Pizzapiratespp: My store averages about $4,000 on Saturdays—$3,500 on a slow Saturday and $4,500 on a busy one. Last Saturday, our phone lines were out for the entire day. We didn’t get one phone call. We still ended up doing $3,800 for the day, with $3,300 in online orders and $500 in walk-ins. There were no late deliveries, no complaints, nothing but peace and quiet. Do we even need phones anymore?
December: I wish all my orders came in online. It would be so peaceful. I’ve started having my employees ask customers, “Did you place your order online today?” This is a way to promote online ordering, because it’s the bomb.
Joe: I’ve thought about ditching the phones several times. Lately, we’ve been getting calls from folks who ordered online. They were told by email the orders would take between 45 and 60 minutes on a busy night, but they still call 30 or 40 minutes into their wait time to ask about the status of their orders. I ask if they received our email confirmation explaining the 45-to-60-minute window, and they say yes. Then, I’m just dumbfounded as to what to say next while still being nice on the phone! Using online ordering exclusively would save labor and stress, that’s for sure. Plus, when folks say, “This pizza isn’t what I ordered,” you can check their online order and determine who’s at fault, meaning fewer scams and more accountability. With that in mind, I’ve started a box topper promo that gives folks 5% off if they use my website for online ordering, and traffic has nearly doubled on the site in the past month.
Steve: A while back, we were without phone service on a Monday at one of our locations, and we did the same amount of sales as we usually do. In fact, I think online sales earned us more than our usual sales that day due to a higher average ticket.
Georgiascp: I’d love to do away with phones. They interrupt the more important aspects of service. But I don’t believe this would be possible in our area, as we deal with a somewhat older demographic that’s not as tech-savvy as younger customers. We do get a good number of online orders, but it’s not enough to make a dent in labor costs.
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