While most restaurant owners would obviously consider a website to be a wonderful means of gaining exposure, a viable means of self-promotion, a place to position a careers portal and perhaps an excellent place to host the menu, they will often consider their place of work to be where the real action happens. That’s hardly a misguided view. It’s clear that patrons will visit, attend and experience your restaurant for more than just the food. While the food and service is the backbone of any restaurant, even an executive chef would agree it’s not the only thing that makes a restaurant work. Put simply, proximity and attendance is and will always be essential for the restaurant trade.
But could it be that a website might offer your business more functionality than you had once considered? Might it be more than a simple tool of promotion or hiring new candidates? Could it become a means to help your daily operation become even smoother, a place to help your staff fully actualize themselves in your firm and even to protect your business? We’d say yes. We’d also say the following:
Online Reservations
We often think of the reservation process as something only conducted through a polite phone-call or drop-in visit. Of course, you should allow that too. But sometimes, it could be that online reservations with a list of available bookings and your seating plan could allow for express family interactions with your availability. This can also be important if hoping to allow birthday parties or other functions at your event. Perhaps you may offer a business service that allows companies to throw events in your space.
Of course, sometimes being connected to a manager for the business can help you iron out the details, but if you wish to implement an easier reservation process for the future, this can’t hurt. It could also be that through this and the use of an identity verification service for existing users, you can verify the legitimacy of those booking and potentially take down-payments or canceled service charges to prevent the system from being abused.
A Little History
All restaurants can flourish from showing passion in their work. We might not expect a retail clothing store to bring up the history of the clothing and how fabrics were made, but we wish to understand the inspiration of the chef behind the meals we order, especially if they have a few dedicated impressions. For example, let’s say your restaurant offers charcuterie meats and cheeses. It’s helmed by a chef who is infatuated with cheese. Why not give her a spotlight on your restaurant’s online blog? Perhaps once a week she could educate your online visitors about raclette, and its history. Add a funny title for the blog such as ‘The Cheese Diva,’ and you are contributing to the knowledge of your craft. Not only will the audience love to read this, but there’s no doubt your chef will love the opportunity to express their knowledge.
Promotions
It might be that with the use of user accounts, you can offer certain promotions. For example, you might encourage your guests to come a fourth time, and if they register online and follow your social media accounts, you will comp a few lovely bottles of wine. This can help engagement and ensure repeat visits. That way, a restaurant can be the great, impersonal connector to keep you in the mindsets of your attendees.
With these tips, you can be sure that a functional website will help your restaurant.
