Shopify for restaurants
Introduction
Ever since the COVID-19 pandemic started, consumers have begun prioritising hygiene over their food preferences more than ever. As a result, many consumers stopped eating out at restaurants.
In Hong Kong SAR, restaurants can operate only within a particular time based depending on which operating mode the business is, where the operating mode is determined by whether staff are vaccinated or not. If the staff are not vaccinated, only 2-4 people can sit at a table, which means that large groups of individuals cannot dine together at many restaurants.
Such social measures caused a severe loss in the food and beverages industry businesses, forcing many restaurants to shut down permanently.
One way to increase restaurants’ turnovers, particularly during emergencies such as pandemics, is to set up a system for pickup and delivery. This system will allow customers to:
- find your restaurant easily;
- select their preferred method of food collection;
Foodpanda and UberEats
Although platforms such as Foodpanda and UberEats allow restaurant owners to sign up and sell online, they take a huge commission for each order. In addition to a 30% commission, they also have higher delivery fees resulting in a higher cost for consumers.
Why Shopify?
Shopify allows merchants to integrate third-party applications that help customise their stores for specific needs and supports the following functionalities:
Pick up + Delivery
During the COVID-19 pandemic, customers prefer to receive their orders without having to interact with the delivery person.
Shopify provides customers with the option to select whether they would like to pick up their orders in person or get them delivered to their door at the checkout. Restaurants with multiple locations can also allow customers to select which branch they would like to pick up their orders.
Gifting
During festive seasons, people love gifting food to their loved ones. For instance, there is a massive spike in the sale of mooncakes in September for the Mid-Autumn Festival and in chocolates, cakes, and confectionaries in February & December for Valentines’ Day and Christmas. Having an online store makes it easier for customers to purchase and deliver food as gifts directly to their loved ones and enables them to select options such as gift wrapping.
Tipping
On top of an all-in-one robust solution for food and beverage businesses, Shopify allows merchants to set up tipping options upon checkout. This feature lets customers show appreciation by adding a tip to their order at checkout.
Live Chat
Integrating a live chat to your restaurant’s online store will enhance customer experience by providing automated answers regarding frequently asked questions, such as whether certain products are vegan or gluten-free.
Localisation
Shopify also lets merchants set up their stores in multiple languages. This lets store owners reach a more extensive customer base and provide a better user experience, which results in higher conversion. For example, Rosewood Hong Kong’s online store is available in English, Simplified Chinese, and Traditional Chinese.
Recipes
Shopify lets merchants create multiple blogs as part of their store. This feature can be helpful for food & beverages businesses selling groceries online, as they can provide users with different recipes to follow using ingredients that the merchant sells.
Furthermore, we can add functionality for you with additional customisation to let customers directly add ingredients to the cart from the recipe page. This functionality enhances user experience as users do not have to leave the page to add any ingredients to their carts.
For example, Feather & Bone has a separate blog for recipes with a sidebar that contains:
- a General Info section that provides users with information related to the recipe, such as the type of meal, number of servings, and the time taken to make the meal;
- An Ingredients section that lists all the ingredients used in the recipe, categorised into Main ingredients and Seasonings, each with an Add to cart button that lets users instantly add the ingredient to their carts.
Events
Many foods and beverages businesses host private parties for New Year’s Eve, Halloween, and Diwali celebrations. Having a Shopify store lets you sell tickets to events online without creating a different platform just for those events.
Classes
Many foods and beverages businesses also conduct cooking or baking classes. For instance, Ritz-Carlton conducts a mixology class at their bar, Ozone, whereas Rosewood Hong Kong conducts a cocktail class at their bar DarkSide.
Rosewood Hong Kong provides users with the opportunity to purchase classes directly from their Shopify store.
Food & Beverages Businesses on Shopify
Here are some Food & Beverages businesses using Shopify:
Looking for Shopify Experts?
Our team in Hong Kong is here to support you with your Shopify project. If you are interested in enhancing your eCommerce store or migrating to Shopify, feel free to reach us at info@expertime.com.
