Food delivery apps saw a huge surge in use during the pandemic – which is hardly surprising – but what is interesting is that despite everything opening back up these habits are doing anything but slowing down.

Data from Cardlytics revealed that spend on rapid grocery delivery apps such as Getir, Zapp and Weezy have has grown by over 100% in recent months. National supermarkets such as Sainsbury’s and Co-op are now offering grocery delivery on UberEats and Deliveroo. Apps are everywhere.

Ordering food and drinks on apps is now a way of life for the consumer – and is simply expected in all parts of life from ordering groceries and takeaways to ordering in restaurants or at work. Those companies within workplace hospitality need to make their offering as slick and appealing as possible, to avoid staff spending their money in other nearby competitor outlets.

Here are the top 10 reasons why workplace hospitality vendors should implement a mobile app and ordering system:

  1. No queues: Lunch breaks are precious enough as it is without having to waste time waiting for colleagues to choose, order and pay. Pre-ordering means staff can view the menu in their own time, choose their food and drink, opt for a collection time and pay – all via an app.
  2. Really know your customers: The transactional data you will collect will mean you genuinely get to know your customers. What they like to eat, what time they like to pick their food up, their drink preferences, allergies, dietary requirements – the list goes on.
  3. Tailoring promotions: With this knowledge, you can roll out very tailored promotions that will appeal directly to your customers. This can lead to increased revenue, higher footfall during quieter periods and increased sales of specific products.
  4. Less food waste: Pre-ordering means you have as near to 100% certainty as you’ll ever have on what customers are going to order before they even step foot in the door. This means food can be prepped according to the orders coming in, reducing food waste in line with your corporate social responsibility strategy and helping streamline food purchasing too.
  5. Delivery direct to desks: Staff can come to the dining area to collect their orders but equally you can get more creative. Pop-up collection points could be created throughout the office and even delivery direct to desks can be offered.
  6. Flexible payment options: Users can link multiple payment cards to an app, meaning they have flexible choices about how they pay. This also completely removes the need to carry a wallet.
  7. Loyalty talks: Loyalty programmes can be implemented via the app. For example, if you were running a coffee promotion where for every 10 coffees you get one free, these points can be recorded on the app and then rewarded when the total is reached. Loyalty programmes can be completely tailored to your customers, helping to encourage repeat purchase and further increase revenue.
  8. Remove cash on-site: If all payments are made online or via an app, there will be no need to have cash on-site, creating a safer, less risky environment.
  9. Allergy control: Allergy control is high on the agenda, particularly following the introduction of Natasha’s Law. When customers are ordering online, they can view full menus complete with ingredient and allergen information for each product. Furthermore, it’s possible for only the ‘allergen safe’ menu options to show for each individual user – so for example, someone with a peanut allergy will only be shown menu options that don’t contain peanuts.
  10. Speed and ease: Digitising the ordering and payment process means the experience is quick and easy for the end-user. Gone are the days consumers have to go into a café and find their favourite lunch item is sold out. It’s all done at their leisure and collected at a time that suits them.

To find out more about the mySYSTOPIA app or how we can help your workplace hospitality operation thrive email us on info@systopia.co.uk