Pros And Cons Of Food Ordering Mobile Apps

Smartphones have become a basic necessity for most people in the world today with about 4 billion of them in people’s purses, pockets, and bags. Entrepreneurs are constantly looking for ways to benefit from this market of endless opportunities by developing witty mobile apps. One of the most intriguing apps is food ordering mobile apps. As is the case with almost everything, these apps have their pros and cons.

Pros
One major highlight of food ordering mobile apps is the ordering and payment system. Once a customer browses through the menu and finds what he or she wants, the customer can place an order through the push of a button and pay for it through the credit card or Google wallet or any other online payment options. The order is immediately transmitted to the restaurant where it is processed. The food can then be preserved for later pick up or delivered to the doorstep.

If you are looking for a way to save money on your phone bills, the food ordering mobile apps is a very good option. While using these apps, the only cost you will incur is buying the app (which some are free) and buying the food itself unlike ordering by phone where you will incur phone charges. You can also order food from relatively long distances at a subsidized cost.

Another advantage of food ordering mobile apps is first hand information. The app can be configured to give the customer updates on the menu of the restaurant without having to go all the way to the actual place. In addition, the restaurant can inform the customers on any upcoming offer hence advertise for free without having to pay for airtime on TV channels. With more people getting informed, the restaurant will also earn more profits as it will get higher sales from the offers.

The food ordering mobile apps also allow the customer to have time to browse the menu without any rush or stress. The customer is relaxed and has all the time in the world. The restaurant also benefits as allowing more browsing time will nudge the customer into ordering more than one item on the menu as he or she will be enticed by numerous foods.

Most food ordering mobile apps are fully integrated to allow the customers to dictate every aspect of their order ranging from the extras, spices, toppings and other special instructions. The restaurant staff will also have an easy go at it as they will have a reference point to prepare the meal according to the customer’s instructions without missing anything or making any errors.

In the increasing busy world, people hate waiting in line. The food ordering mobile applications address this problem completely. Waiting in line in the restaurant or being put on hold on the phone to wait your turn has become a thing of the past. You simply need to go to the app on your Smartphone and place your order and you are done. No waiting period whatsoever.

Cons

Finding a disadvantage to such a good innovation is not really easy. However, nothing is perfect in this world. Here, are some of them:

The cost of coming up with such a mobile app can be really demanding. You will need to pay a system developer, test out the system, and get the necessary licensing before you even put it on the market. Moreover, the application has to be custom made, as no restaurant is exactly the same as another. A system is not immortal. You will have to keep paying maintenance costs and will probably have to develop a new one after some time.

Having such a mobile app for food ordering can really rack up the number of customers in your restaurant. However, too much of everything is poisonous. This may sound cliché but it is true. Having too many customers you had not planned for can really cripple your business. The mobile app can bring a lot of marketing that you would not have foreseen making your restaurant popular. This means you will have way more customers than you can handle, hence you will not be able to deliver the right standard of customer service that you have. There will be utter confusion and a lot of unsatisfied customer making your business flop in the long run.

The advantages of the food ordering mobile apps completely outweigh the disadvantages so it comes highly recommended for any restaurant out there whether big or small