POPMENU INDUSTRY REPORT
6 Things Diners Wish Restaurant Owners Knew About Online Ordering
During a seemingly endless pandemic, consumers developed a healthy and sustained appetite for online food ordering — along with higher expectations around speed, efficiency, and ease of use. (They want their pizza and they want it pronto!)
Tolerance for clunky online ordering experiences, especially on mobile devices, has declined…a lot. Half (49%) of consumers say they will move on and order from a different restaurant if they encounter a PDF menu on a mobile device — up from 30% two years ago. And that’s just for starters.
To help restaurants navigate digital demands and capture more sales, Popmenu surveyed1,000 U.S. consumers in 2023. The result: six insights into how positive the online ordering experience is for guests — and how lucrative it is for the business.
The Findings
What 1,000 Diners Told Us
Popmenu surveyed 1,000 U.S. consumers about how they order online. Six insights rose to the top — here’s what they mean for your restaurant, starting with the numbers that surprised us most.
prefer ordering from a restaurant’s own website
typically place online orders on a mobile device
will move on if they hit a PDF menu on mobile
leave for another restaurant if they can’t order online at all
They want to order directly from the source.
While third-party marketplaces provide a wide range of dining options, consumers are keenly aware of the higher commission fees from third parties and the benefits of ordering directly from local eateries. Three in four (76%) prefer ordering from a restaurant’s own website.
PopTip:Keep as many orders on your website as you can. The more you maintain direct interactions with guests, the more you can control the guest experience — and the more data you can capture to remarket to them for future business.
Do you prefer to order from a restaurant’s website or a third-party delivery app?
Third-party app
Restaurant’s website
Many want to order more than food…on the rocks.
In addition to feeding their appetites, online guests are looking to quench their thirsts: 67% of consumers are more likely to order from or visit a restaurant if they can see the beverage menu online. That includes soft drinks and spirits of all varieties (we’re looking at you, Margarita, and your buddy, Mai Tai).
There’s a nice profit margin on alcohol and, when you mix alcohol to-go with direct ordering, that gives you the perfect profit cocktail (see what we did there?).
PopTip:Put your full beverage menu online — cocktails, wine, beer, and non-alcoholic options included. Guests who can browse drinks before they arrive tend to spend more, and it’s a high-margin upsell you’re otherwise leaving on the table.
are more likely to order from or visit a restaurant if they can see the beverage menu online
PDF = DOA.
The majority (87%) of consumers typically place online orders with a mobile device and, as noted, half of them will order elsewhere if they encounter a PDF menu. PDFs can be hard to view on a desktop, let alone a hand-held device where you have to pinch and zoom. Plus, they do little to help your website traffic.
PopTip:Make your menus interactive and scrollable to help diners discover their next favorite. A good restaurant tech provider sets up your menu so each dish is its own page for search engines like Google. So when someone searches “seafood near me” or “best tacos in town,” there’s more for Google to surface — helping you rank higher and drive more traffic back to your site…for free.
Do you typically order food on your desktop or a mobile device?
Desktop
Mobile device
Consumers who abandon a restaurant over a PDF menu on mobile:
- 202130%
- 202349%
No photos, no reviews, no service.
Aside from hard-to-read menus, no pictures of food and no reviews of the restaurant or specific dishes are among the biggest pet peeves for consumers ordering online. This is a sensuous business — it’s all about sight, smell, taste, and ambiance. So why convey that through static text that doesn’t showcase the burger of their dreams? And why rely on third-party sites to collect reviews instead of receiving them directly, where you control what’s posted?
PopTip:Dishes with photos receive twice as many orders and four times as many reviews. Where possible, include a photo of every dish on your website to boost your chances of converting traffic into paying customers — and give guests a way to submit feedback online so you can share rave reviews on your own site.
Why photos pay off
more orders for dishes that have a photo
more reviews for dishes that have a photo
A bad online ordering experience (or none at all) will cost you.
Also topping the list of pet peeves: having to call the restaurant because there’s no online ordering on the website. Not only do consumers get annoyed — 56% say they’ll immediately move on to another restaurant (they’re “hangry” and they don’t want to talk to a human!). That’s up from 40% in 2021. Even with a merely poor experience you’ll get some takers, but 42% of consumers say they’ll order somewhere else instead, and another 23% will order but probably won’t come back anytime soon.
PopTip:Providing a great online ordering experience doesn’t have to cost a lot of money and can be implemented quickly. Plus, you get all the juicy insights on guest preferences and ordering behavior — the kind that encourage repeat transactions and that you don’t get from on-premise dining.
If a restaurant has no option to order carryout/delivery online:
Call the restaurant
Move on to another restaurant
They’ll pay online ordering fees…within reason.
Living in a largely digital world, consumers have grown accustomed to processing fees on online transactions — restaurants included. The key is everything in moderation. Fees that jack prices up 30% won’t fly, but two-thirds of consumers say they’re willing to pay at least $1, and 39% will pay $2 to $4.
PopTip:Whether you process orders on your own website or work with a third party, know how much the transaction ultimately costs guests (and you) so you can decide where it’s appropriate to absorb the cost or split a portion of it.
The Bottom Line
Make Ordering Effortless, and Guests Keep Coming Back
The takeaway is simple: diners reward restaurants that make ordering direct, easy, visual, and mobile-first — and quietly walk away from the ones that don’t. Every friction point you remove — a PDF menu swapped for an interactive one, a phone call replaced by a tap, a photo added to a dish — is an order you keep on your own website and a guest you’re set up to bring back. Meet those expectations and online ordering stops being a cost of doing business and becomes one of your most profitable, data-rich growth channels.
