Finding a suitable software provider for a food franchise is not an easy task. You need to consider the needs of a small restaurant and the entire chain! This includes numerous orders, branding requirements, tracking your inventory, and much more. 

In this article, we are going to help you out! Let’s get into some of the essential features your software should provide for your ordering system to work seamlessly and surprise your customers with excellent service! 

1.- Seamless Interface

One of the most significant essential features for a food franchise is an aesthetic and visually pleasant interface. The look and feel of the ordering platform, as well as the ease of navigation, is what will determine your success as a franchise. 

Customers build an opinion on a web page within the first 3 seconds! The website and ordering application of a food franchise should feature captivating visuals, high-quality photos and videos,  promotional banners, and the possibility to quickly sign up for a newsletter or a membership using social media. 

Before choosing a provider, you should revisit your marketing and branding strategy and consider what custom features you will need to bring it to life. The program can fully visualize what you have in mind for your brand through the application. 

2.- Order Management System

With a very high number of orders,  a good order management system is essential when keeping track of customer data, costs, inventory, and maintaining the quality of customer service. A good order management system and delivery dashboard will ensure that not a single order is going to be missed or delivered incorrectly. 

This is the number one feature to look out for since an order management system also helps collect data on customers' preferences, favorite dishes, and general spending patterns.  

A good order management system will ensure that the restaurants will not overspend on inventory or have too little staff. The tracking system provides control of the operation and indicates any improvements that can be made to increase efficiency and quality of service. 

3.- Real-time tracking and notifications

Another crucial feature to consider is the use of geolocation. When ordering online, customers want to be sure that they can track their order in real-time and be notified about their order's progress.  

In the customer's eyes, this feature promotes the app's reliability and increases the quality of service.  The accurate time tracking makes the ordering process more interactive, keeping the customer engaged at all times and allowing them to be a part of the journey. 

Platforms such as Ordering include easy-to-use delivery dashboards for administrators, which allows for the real-time tracking of every order and driver not only for customers but also for the restaurant itself. This is particularly useful for a food franchise that deals with numerous orders simultaneously and wants to increase control of its operations and efficiency.  

4.- Payment options

Undoubtedly, a food franchise deals with many international customers with various requirements and habits. Before choosing a software provider,  the food franchise should conduct thorough research and determine which payment methods warp in specific locations.  

Providers such as ordering are very flexible when it comes to payment methods. Aside from using widespread integration such as Stripe and PayPal, they also make it possible to add a fully customized payment option of your choice. 

Having a wide variety of payment methods will make a food franchise competitive with third-party platforms such as Uber Eats or DoorDash. Since those platforms usually only focus on credit card payments, this is a customer experience gap that can be filled by a franchise that offers additional payment options.  

5.- Speed

With the short attention span of customers nowadays, the speed of a food ordering platform is one of the essential features.  The loading time should be reduced to the minimum, mainly as a food franchise deals with multiple orders.  In this case, having a very reliable server such as Amazon Web Services is essential. 

The platform's speed concerns the loading time and the time it takes to complete an order. The number of pages that the customer needs to go through to complete their check-out should also be considered.

The ordering software should be easy to navigate and have a very low number of steps for a visitor to complete their payment.

If you're looking for an excellent software provider for your food franchise, do not hesitate to contact Ordering! Their team can set up everything in less than a week, and a designated enterprise specialist will guide you through the entire process and give you advice on any possible questions.

Additionally, everything is fully customizable to suit your company's most demanding requirements.