The single thing that will most influence customer loyalty is getting your mobile app onto your customer’s phones” - Let me explain
There are multiple ways restaurants, cafes and other business can influence customer loyalty -some ways work better than others.
Ultimately the best way to have repeat business and influence customer loyalty is through your mobile app, so if you don’t have one already, get one!
The truth is, we’re all constantly glued to our devices and that’s evident everywhere you go. People are always looking down at their devices and that’s why apps are such an important aspect of your business.
It’s usually the first thing people do when they wake up and the last when they go to sleep, there’s even research suggesting people check their phones 100 times a day!
The reasoning for phones being such an important aspect of everyday life nowadays is the possibilities which come with our devices, such as Uber, social media, ordering food, watching movies and doing our banking.
Businesses know this and it’s why they spend so much money on pushing people towards using their app. Television advertisements, or even YouTube videos constantly ask viewers to download their app, or the app of one of their sponsors. These businesses know apps are where the money is to be made.
Having a presence on a person’s phone can do so much for your business, even being the difference between failure and success.
If your app is on a person’s phone when they’re hungry, it increases the chances of them ordering food from your restaurant. You want to be become a constant in your customers’ lives and this loyalty will vastly increase revenue.
Where Do I Go From Here?
If you haven’t done so already, get your business an app and make it a good one. It needs to be well fleshed out and complete, as customers are going to be turned off by an app that’s glitchy, crashes, or gets their order wrong. A seamless app will increase a customer’s desire to use it again in the future.
Getting The App On Your Customer's Phone
This is hardest part, because there is so much competition out there - think about all the fast-food franchises which have their own apps, such as McDonald’s or Domino’s - so the work is cut out for you when it comes to getting your restaurant app on a device. It needs to provide enough appeal for customers to download the app.
Then of course there are the food aggregator apps, which are designed for customers to download and order from multiple restaurants. These types of apps have massive budgets allocated to marketing, often to the point of oversaturation – think of the food ordering apps which keep appearing on YouTube ads.
These apps aren’t the same as having your own and push customers away from ordering through your app, website and Google profiles. All these companies want is to line their own pockets, they don’t care about where people are ordering food from, as long as it’s on their app.
Once your app is good to go, it should be your mission to push it to customers old and new, get the word out there and make the app a priority for your business. You can do this in a variety of ways such as offering a free item, or discount when users sign up for the app.
- McDonald’s for example provides rewards for members on a regular basis, which usually update weekly. Further to this, they also have the 30 Days of 30 Deals and Monopoly promotions, which drive customers to use the app because they know they’re getting a good deal.
- An app-only punch card can also be a good way to get users to download the app, as it is the only way for them to claim their reward. You might have been to a restaurant before that offers certain discounts, or a free desert, which are only available via the app.
Another technique some restaurants employ, or have employed since COVID, is table ordering via their app. What this means is that instead of wait staff taking the customer’s order, they order and pay through the app and just enter their table number. Now the app is on their phone and you can continue to provide incentives for them to return.
Your app should be at the forefront of all marketing campaigns, specifically when it comes to ordering options.
Don’t advertise companies such as Uber Eats or Deliveroo, only mention your in-house app. This means ensuring every bit of marketing material such as flyers, Google Posts, T-shirts, posters and pamphlets all remind people to ‘download the app’. Use the same tactics other companies are doing and undercut them from stealing your business.
Incorporate all the things mentioned above and it will greatly increase the amount of traffic on your app. In no time at all your customers will be directly ordering through your own app, not a third party which also means you retain all the data and have complete control over your marketing and business.
Put your efforts into these things and the customer loyalty you’ll receive in return will be more than evident.
Now go get those app promotions going!