About Us
Our story is about the evolution of online ordering systems
Where The Inspiration Came From
CloudWaitress was born from the problems faced by numerous small business restaurant and cafe owners. Towards the end of 2015, I (Tarun) had the opportunity to speak with many local restaurants. At the time I had been working for another company that was also in the food service industry selling a different product.
During this period, most restaurant owners were open enough to discuss the problems they were facing. I realised through my conversations with them that one of the biggest trends coming into the food space currently is online ordering. However, all the existing widespread solutions in the market were a nightmare for restaurant and cafe owners.
The Problem With Online Ordering Marketplaces
Currently, the main players in the online ordering space for food service businesses run off a marketplace business model. This means that they provide a platform for you to put your menu online which they often do for you free of charge. They then promote your store through their marketing campaigns in order to generate orders for you. In turn, they take a % based fee and I've heard some people tell me they are paying upwards of 20%.
There are 2 critical problems with the model from the perspective of a small business restaurant owner. Firstly the obvious one is you lose a large amount of your profit from these orders. The restaurant industry is by far one of the most competitive industries out there. As Peter Thiel says in his book about business (youtube video summary) when you enter highly competitive spaces, the profits often get competed away as a result of trying to have an advantage over your competitors. Bankwest an Australian bank published a report on the Australian food service industry which you can find here (pdf download). The report shows how the average profit margin for restaurants in Australia is only around 7-10%. I'm sure its similar for many parts of the world. The fact is small business cafes and restaurants can't afford to lose a massive % of each sale with all the existing costs in place.
That's not it though, the story gets worse. The counter argument to the above point might be that these businesses bring you new customers that you might not have otherwise had. These customers may also end up purchasing something in store next time. From this perspective, paying a % to acquire a new customer seems worth it especially when repeat business is expected. The problem with this is that the reverse situation usually ends up occurring far more. Your regular customers soon realise that they can order online and they end up using it the most because it's more convenient for them. As a result, you end up losing a % on your most valuable customer base.
Then Came Self-Service Online Ordering System
So what's the solution to this problem? That's where self-service online ordering systems come in. These systems are ones that you can set up yourself and either integrate into your existing website or they act as a standalone site (such as CloudWaitress). The benefit of these systems is they are not based on a marketplace model. This means the cost is significantly cheaper usually involving a fixed monthly fee and potentially a setup fee. For restaurants doing many online orders, this is a great solution as you can save significantly and control the experience to align with your branding better.
This is not the first time this happened to an industry. Take online shopping as a whole. When things really began picking up in the early 2000's, marketplaces such as eBay dominated the space as they provided a platform of trust. This is something many people didn't have in the early days when it came to online shopping. Ebay, however took large fees on every order and within a few years, nearly everyone with a serious online business on eBay set up their own online shop using self service systems like BigCommerce and Shopify that just charged a monthly price.
We are a full service digital marketing agency that focuses on results and gaining the highest ROI (Return On Investment) for your business.
Let's Connect
Let's Connect
34 N Frankdin Ave, Ste 687, #2272. Pinedale, Wyoming 82941
+1 (307) 224-4142
2022 Gravity Marketing Agency. All Rights Reserved.