Turn your app idea into reality

When you have got money in hand, the most common business idea that strikes everyone nowadays is to open a restaurant or a bar. If you belong to 90% of the population, then that is the case. Superficially, these may appear to be amongst the most attractive businesses in recent times. But there is more to businesses than just making easy money. One of the most frustrating things about running a restaurant has to be the dramatic fluctuations in footfalls.  One minute you are standing idle and distributing flyers to entice customers to your restaurant and the very other minute you are overwhelmed with the influx of customers who definitely outnumber your working staff. It is easy to predict spikes in business during the holiday period, but you are in for surprises during the working days. Not only the variance in attendance, but fierce competition, incredibly long working days and short shelf life of products are other reasons that make your business difficult to run.

Restaurant App builders can be a lifeline to help with the plethora of responsibilities that come with running a restaurant. Here are 6 features to incorporate into your app business.

Simple online ordering

Integrating a hassle-free and commonly used payment gateway in your app is one of the first steps to create a perfect restaurant app. You must not make hunger pangs wait with a slower app interface, messed up menu and a relatively confusing payment method. If this happens, then surely the next button he will click on your app will be ‘uninstall’. The ability to order online has changed the food service industry drastically. And now that this service is moving into the mobile space, more customers will be empowered to place their orders remotely.

Prior seat reservation

Giving some extra bit of power to those who have downloaded your app is always an idea that never fails to impress. Just like the Central Perk in F.R.I.E.N.D.S, give an advantage of reserving their favorite spot in the restaurant to your loyal customers. Convenient scheduling through mobile apps makes it easy for customers who are looking for a sure shot place to eat.

The Social link

Try making your app accessible via social media logins. Restaurant apps haven’t understood the importance of being socially connected and this definitely has added to the negatives. Apart from the social media login, people could share their experiences and pictures on social media through the app. This could result in increased number of app downloads.

Offline Features

Guess what would Green Lantern do without his ring? Nothing. So, try not to make your restro-app powerless without a working internet connection. Adding some offline features like viewing the menu and reviews would be a treat for your customers who have a slow or no internet connection.

Discounts and referral feature

Discounts and referrals are the best bet when it comes to expanding your consumer base. Getting discounts on being referred to or by referring someone can attract the audience you have been searching for. Most apps stick to the quintessential feature and often forget to engage their users in an interaction such as referrals.

Feed the needy

“One-third of all the food produced in the world is wasted”- New York Times"

Sustainability and responsible business practices are now mandatory trends. Businesses that ignore them, get ignored by the millennials. Ensuring ‘zero wastage’ is not only smart, but also an economical way to run your restaurant business. Check if you can have a feature to tie-up with an NGO/foster home where ‘fresh’ left-overs could be given to those who would relish. Your app business could soon hit the social media headlines for good.

Conclusion

You just moved your business to an app. It’s working quite well but now you want to shift it into the second gear by going full throttle with the app marketing. But here’s the thing - You might be moving at a great pace with your marketing but what if you’re headed in the wrong direction.

Wouldn’t it be great if you can keep a tab on how your customers are engaging with your app? Just think, how easier your life will be if you can track your app's downloads, revenue, rankings and more in one consolidated view. That’s where app analytics comes into picture. Analytics are imperative in understanding your targeted audience across multiple touch points. Implementing analytics for your mobile app lets you measure the ins and outs so that you can head with your marketing efforts in the right direction.

Marketing your app is not something you can leave to guesswork. App marketing that is not driven by smart analytics can turn upon you – Not only it wastes your time and resources but also pushes you behind your business goals. Believe it or not, analytics is imperative to the success of your app. No matter what business you’re in, implementing App Analytics will help you achieve growth, improve conversions and maximise revenue.

The rule of the thumb is that the more you understand your users, the more geared you will be to cater to your users’ specific needs. For many businesses, app analytics is synonymous with keeping a tab on app installs. But there’s more to analytics than they might think. According to a survey conducted by Compuware, 80 - 90% of all the downloaded apps are deleted right after the first use. Number of downloads is not a measure of success, user engagement is.

Here are some of the key mobile metrics every business should deploy in driving their app strategy.

Session Length and Interval – Shows how much time the users spend per session and the period between any two app sessions

Screen Flow – Tells how users interact with your app in a typical session

Location Analytics – Indicates the whereabouts of your audience while they are using your app

Mobile Device Usage – It lets you know whether your user access your apps on iOS, android or windows device

While chasing metrics, it’s easy to get lost in the details. The key to strategic success is to stay focused on the metrics that are relevant to your app, draw actionable insights from them and work on them. Think about the core intent of your app.

Think that your job is done once the user downloads your app? Think again. Getting your app downloaded is only half the battle won. The next and bigger challenge is to get them engaged. Push notification is a smart mobile marketing tool to engage the users even when they are not actively using your app. Simply put, push notifications are super short messages that appear on users’ screen, keeping them in the loop of events, updates, deals, promotions, in-store activities and a lot more. Think of push notification as giving a slight nudge on the shoulder to someone you were once introduced to but haven’t met since a while. What push notifications do for your business is getting the person greet you back and consider to buy something from you. In the crowded app marketplace, it’s easy to be deserted by your user. Push Notification has emerged as a winning marketing tool. As per a study conducted by Localytics, push notifications can bring down App Abandonment Rate by 10%. All in all, push notifications help you pull customers. Push notifications not only keep the users from deleting or forgetting your app, but keep them loving you and come back for more.

It’s a marketing tool with a difference

when your users are receiving a push notification, it’s because they have opted for it. And that’s where it gets an edge over other similar (but not same) mobile marketing tools. The smart thing to do is ask them to opt in as soon as they download your app and open it for the first time. That is your best chance to turn your users into subscribers. Provided you keep your message targeted, personalized, and relevant, it can create 3X more engagement.

Get more out of your app – Push it!

Recent surveys have revealed that more than 50% of the users sign up for push notifications for availing discounts and offers. In a way, users who’ve opted for receiving push messages are up-and-ready to shop on your app. All you have to do is send them actionable, personalized push messages. Push notifications also work great to let the users know about app updates, both free and paid.

But the real edge that push notifications provide is that it lets you perform actions based on users’ external events, bridging the trust gap. It’s a proven strategy for driving a marked increase in active, engaged users.

Screen flow analytic show that the users often add products to their shopping cart but leave the page without finishing the order. But a push notification can bring them back with their wallet. Look at this example – ‘Hi Sam, the lace dress you left in your cart is now available at 10% discount. Check out.’ We are sure, Sam would have a hard time ignoring such an offer. Research has revealed that personalized push message can save 2 out of 3 unfinished orders. Try to link the push message in such a way that a single click gets the users straight to where they left, the shopping cart.