The rise of food and beverage apps?
As smartphones become an essential part of our lives, so do the apps that populate them with features. More than ever before, last year saw food and beverage apps become an essential part of life for many people forced to stay at home during lockdowns. Deliveries offered users a welcome relief from cooking and helped restaurants survive the numerous lockdowns and restrictions.
Food and beverage apps can do more than just deliveries
Delivery apps aren’t the only ones the food and beverage industry can benefit from. Restaurants, producers, and shop owners alike create and use their own apps to retain customers, advertise and organise processes internally. Read on to see how food and beverage apps can revolutionise the way businesses operate and communicate with their clients.
Retain clients with a loyalty scheme
How many times have you been handed a stamped business card-sized piece of paper that you’ve immediately misplaced? Managing loyalty schemes offline is unreliable and difficult for both clients and businesses. Moreover, offline loyalty schemes don’t allow business owners to get and retain their clients’ details, such as names and emails.
A branded app, on the other hand, asks users to register an account and stays safely on their phones, ready to be accessed at any point. With the right permissions, it also allows businesses to send their clients to push notifications – a very efficient and virtually free form of marketing! Additionally, food and beverage apps are a great way for brands to stay relevant and raise awareness among their customer base.
Manage menus and take orders in-app
One app feature that recently became popular is ordering in-app at venues. It was introduced to reduce contact between clients and staff as well as to avoid physical menus being handled by multiple people. More than just that, a menu app can make products and meals shine and offer detailed information without the limitations associated with a printed menu.
Most importantly, a menu app can also be used by staff to handle and manage orders. An experienced developer can create a custom solution that sends orders directly to the kitchen staff and alerts waiters when the food is ready. This can apply to shops and producers as well and can be tailored to the needs of their business
Geo-location for food and beverage apps
Location-based features are one of the best ways to attract customers to a venue. Once a company’s app is installed on their device, all they need to do is give it the right permissions. This will allow app owners to send push notifications to people that have the app on their phone based on their location. For example, they might receive a coupon to a restaurant or shop when they are within a 50m radius of it, enticing them to make a purchase. If you’re interested in how beacons and geofencing can be used in apps, you can read more in our article on the topic.
Where do I start if I want an app for my business?
Understanding the steps you need to take when you’re planning an app can be daunting. The most important thing to do is determine the purpose and goal of your app. Once you have a clear idea of the what and the why, you can move on to the how.
To help businesses along this process, we created a free App Planner that is simple to understand and use and doesn’t require any previous knowledge about the app world. As developers, we often have to walk our clients through these steps. Our advice has been tried and tested and has helped business owners plan successful apps from start to finish.
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