT development.

Today the situation has changed.

For a modern establishment a mobile application is primarily its own sales, communication and loyalty channel. Through it a client can view the menu, place a delivery or takeaway order, pay for the order, use bonuses and return for the next purchase.

And most importantly — the restaurant gets a direct digital contact with the client, without fully depending on third-party marketplaces and aggregators.

That is why a mobile application for a sushi bar, pizzeria or restaurant becomes not just a technological addition, but part of the business model.

Why clients want to order through a mobile application

Consumer behavior is gradually changing. If previously it was normal for a person to call a restaurant, dictate an address and wait for confirmation, today expectations are much simpler:
opened → chose → ordered → paid.

The fewer actions a client needs to take, the lower the risk that they will change their mind or go to a competitor.

A mobile application allows collecting the entire client journey in one digital environment:

• catalog and menu;
• photos of dishes;
• product modifiers;
• recommended items;
• delivery;
• takeaway;
• online payment;
• bonuses;
• promotions;
• order history;
• repeat order;
• personal messages.

For the restaurant business this is especially important, because a significant part of orders is repeated.

The client already knows what they want to order. They do not need a long selection process. They need the shortest possible path to a repeat purchase.

Your own app is not just a menu in a smartphone

It is a mistake to perceive a restaurant application as an electronic menu.

A modern mobile application can be a full-fledged sales channel.

On the page of the mobile application for a sushi bar, pizzeria and restaurant, QB Tools provides a solution for accepting delivery and takeaway orders, a loyalty system and the possibility of integration with a POS system.

That is, the client interacts not just with a beautiful interface. They receive a functional digital tool for ordering.

And the business — an automated sales channel.

The most important function is repeat sales

In the restaurant business it is beneficial not only to attract a new client.

It is much more interesting to make a person return.

This is exactly where a mobile application has a huge advantage.

After the first order the client can already have:

• a profile;
• purchase history;
• bonus balance;
• saved address;
• favorite items;
• personal offers.

Next time they do not need to start the path from scratch.

For example, instead of searching for a restaurant in Google or a third-party service, the client opens a familiar application and repeats the order.

This creates a habit.

And a habit is one of the most valuable assets of a restaurant brand.

Loyalty program without plastic cards

A loyalty system has long ceased to be just a bonus card.

In a mobile application it can work much more interestingly.

The client sees their balance directly in the application, uses bonuses during ordering and receives new bonuses after a purchase.

This is how a closed cycle is formed:
order → bonuses → next order → new bonuses.

For a restaurant this means the possibility to stimulate repeat purchases without constantly attracting the client with expensive advertising.

Push notifications as a direct communication channel

Social networks and advertising depend on platform algorithms.

Your own mobile application gives the business another tool — direct messages to clients.

For example:
“Today -20% on pizza.”
“You have been credited 150 bonuses.”
“Your favorite set is available again.”
“Free delivery until 18:00.”

Such messages can stimulate sales exactly when the business needs to increase the load.

For example, during non-peak hours.

Delivery and takeaway in one digital environment

For a restaurant it is important not just to accept an order, but to properly organize its fulfillment.

A mobile application can work together with the internal system of the business.

The client places an order, and the staff receives the necessary information for its processing.

For delivery you can automate the address, calculation of delivery cost, choice of receipt method and other stages of placing an order.

This reduces the amount of manual work and decreases the probability of errors.

Why it is not necessary to develop an app from scratch

Classic development of a mobile application may require a significant budget, time for design, programming, testing and further support.

For a small restaurant or a local chain this is not always economically justified.

That is why the format of a ready-made solution for rent becomes an interesting alternative option.

QB Tools offers a ready-made mobile application for a sushi bar, pizzeria and restaurant that can be adapted to the brand of the establishment.

That is, the business does not have to finance the creation of the entire technological platform from scratch.

It receives a ready-made tool and can use it as its own digital sales channel.

An app should work together with the business, not separately from it

The best result is given not by the application itself, but by its integration with other processes of the restaurant.

Menu, orders, bonuses, delivery, reviews and internal staff work should be connected with each other.

That is why integrations with POS systems and other automation tools become important.

QB Tools provides the possibility of synchronizing menu, orders and payments with POS systems, as well as transferring orders to staff.

A mobile application is a brand development tool

When a client installs a restaurant application, the brand gets a place on their smartphone.

This is fundamentally different from the situation when a client simply knows the name of the restaurant or is subscribed to its page on a social network.

The application icon constantly remains in front of the eyes.

And the possibility to order in one or two clicks creates an additional reason to return.

Why it is worth launching a mobile application right now

The delivery market is becoming increasingly digital. Clients get used to fast order placement, online payment, personal offers and loyalty programs.

Therefore the question for a restaurant is gradually changing.

Not “do we need a mobile application?”, but:
“Which sales channel do we want to control independently?”

The ready-made mobile application QB Tools allows obtaining such a channel without the need to build a complex IT system from scratch.

If your business is a restaurant, pizzeria, sushi bar, cafe or a chain of establishments, check out the solution “Mobile application for a sushi bar, pizzeria and restaurant” and learn how to turn a client’s smartphone into another sales channel.