One of the most attractive features of online or web orderingis that it upsells for you. LaRosa's Pizza in Cincinnati, Ohiostates that their average online orders are $1.25 more thantheir phoned counterparts. In the May/June 2005 issue of PizzaMarketing Quarterly, Two Guys Pizza of Moreno Valley,California, said their online orders averaged over $8.00 moreper order.
Why are online orders significantly larger than phoned orders?There are probably several reasons for this. The online orderingprocess itself is far more leisurely. Online customers have nopressure to finish their order quickly. They can browse theonline menu and make selections at their own pace. This alonecould ensure the customers do a more thorough job of placingorders. But the online menu itself makes a contribution byreminding each customer to include beverages, appetizers andextras. A properly designed online menu will always display all themenu areas on screen. So when a customer is choosing an entreeor pizza, there is a button or link somewhere on the screenreminding him to include a beverage, an order of breadsticks ora dessert. Best of all, it does this automatically for everycustomer, every time, without needing to be trained or reminded. No matter how well trained and patient your employees, when acustomer is talking to them on the phone, there is always anunspoken understanding that the customer needs to finish placingthe order because the employee must serve other customers orreturn to cooking. This need to finish is absent from the onlineordering experience. The lack of pressure coupled with theonline menu's subtle reminders, results in larger tickets fromweb orders.About the Author: Rudy Vener is president and founder of Pizza GalaxyInternet Marketing Services. Rudy has combined his more thantwo decades of experience in software design with his love ofpizza to help pizza operators market their shops andrestaurants to their local communities on the internet withonline ordering, email marketing and other Internet strategies.Visit Pizza galaxy at http://www.pizzagalaxy.com to find outhow he can help you.Copyright 2005 by rudy Vener
