6 Ways in which mobile applications for restaurants increase sales

Investing in an app for your restaurant can have multiple business benefits, including significantly boosting sales. At Nosh Hub, our affordable packages ensure that restaurant app development is accessible to all.  Here are six ways that restaurant mobile apps are helping businesses achieve higher sales;

1 - Improved Customer Experience

Apps are generally designed for mobile screens, therefore, offer better navigation, optimized visuals, and smoother transitions. The touch interface on apps tends to feel more intuitive for mobile users and the experience is more immersive than websites, due to less distraction from other tabs or websites.

Restaurant app development is also typically optimized for performance, offering faster load times and one-click reordering for a quicker, more efficient customer ordering experience. Reports suggest that ordering via an app is approximately 20-30% faster than ordering through a restaurant’s website, demonstrating the significant time savings achieved for the customer.  With consumers living busier lives than ever, this is an invaluable benefit.

2 - Increased App Usage in the Industry

60% of those who order take-out food do so via apps (including third parties like Uber Eats, Door Dash).  Over 30-40% of all food orders come directly from a restaurant’s own app, an impressive figure considering apps have been inaccessible to most because of their high costs.  Restaurant mobile application order figures have also achieved a double digit increase every year since 2020. 

Reasons cited by customers for signing up to a restaurant’s app include faster reordering, personalized recommendations, and promotions/rewards.  People under 40, especially Millennials and Gen Z, are those who order food the most through apps.

3 - Keep your Data

For privacy reasons, third-party services often limit the amount of customer data shared with restaurants.This includes not getting full access to names, emails or phone numbers. Therefore the restaurant may only see partial customer details, such as an order history or sometimes just a general location or delivery address.

As they do not not have full access to more granular customer data, restaurants do not have the ability to fully analyze customer behavior outside of what's provided by the platform.  This limits a restaurant’s ability to directly market to customers, build loyalty, or create targeted promotions.

At Nosh Hub, you keep ever part of your customers’ data from your restaurant mobile app.  Your app, your data!  Our clients also receive invaluable insights into their data via access to their app’s admin panel analytics and reporting tools.

4 - Personalized Marketing & Promotions 

Nosh Hub’s expert restaurant app development has integrated push notifications into each app in order to optimize your marketing efforts.  Customer data collected from a restaurant mobile app can be used to send personalized offers, such as birthday discounts or promotions on frequently ordered, new or high-margin items. By announcing limited-time deals, events, or seasonal menu items, a restaurant can create urgency and encourage spontaneous visits or orders by offering time-sensitive discounts.

Push notifications have been proven to increase app engagement by 88% and have an open rate between 40 and 60%, compared to 20-25% with email marketing.  Personalized push notifications have also been reported to boost repeat business by up to 60%!

5 - Cut Third Party Fees

Platforms like Uber Eats typically charge restaurants a commission on each order, which can range from 15% to 30% or more depending on the agreement, delivery service used, and location.  In addition to the commission on food sales, there are often extra fees for delivery, setup, or other services. This means restaurants can end up paying even more on Uber Eat’s fees than the agreed commission!

Restaurants usually have to absorb part of the cost of delivery, especially when they are offering promotions or low-priced menu items. The delivery charges are mainly passed on to the customer, but the cost-per-delivery can still be burdensome for restaurants that are only receiving a fraction of the sales price due to commissions.

One of the reasons that Nosh Hub is one of the best restaurant app developers is because we do not charge any fees per transaction (excluding fees by our integration partners like Stripe and Uber Direct if you choose that option).  Our only costs are an affordable monthly subscription cost and minimal set up fee (or a one-off fee with annual hosting fee after Year 1) if the single transaction option is your preferred choice. 

We can help advise companies on establishing an in-house delivery service if reducing or eliminating third party fees is a priority but if this isn’t logistical,  there is an option where Nosh Hub can create an Uber Direct account for our clients.  Uber Direct allows you to skip the marketplace fees of the third party apps and simply pay a flat rate per delivery (avg. $7 per transaction) which can be passed on to your customers via an extra fee paid at checkout. It can also be used in conjunction with in house delivery as it is an on demand service. 

6 - Exclusive Promotions & In-App Incentives

Mobile applications for restaurants frequently offer exclusive in-app promotions to incentivize repeat orders and spend. Highlighting popular or high-margin items prominently within the app and push notification marketing is a common strategy to increase sales amongst restaurants with mobile apps.  Loyalty schemes are often used to motivate customers to repeat purchase. Reward programs that provide discounts, exclusive access, points for purchases and peronalized promotions can make a significant positive impact on customer retention.  According to Paytronix, customers who engage with loyalty programs spend 2-3 times more than those who don’t. 

Mobile Apps like the Starbuck’s App have been so successful that more than 25% of all food/beverage orders in the US go through their app!  McDonalds also had around 127m downloads of their app in 2022 (over double of Uber Eats) and an average of 28,000 downloads per day.

By offering convenience, personalization, and exclusive deals, a restaurant mobile app not only helps increase customer retention and engagement but also drives additional revenue through upselling, loyalty programs, and direct delivery channels. Investing in a mobile app for your restaurant can significantly boost sales, especially if you leverage its features to target customers more effectively and enhance their overall experience.