Customers hate waiting. And never has the need for speed been more important than in today’s digital economy. Online orders easily make up anywhere from one-quarter to one-half of all sales in carryout and delivery operations. And simply being online isn’t enough. Without a fast, easy-to-use interface on a mobile-friendly site, you may be losing customers before they ever get a chance to place an order.
Your customers have high expectations online. They’ve become accustomed to ordering platforms like Amazon, Kindle and iTunes, with powerhouse tech resources to ensure speed and reliability. “Whereas, three years ago, a customer might have patiently waited for a site to load or fumbled through a confusing order flow, they’re not willing to do that anymore,” says Jennifer Wiebe, marketing manager at SpeedLine.
For every one-second delay on a mobile site, a 2017 retail study by Google and SOASTA shows, purchases can drop up to 20%. “We call it the ‘click-away effect,’” Wiebe says. “But it really amounts to lost sales—and lost customers.” A Forrester Consulting study showed that 79% of visitors who click away from a slow-loading site will never come back. On top of that, 44% will complain to a friend or in an online review, compounding the effect.
“A pizzeria can deliver the best food and service inside its four walls and yet be losing orders—and customers—to a subpar mobile ordering experience,” says Wiebe. “Restaurant owners rely on their POS and online ordering partners to help them compete in this new ‘digital’ segment of their market.”
That is the focus of SpeedDine, the new web and mobile ordering service from SpeedLine, Wiebe notes. To deliver the kind of experience your customers expect, SpeedLine built the new service on Amazon’s own mobile commerce platform. Orders flow seamlessly into the POS from a mobile ordering interface that provides your customers with live pricing, accurate pickup and delivery times, and secure payment.
The flexibility to support restaurant brands’ technology needs has been part of the SpeedLine DNA for more than 20 years and will continue with ongoing support for third-party online ordering platforms as well.
The restaurant brands that are winning online, Wiebe notes, are delivering speed and convenience. “For 10, 25, maybe 50% of pizza and delivery customers,” she adds, “the mobile ordering experience is the restaurant’s new front door.”
To learn more about the SpeedDine system, visit speedlinesolutions.com.
