Are you a dine-in business? Are you just trying to wait it out, or are you looking for ways to respond to the change in consumer behavior due to COVID-19?
In a report by Yelp’s Local Economy Coronavirus Impact Report states that delivery and take-out are replacing dine-in.
Instead of waiting for consumer behavior to change again, what can dine-in businesses do to become a delivery and take-out business?
Start by creating a take-out menu. These need to be your customer favorites and you must be able to make them quickly if demand spikes.
Here are 2 ways to quickly transition to a take-out or delivery business:
Our recommendations are designed to get you started taking orders soon, in the next couple of hours. For this reason, we suggest taking payments at your store POS terminal as usual. Once you are taking orders, then consider setting up a payment processor with your order form.
1 – Use your existing contact form:
Chances are you have a contact form on your site. Create a new form where you can allow people to choose which to-go menu items they want. Include their name, address, contact information.
Take their payment cash or card when they arrive to get their order. Also, many contact forms allow you to quickly configure PayPal or other payment processors to allow you to take payments at checkout.
If you aren’t familiar with your contact form plugin, google it quick to get a tutorial. Here is a tutorial for Gravity Forms and Contact Form 7:
Gravity Forms – How to create a contact form in under 2 minutes
Contact Form 7 – Customizing a Form
Time to first order ~ 1-3h
2 – Install “Restaurant Menu” plugin
The Restaurant Menu is a complete plugin that is ready to configure with your store info, menu items, and delivery preferences. Once installed, it will prompt you to install a mobile app onto a tablet or phone to receive and manage orders. It even allows your device to connect to your device to a ticket/order printer in the kitchen via Bluetooth, WiFi or USB.
All instructions are toward the bottom of the page starting at “How to Install and Activate”. Setup your menu on the plugin website, copy the button shortcode to a prominent place on your homepage and start taking orders.
Time to first order 1-3h.
After you get your take-out order system started, consider adding a credit card payment fields or PayPal. Consider repurposing your staff into a commission-and-tips-based delivery team.
Spread the Word
Tell your loyal customers that you’re open for business and you’re doing take-out. These loyal customers likely follow you on social media. Use a hashtag, something like #takeoutomaha.
Let’s do this Omaha.