One Order for Take-Out, Please
To restaurants trying to manage social distancing with COVID-19, keep their employees at work, and our bellies full, thank you. But, as we strive to continue to support you during this time, let's make sure it’s as easy as possible to order from you!
With all hands on deck, focus on your loyal followers. Users are probably navigating to your channels right now because they trust you as a business and are still seeking the comfort of your delicious menu. Here are my suggestions on how to make your to-go offerings more accessible and apparent:
On the Website
Eliminate unnecessary home page call to actions right now that could divert a potential user from being able to quickly place an order. And when I say eliminate, either move the content to a secondary page or below your current primary motives.
Now that your primary motive is to direct the viewer to make a to-go order, make this message evident and clear. Do they need to call your restaurant to place an order? Is there a Doordash or Grubhub button that you can install on your home page for them to quickly navigate to?
If you're not associated with an app for ordering right now, don't feel behind. Instead, list and link your phone number and be sure to bring your Menu to the home page for quick viewing (pro tip: you should do this anyway). Too much work? At the very least, add a secondary call to action (CTA) below your ordering CTA that prompts the user to view the menu.
Follow-up with the expectation of pick-up. My assumption is that, for most, this will be curbside pick-up. State that upon ordering or follow-up via confirmation.
You can also add a quick link in your navigation to "Order Online” if orders aren’t placed via phone.
Or implement a full-width, vibrant, announcement bar at the top of your website to create fast awareness of your offerings.
You can even implement a promotional pop-up upon landing.
This is an example of what Elliots on Linden is doing immediately upon landing
I’m using my favorite coffee shop here in Moore County, Buggy Town Coffee, to showcase a very simplified adaptation to the website that could verbalize a shift in their current ordering. Without making adjustments to their hero graphic, you’ll see I implemented most of the steps suggested above and simply moved the rest of the content below the main CTA.
Other ways to make an impact online:
Edit the main CTA on your Facebook Business Page to prompt specific action
Change your main link connected to your Instagram account to prompt specific action
Keep showing up!! Don't be afraid to continue sharing stories of behind the scenes action of your dedicated workers during this time. Keep us on your mind and keep up the good work!