Last month, how much did you spend winning new customers (ads, commissions, first-order discounts)? And how much keeping the ones you have? If the first column is huge and the second almost empty, as in most restaurants, there is margin to be won. Acquisition matters, and marketplaces help a lot with it. But acquisition alone is expensive.
The bucket with a hole
Picture your business as a bucket. Acquisition is the water you pour in: ads, marketplaces, promotions. Retention is plugging the hole at the bottom. If you only pour, you need to pour more and more just to keep the level.
Why retention is usually cheaper
A customer who has already bought several times:
- knows you and trusts you;
- already knows they like your food;
- tends to buy more, and more often, over time;
- recommends you to others.
Acquisition involves ads, commissions and discounts. Bringing a customer back involves, at most, a message and a small incentive.
Why hardly anyone does it
Because acquisition feels like "marketing" and retention feels like back-office work. And because retention needs something many restaurants lack: customer data. Without knowing who buys and when they slow down, you can't retain. Data from marketplace orders stays with the platform; on your own channel it stays with you.
What to do with this sum
- Keep the data of customers on your channel.
- Create a simple loyalty programme.
- Reach out to people who start to drift.
- Measure your repeat rate: what share of customers come back? That is the number that, as it rises, plugs the hole.
You don't need to stop attracting, you need to balance: pour water and plug the hole.
How GetFoodies helps
It gives you the data of each customer on your channel, cashback and points built in, and email marketing to talk to people who already bought. On your channel orders, GetFoodies takes no commission per order.
Do the sum today
Write the two columns: what you spend attracting and what you spend retaining. If they are lopsided, you know where the profit you haven't collected yet is.