How the best restaurant websites boost sales and fill seats

Key quotes:

• "[…] The only thing missing would be […] a universal payment method via the app.” Gizmodo — “OpenTable Is Secretly the Best Thing on the Internet” “Our mission is to ensure nobody has a bad meal” Zomato lets you browse through menus, photos, reviews and ratings to help make your decision."
• "Avid user, Marie, thinks: “It allows you to spend more time doing what you want to be doing” Yelp Reservations is for everyone — restaurants big and small! Yelp Reservations provides a customisable app for its clients, this stops you having to worry about booking guests and lets you focus on the customers currently at your restaurant."
• "And while you’re waiting, here are some customer reviews for Yelp Reservations: Jay Foster, Chef/Owner — “Yelp Reservations helped me grow our bottom line."
• "You select a restaurant, time and number of diners and the app responds either confirming, or telling you how likely it is that a table will become available later on."

Key quotes:

• "Mentioning your restaurant, or inviting them to come in for a free or discounted meal is a great way to bring in customers without spending excessive time and money on marketing."
• "It’s very likely that you’re forfeiting potential customers to your competition if you don’t offer happy hour specials."
• "SEE ALSO: How To Keep Your Customer Retention Rate High A significant key to bringing in new business to your restaurant is building a buzz around the food, service, and atmosphere."
• "Typically, these events allow restaurants to offer a selection of courses for a prix fixe price as a way of letting new customers sample off-menu and highlighted items."
• "On a small scale, happy hours, kids eat free specials, and live entertainment can help restaurants ramp up business during slow times."
• "SEE ALSO: How To Create The Customer Loyalty Your Small Business Needs Formulating a customer loyalty program to tie in with your email marketing initiatives is a great way to keep new customers engaged and existing customers coming back."

Key quotes:

• "This essentially means that if small business merchants want to increase their sales, they can’t sit waiting in their stores hoping that customers will magically find them."
• "Below we’ve outlined a small business sales funnel — as it relates to retailers — to help you picture and understand how and when to engage your potential customers."
• "SEE ALSO: The Comprehensive Guide to Local Store Marketing Event Marketing: Create an Experience A great way to increase retail sales and introduce your business to new customers is to create an experience that aligns with your brand."
• "The overall goal of this section of the small business sales funnel is simple: Every single person who walks through your doors should spend money in your store."
• "Yes, you’ll never get 100 percent of your visitors to spend, but by providing the best in-store experience possible, you’ll maximize your chances to acquire new customers and boost sales in the process."
• "Customer communication is key to creating a great experience and is integral to learning how to increase sales in retail."

Key quotes:

• "Powerful branding strategies can deliver the following benefits to your business: Achieving these strategic objectives means that you have a well-oiled marketing machine that allows you to acquire new customers more efficiently than you could otherwise."
• "SEE ALSO: The Small Business Guide to Email Marketing Marketing with Online Content Efficiency to many people today is being able to obtain information any time of day."
• "Monitoring social media sites for comments and feedback about your restaurant business may be the best way to find out if your customers are happy."
• "For local businesses and restaurants, this kind of marketing can center around incentive-based email campaigns asking customers for feedback on their experience with the restaurant."
• "Knowing who your customer base is and what they want out of your restaurant helps you better understand the next point."
• "All of this kind of information is crucial to a restaurant because knowing who your customer base is and how they eat is a big part of your marketing plan."

Key quotes:

• "Before we jumpstart analyzing the best practices, let us see which Restaurant or Food Delivery businesses are doing amazing things with mobile apps."
• "They are one of the few examples of fast food joints who are successfully taking their business to a new height with mobile apps."
• "This mobile app marketing trend is making fast food industry a hit."
• "So, if you are in a fix about developing a mobile app strategy for your food delivery business, this is high time to take the right decisions."
• "With mobile apps having a physical proximity sensor, enables to lure customers with deals through push notifications instantly."
• "You can offer them with- Add ‘click to call’ option for further help (customers always find it tempting) One of the best ways to lure your customers through apps is by adding drool-worthy-hot-food images! We found out every problem this business faces, we listed down all the things users expect from a Fast Food Restaurant mobile app and till date, we successfully delivered more than 10 such apps to our customers which are doing excellent business for them."