Why your menu should be embedded on your website
It’s an unfortunate reality: failure rates for businesses in the food service industry are higher than any others. Margins are thin, competition is fierce, and every sale - both on premise and online - can be the difference between staying afloat or going belly up.
Odds are, you’re probably already doing a lot to give yourself an edge over your competitors, but there’s one simple trick that can give you a huge advantage when it comes to winning online orders for your business: embedding your menu directly onto your website.
Having an embedded menu on your website makes it easier for customers to find your business through online searches, it helps keep customers on your website longer, and most importantly, it helps you maximize the revenue your business generates through online ordering.
Embedded menus are better than PDF menus
A lot of food service businesses use PDF menus as a way to replicate their in-store menus online. The problem with this, however, is that PDF menus are a nightmare for your business’ search engine optimization (SEO) score.
When a potential customer searches online for a phrase like “tacos near me,” search engines like Google use complex algorithms to crawl the internet for relevant results. If your taco business’ online menu is a PDF though, Google isn’t able to read your menu and recognize that you offer something that customers are actively looking for.
Poor SEO can result in tons of lost revenue for businesses, but switching from a PDF to an embedded menu on your website is an easy way to help right the ship. Embedded menus feature your business’ items directly on your website, so search engines can easily index your business and show you to customers based on relevant search terms. Strong SEO boosts site traffic and order revenue for businesses in the food service industry, and an embedded menu on your website can play a huge role in that growth.
Increase the likelihood of order placement with an embedded menu
Embedded menus are great for keeping customers on your website longer and increasing the likelihood that they’ll place an order with your business. Having an embedded menu that customers can use for everything from item browsing to selection and payment makes for an online ordering experience that’s as streamlined as possible.
It’s reported that 11% of potential customers abandon their carts online because of an overly complicated checkout process, and an even greater number of people skip ordering altogether when having to navigate between multiple web pages to browse a menu and place an order. PDFs and other 3rd party menus are the most common culprits of a clunky website experience, and using an embedded menu is hands-down the easiest path towards a better website design.
While it might seem insignificant, the revenue your business loses from a poor user experience on your website can stack up significantly in the long run. In the food service industry, that’s money you can’t afford to be missing out on.
Embedded Menus help to maximize order revenue
Another major advantage of embedded menus is the ability to maximize your revenue through menu up-sells, menu customization, and customer data collection.
Ever hear of the 60 x 60 rule? Research shows that 60% of customers will buy an additional product worth 60% of the one they’re already buying when offered a menu up-sell. For example, there’s a 60% chance that a customer who’s buying a pizza for $20 will buy another product (salad, soda, bread sticks, etc.) worth up to $12 when it’s suggested to them through an up-sell. Embedded menus with dynamic ordering technology are the perfect way to capitalize on this extra revenue for your business.
Embedded menus also allow for business owners to make changes to their menus on the fly with minimal effort and quick turnaround times. Making changes to a PDF or other non-embedded menu is an involved process that often requires the help of skilled graphic designers.
In the time needed to adjust those types of menus, your business risks damaging customer relationships by accepting orders that you’re unable to fulfill, or worse, you could miss out on orders entirely by having to take down your menu for days at a time. Using an embedded online menu is the easiest way to make important menu changes that are immediately reflected on your business’ website.
Embedded menus with dynamic ordering technology are additionally great ways to collect data about your online customers. Most online ordering technologies provide easily digestible analytics tools to business owners so that they can quickly and effectively understand their customer base. This information is extremely valuable for setting up marketing campaigns and can be a meaningful source of revenue growth for any business in the food service industry.
Key Takeaways
Having an embedded menu on your website is an effective way to improve your business’ search engine optimization (SEO) and get discovered by more customers.
Embedded menus help keep customers on your website for longer periods of time, increasing the likelihood that they’ll place an order with your business.
Embedded menus make it easy to upsell customers based on items already in their cart, leading to a valuable source of incremental revenue.
Business owners can easily make menu adjustments on the fly when using embedded menus as opposed to PDF menus.
Embedded menus create an opportunity for customer data collection, which can be used for revenue-boosting marketing campaigns.
How to Get an Embedded Menu for Your Business
The food service industry is more competitive today than ever before. The world of online dining is rapidly evolving, so it’s crucial for businesses to embrace technologies and gain an advantage wherever they can. Embedded online menus can be the key to ensuring that your business stays ahead of the curve.
There are a number of 3rd party service providers that create online menus for food service clients, but most don’t allow businesses to embed menus directly to their own websites.
Ready to embed your menu onto your website? Chat with a Zuppler online ordering specialist today!