Pizza Today - March 2016 - 60

ing? Does the provider share customer
data so you can send follow-up messages? Do you want a built-in loyalty
program designed to spur repeat business?
"You need to get real specific about
what you need in your business," Ganino says. "What's the bigger strategy and
how does online ordering fit into that?"
Step 2: Take your time selecting a
partner.

Given online ordering's surge, it's
understandable operators want to leap
into the online ordering game. Be
patient, though, and investigate the
benefits and drawbacks of every
prospective partner.
Some providers charge a direct fee
to establish online ordering; some take
a commission on each online order;
and others toss in some extra perks.
Menufy, for example, will either design
a new Web site for the eatery or post
an online ordering link to an existing
site, while it can also deliver consumer

friendly elements like Facebook or
Google log-in options so people don't
have to memorize another username
and password.
Ganino urges patience and analysis,
encouraging operators to avoid making
a decision out of desperation or cowering to the loudest salesperson.
"You want to pick the platform that
you believe is easiest for your consumer
to use and best matches your brand,"
he says.

Step 3: Align online ordering with
operations.

Too often, pizzerias flip the online
ordering switch with little consideration for the operational end. How

does the order make its way into the
kitchen? How is a half-and-half pizza
order addressed? How do customers
redeem promotions?
"And this takes work," Hartman
admits.
At Two Boots, for instance, an iPad
rings with every new order. A manager or counter person then opens
the order and inputs it into the store's
POS. There, the order funnels into the
kitchen and is processed like any other
purchase.
While the manual input is a step
Hartman hopes to someday extinguish,
it's an improvement over previous
iterations of online ordering Two Boots
used that included faxes, verification
phone calls and confirmation e-mails.
"I suspect there will be a middleman
who develops the technology that links
every online ordering platform directly
to any existing POS," Hartman says,
"but what we have today is certainly an
improvement."
When the operational wrinkles are
resolved, however, Menufy cofounder
Ashishh Desai says online ordering
can minimize phone time and increase order accuracy, two significant
operational and customer-pleasing
benefits.
Step 4: Market online ordering.

Hartman says pizzerias should
not expect success simply by launching online ordering. Pizzerias must
market online ordering by promoting it on sales fliers, takeout menus
and table tents; placing stickers on
pizza boxes; posting decals on store
windows and so forth.
"You need to have a strategy,
whether that's using fliers, print ads
or social media," he says. "You can
never rest on the business you have
and need to get the word out that this
service is available." n
Chicago-based writer DANIEL P.
SMITH has covered business issues and
best practices for a variety of trade
publications, newspapers, and magazines.
6 0 / P I Z Z AT O D AY. C O M / M A R C H 2 0 1 6
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