Restaurateurs have been facing gruelling challenges since the COVID 19 pandemic, because the aftermath brought on recession, workforce turbulence and inflation. On top of the economic demands and conditional issues, restaurants and other food catering businesses had to improve their digital tools and capabilities. Doing so is necessary to be able to operate competitively in the industry, since consumers have shifted to shopping, ordering and purchasing online.
As restaurant owners continue to struggle with rising operational costs amidst inflation and demand for higher compensation, they also have to reach and connect online to more customers. Nowadays, even if an osteria or a trattoria has earned a reputation for serving killer pastas, maintaining an online presence is still of critical importance. Its popularity can be easily overshadowed by osterias or trattorias being aggressively promoted in the Internet space, particularly in the same area or locality.
Statistical Facts Highlighting the Importance of Going Digital
Diners have turned to digital channels to look for restaurants that can provide them with the best eating experience. That is regardless of whether or not they decide to visit the establishment, or to have the food delivered at their doorsteps. A restaurant owner therefore has to make sure that his or her food business has a strong online ability to compete in vying for the attention of customers.
Here are some of the important and current statistical facts that rationalize why going digital matters:
About 90% of customers conduct online research before deciding to eat or order from a particular restaurant.
Around 77% of consumers who take interest in a commercial food provider, visit a restaurant’s website to find out if the ambience and dining experience offered by the restaurant will be worth their while and their money.
More importantly, about one-third of customers who perform website research, give particular attention to customer reviews as bases for choosing a dining venue.
Going digital matters because the 90% of restaurant researchers who check out websites, especially of restaurants near them, want to know if the food is prepared by a chef or not. They also want to know if the menu has a broad range of choices, or if they can place orders for delivery or pick up.
Why Going Digital is More than Just Promoting in Social Media Platforms
Many entrepreneurs misconstrue the going digital concept as simply promoting one’s business in social media sites. Bear in mind that most online markets are saturated and it will take more than just social media promotions to grow one’s online presence for marketing purposes. It’s also necessary to be at the top pages of the results generated by search engines when browsers launch queries about a specific information.
Social media marketing is important but so is managing one’s business to stay afloat of all the challenges posed by recession, inflation and other adverse economic conditions. What a restaurant actually serves or delivers the moment a customer dines in or orders online, can make or break a business. That is why when going digital, the best way to go about it is to engage the services of a well-reputed provider of SEO services. That way, entrepreneurs can focus on maintaining and improving the quality of their food and beverage offerings.
Some professional SEO service providers offer only short term and local engagements; but others offer long term services and support to ensure that every customer’s online presence and digital content will enable the business to stay competitive and at the same time growing.