Online Ordering for Food Trucks: How It Helps

There has been a lot of buzz lately around online ordering for restaurants. But is this a tool that food trucks can also benefit from? Absolutely! Let’s look at how online ordering for food trucks can be a simple and cost-effective way to expand your business.

But first, let’s talk about some of the issues facing food trucks in our current climate.

Issues Facing the Food Truck Community

Food trucks have a long history, stretching back many, many years. And for a while, their reputation was none-too-pretty.

But we’re happy to say that food trucks have seen a resurgence in popularity. Now we see whole festivals dedicated to food trucks. Heck, part of the draw for many outdoor events is what food trucks are going to be available!

But, sadly, there are still issues that food trucks face in the course of their business.

Location

Finding a location for your food truck is one such issue. You need to find a place that will allow you to conduct business, but that is also conveniently located for your customers. Too far away and some might not make the trip out.

Long lines

With a food truck, you, unfortunately, have one window through which to take orders. This can cause a pile-up in front of your truck. Faced with a long wait time, some potential customers might decide to go elsewhere.

Weather

Wherever you’re located, the weather is guaranteed to become an issue at one point or another. Whether you’re facing a harsh New England cold snap or an unseasonably warm day, the weather can discourage some customers from coming out to support you.

But the good news is, there is a solution that can help. Let’s look at how online ordering can help food trucks to better compete in the industry and maximize their profits.

5 Ways That Online Ordering for Food Trucks Can Help Your Business

1. Gives Customers Option to Order Ahead

This is especially true if you have loyal customers whom you know are going to be at a certain event or venue. You can give them the option to order ahead online, either with a post on your website or a social media blast. Let them know when you will start accepting online orders and that it will help them get their food sooner.

Knowing about some online orders ahead of time can also help you to prepare for those, while still leaving you open to deal with on-site customers.

This will leave you open for new customers to discover and fall in love with your food truck, without being turned away by a long wait time.

2. Alleviates Long Lines

Let’s face it, none of us enjoy waiting in line. And customers who have to wait in long lines could get frustrated — with the potential for leaving a bad review — or give up on your food truck altogether.

Online ordering is a great way to filter out customers who have the ability to use their phones to order, thus cutting down on the size of your line to those who can’t or don’t want to place an online order.

Publicize online ordering right on the side of your truck to let people know how it works and how they can benefit.

3. Helps Staff to Prioritize Orders

Prioritizing your time is a life skill for any food trucker. And online ordering helps you to do this on another level. When you have a line of people, you never know what each one is going to order.

When you use online ordering, though, you can see exactly how much of each item you need to make. This streamlines your process and allows your staff to efficiently prioritize their prep and cook time.

4. Gives You An Additional Stream of Clients

A food truck has always been a very transient eating experience. Customers have to know where you’ll be and what time you’ll be there. This means that you inherently lose customers who are not free to come to your current location.

But online ordering helps you to stay connected to those customers who cannot be there in person. They can simply put in an order and have it delivered to their home.

This way, you don’t lose out on those customers who can’t make it out to your location.

5. Gives You More Flexibility

Owning a food truck means that you sometimes have to adjust. Your hours might change from week to week. You might be constantly playing with and changing up your menu. It’s part of the food truck culture that we all know and love. And an online ordering system can roll with all of those changes.

It allows you to change your information on the fly. Whether your hours are going to be different, you’re not able to provide a certain food item, or you’ve made changes to your menu, an online ordering system makes it easy to implement these changes right from your system’s dashboard!

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As you can see, online ordering is not just for big-time restaurants. It can help food truckers just like you to maximize your profits and time.

If you’re interested in learning more about online ordering, check out our DevourNow Online Ordering System to see how it can work for you!

Online Ordering for Food Trucks: How It Helps

Issues Facing the Food Truck Community