12 Apr The Cost Of Not Having Your Own F&B App
To build a standalone F&B app, it might require you to have an initial investment; while a third party food app which is well developed might be a more convenient option. However, you might be wondering why more and more F&B businesses have invested in their own standalone app.
Here’s why.
The Cost Of Not Having Your Own F&B App
- Unavoidable commission charges
- Limitation on no. of times to amend your menu items
- Lack of transparency on customer’s data
1. UNAVOIDABLE COMMISSION CHARGES
Recently, I was thinking of ordering a burger to satisfy my craving after a hectic day. That was the time I found out that my thumb was actually browsing the food ordering marketplace app to order a set of Ramdan special chicken foldovers. However, when I took a closer look at the price of the chicken foldover, it really put me off when I realized that the price of my favorite burger is more than the usual price I get from dine-in (excluding delivery fees). For MCD to obtain the usual profit margin, I understand that additional commission charges will apply on each of my orders on the third party app. Nevertheless, this still affects my mood on getting that chicken foldover and I decided to not order it instead, because it is more expensive.Until just a few days ago, I realized that MCD has their own self-picking system which offers the same price as dine-in. I was thrilled when I found out that I can even get a complimentary burger on my first order through the MCD app.
2. LIMITATION ON NO. OF TIMES TO AMEND YOUR MENU ITEMS
Before the MCD launched their own self pick up offline system on their app,the food and meal offered on the third party marketplace app was a lot more different than I was used to. As I could not add Ayam Goreng MCD to my meal. I could only order two more pieces of Ayam Goreng MCD separately and that cost me a lot more than usual dine in at MCD. As MCD is barely one of the food vendors on the third party food ordering app, it would be natural that they need to follow the app settings which includes limitations on the amount of times MCD could amend their menu on the third party app. Yes, for 3rd party app, standardization is the key. But, for F&B owners, innovation is the key to move the business forward. Changing the menu or adding new dishes is a common thing to innovate in F&B business. Why let the 3rd party app restrict us in our offerings to our customers?
3. LACK OF TRANSPARENCY ON CUSTOMER’S DATA
3rd party app is a great place to get more traffic and attract customers. The relationship between F&B vendors and customers on 3rd party app is just merely transactional. Do we know which customers are loyal to our brand? What dishes are hot-selling in this target customer group? We would not even get customers data for the orders we get in a 3rd party app.
Data is king. Knowing our customers is the key to keep our customers coming back. Without the data, we are not able to do further analysis, or personalize the promotion, or even run marketing campaign with marketing automation tools in place. If we have our own F&B app, it will be like your CRM, where you can get access to your customers’ data. You could analyze, personalize and materialize their preferences.
Another additional point is that, if something goes wrong, at least you could be taking a more proactive approach to solve it, and ensure their satisfaction level is maintained.
As a fan of Family Mart, besides their signature Matcha ice cream or Oden, I would like to try their drinks menu too. And, this time I ordered 2 drinks: (a) Soy milk with Taro topping, (b) Milk tea with boba. My excitement went down the drain when I received my order. They prepared my order wrongly, they messed up the topping of the drinks. My order became: (a) Soy milk with Boba, (b) Milk tea with Taro topping. As an angry customer, I lodged complaints immediately in Family Mart app. When I thought that they were going to brush me off with some automatic responses and just compensated me with a discount voucher , I received a call personally from their customer service personnel to clarify with me regarding my complaint and apologized to me sincerely. And, my anger has turned 180 degrees, and this top notch customer service has made my day. I know I would not be able to receive this kind of customer service, even if I order from Family Mart on a 3rd party food delivery app. Ever since then, I only stick to Family Mart’s very own app.
All in all, building a standalone F&B app could bring many benefits to your F&B business. In terms of ROI, it will definitely be more than what you have expected if you view it as a long term investment, even though you might need some initial investment to develop your own F&B app. Interested in bringing your F&B business to the next level and investing in your own F&B app with an affordable price? Good news is, we do provide efficient solutions for your business. Feel free to reach out to Senwave, for the solutions to all your problems.