Must-Have Features for Restaurant Apps

The great impact of having mobile apps for restaurants is undeniable and obviously seen but only if implemented right. The two main purposes of a mobile application for the restaurant are to provide ease and convenience and if not developed right with the right features it can become frustrating, boring, and very useless instead of useful, practical, intuitive, and fun to use. Now that restaurant owners have recognized the need for a mobile app for their business, it’s our job to make sure they know what features their app should have.

User-friendly signup and log-in:

This is the first feature that users are going to come across with so the importance of it being effortless is huge and could lead to success or failure right away. Sign-up or login should be convenient, not everyone now loves to fill the forms with information but they’d rather login using Facebook, email, etc. other than this, the application should be able to save the user profile for later use. Sign-up and login should be very secure but also simple and convenient processes.

Platform compatibility:

The world runs on two platforms: Android and iOS, this is less of an implicit feature but a need that should be explicitly taken care of. Both of the platforms come with different functionalities and features, so for better coverage and to focus on more users the app should be available for both platforms. You cannot skip an entire group of users and expect an app to be a success.

Food menu:

The food menu available on the apps should be customer friendly, app-friendly (knowing the size of the screen is relatively very small), and updated. The categories and subcategories with Food menu pics, price, and modifiers like quantity or combos’ meal should be mentioned loud and clear. The menus available should be easily accessible, easy to navigate, and place an order. The menu should always be updated and other than that the unavailability of certain food items of the menu should also be mentioned.

Table Reservations:

Another must-have feature a restaurant app could have is to help customers make reservations. Since the whole purpose is to bring convenience and ease to the customer’s life, what’s better than to help them pre-book the time and date on which they’d like to have dinner or lunch at your restaurant? This saves time for a customer and if the services are exactly like what the customers demand, this could only lead to the success of the business.

Location-Based Operations:

It’s very important for a restaurant to have location-based operations, this just not saves the customers from the hassle but also the restaurant, modernized location-based techniques like geo-fencing or beacons allow restaurant apps to interact with customers even if they are outside their homes somewhere. One can promote food items, spread news of an offer, or share news with customers with this feature.

Social Media Integration:

The world revolves around social media these days and so do the customers, they love to share, tweet, post, etc. about what is happening. An option for the customers to integrate the app with social media should always be available, to use it or not to use it should be their choice then.

Payments:

The feature to allow customers to pay for the orders in-app also helps with the efficiency of the app. The payment method should be simple and smooth, just like sign-up and login, this also could lead directly to the success and failure of the app. Since the payment is being made in advance, it’s a huge responsibility for an app to make the entire process hassle-free and secure.

Rewards and Discounts:

This feature is not just beneficial for the customers but also for the business. We all know customers love to get rewards and discounts and there are several reasons for this: value addition from the restaurant they’re dealing with, saving money, feeling special and benefiting from using the apps, etc. this ‘rewards and discount’ system helps in winning customer’s loyalty which lasts long-term. On the other hand, this system works in favor of the restaurant too, this also reduces or balances the restaurant’s overall customer acquisition cost.

Customer feedback section:

Since the direct target of restaurant apps are food lovers, their feedback holds great significance, it’s essential to know about your offerings and how to improve them further to greet your customers. Direct feedback helps to get advice and constructive criticism which can help remove deficiencies and further provide more optimum food services to your customers.

Rewards and Discounts:

This feature is not just beneficial for the customers but also for the business. We all know customers love to get rewards and discounts and there are several reasons for this: value addition from the restaurant they’re dealing with, saving money, feeling special and benefiting from the apps, etc. this ‘rewards and discount’ system helps in winning customer’s loyalty which lasts long-term. On the other hand, this system works in favor of the restaurant too, this also reduces or balances the restaurant’s overall customer acquisition cost.

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