Mobile order ahead technology continues to carve out its slice of the QSR pie, and for good reason. Customers are accustomed to having it their way, and customer preferences for ordering food lean toward mobile these days.
Restaurants have reacted by taking advantage of digital solutions like websites and mobile apps in order to get their food in front of consumers. Mobile order ahead has entered a space ripe with digital innovations that make it easy for consumers to find, pay for, and get their hands on their favorite foods.
Restaurant owners want innovative solutions to age-old challenges. Many are turning to QSR aggregator sites because they can’t afford a branded mobile app. Fortunately, when you partner with the right mobile order-ahead technology provider, you can bridge the gap without breaking the bank.
The Difference Between Mobile Order-Ahead Apps and QSR Aggregators
One of the biggest players in the digital QSR space—paving the way for order-ahead technology and complementing mobile ordering apps—are restaurant aggregator services. QSR aggregator sites are digital buffets where diners find a number of different restaurant flavors in their area, and aggregators are good at what they do.
Companies like Grubhub, DoorDash and, more recently, Uber Eats add just the right amount of spice to the mix, giving restaurants an online and mobile way to be seen while also providing options for customers. As a result, restaurants haven’t been as quick to create their own mobile app.
Big names in QSR like Taco Bell and Pizza Hut invest a lot of money and manpower into developing their mobile apps, and smaller restaurants and chains don’t always have those kind of resources. Aggregator sites, with their own proprietary apps, were the only mobile option for a while.
What’s great about an order ahead app like PoppinPay—and what sets apart affordable mobile order-ahead technology as a complement rather than a competitor to aggregators—is the ability to brand an app without paying enterprise-level prices.
Why Aggregator Sites Still Appeal to Restaurants
Mobile apps, whether they’re expensive or affordable, aren’t meant to be the end-all to advertising and ordering innovation for restaurants. Smart QSR operators know that it’s a good idea to advertise through as many appropriate channels as possible, resources permitting. That’s why mobile ordering and aggregator sites get along well together in a digital space.
Aggregator sites are still popular as mobile disrupts the restaurant space for the same reasons they first attracted QSRs—they’re easy, convenient, and offer customers a way to order online.
But restaurant owners realize aggregators aren’t the only option as mobile order-ahead technology disrupts the restaurant space.
How Mobile Order Ahead Bridges the Gap
Most aggregator sites charge you a percentage per order placed through their platform. For example, Door Dash advertises that you can make “up to 60% net profit on incremental orders.” That means each order you send out to a customer is costing you part of your profit. Furthermore, you don’t get a lot of online real estate compared to any other restaurant listed on an aggregator’s website. Every restaurant is presented the same way, because aggregators want a cohesive user experience.
The right mobile order-ahead app gives QSR operators more options for personalization.
An affordable mobile order-ahead app is an innovative way to create your own personalized, branded, and professional mobile presence without the enterprise-level expense. You get enough online real estate to sell your restaurant’s personal flavor while still giving customers an easy and convenient mobile ordering solution.
The best mobile order-ahead apps even make the adoption process an easy one.
For instance, PoppinPay integrates with Square, a popular payment platform that a lot of local, smaller-scale restaurants already use for payment processing. You get an attractive, new mobile ordering app, and you don’t need to change a thing about the way you do business.
Mobile Order Ahead Technology Complements Restaurant Aggregators
Again, don’t think of mobile order ahead as unnecessary competition if you’re already on the QSR aggregator bandwagon. And don’t let being part of an aggregator platform scare you away from putting a mobile app like PoppinPay to work for you.
Your affordable, personalized mobile app is one of many tools in your advertising toolbox. You grow your QSR business more effectively and efficiently the more tools you’re able to work with.
With that in mind, think of restaurant aggregators as the hammer to your mobile order-ahead tape measure. One is for hitting as many online and mobile customers in your area as possible. The other is for providing a more measured, personalized mobile ordering experience. You can do a lot of business building when you use both.