When people say "own app", many owners picture big chains with tech departments and conclude it isn't for them. Today that conclusion no longer holds. Let's look at when an app with your brand makes sense, and when it doesn't.
First, the website
A good ordering website already solves most of what you need. With GetFoodies your restaurant has a website and web app with your brand that customers can install on their phone, and that can send notifications to people who accept them. For many restaurants that is enough.
What a native app adds
An app with your restaurant's name in the iPhone and Android app stores adds:
- A permanent presence. Your restaurant is one tap away on the phone screen, with no other restaurants alongside.
- Loyalty closer at hand. The cashback balance and points live in the app.
- Less friction. Saved details and a repeat order in one tap.
When it is worth it
- You already have repeat customers: the app gets them back more often.
- You do delivery or takeaway regularly and want a channel of your own for regulars.
- You want to build loyalty seriously.
When it isn't, yet
- You don't yet have customers who would use it. Build the habit of ordering directly first (website and loyalty); the app then amplifies it.
- You think "having an app" is enough. An app forgotten on a phone sells nothing. What sells is what you do with it.
The mistake of building an app from scratch
A custom app costs a lot, takes months, and then comes the permanent bill for maintenance, iOS and Android updates and fixes. For an independent restaurant it is almost always a trap. The smart path is a ready-made solution, tested and maintained by people who do this every day.
How GetFoodies works
The website and web app come with the subscription, live at your own pace. The native app in the App Store and Google Play is optional, with the Starter Pack with your own app: store approval is up to Apple and Google, can take up to four weeks and is outside our control.
The decision
If you already have customers who come back, an app of your own brings them back more often. If you are still building that base, start with the website and loyalty, and the app comes at the right moment.