Your Own Website
Your restaurant website is one of the best sources of customer orders. If you have not linked your website to your order page, you are missing out on the potential for significant simple order volume. We note a significant difference between the order volume of restaurants who link to their order page from their website, and those who don't.
How to Link To Your Order Page
There are several ways you can link to your order page from your website depending on whether you design and manage it yourself (for example via WIX) or if you have a partner who designs and manages your site. Some restaurants include a simple link in their menu for online ordering, others use a custom button that fits their website and theme to link to their online ordering page. If you choose, we also provide a "Powered By Dine Local" button you can use on your site to make it clear that your customers are being sent to a different site for ordering. You can use the image below for that purpose:
In all cases, you will need to use the URL we provided you for your direct order page (single locations) or brand order page (multi-location). If you're unsure of the link for your restaurant or brand, please contact us and we can help.
Which Providers to Link To
While some restaurants will choose to link all of their delivery / ordering partners including the "big" delivery apps, we generally recommend only linking to Dine Local as we offer your customers the only service that does not charge any service fees or price markups.
If you are not yet charging a surcharge on menu pricing on your orders coming from the major delivery providers, you should consider doing that as soon as possible. Almost all restaurants are now charging at least a 30% markup on their pricing through the major apps to compensate for the high commission and return costs. One of the things that is promised from the major providers is their broad reach and marketing that they pay for which should drive order traffic, however they do not share customer information with you at any time and you have limited recourse to order issues raised by their customers.
What has become very clear in the Canadian market is that the customers of the big delivery apps are actually their customers and not yours. They will not leave the app to order from you if you leave the app. They have loyalty only to the delivery app itself. Given that the app is the one that reaps the long-term benefits from the customer, there is limited benefit to you to offer your regular pricing and eating the high costs that these platforms charge.
If you are charging a surcharge, there is no reason to link your customers to the big apps since you know the cost to the customer will be higher (markups, service fees etc) if they go there. Instead, only link to your Dine Local order page where your customers remain your customers, and where you can be confident that your customers will not pay more for the privilege of online ordering.
Support and Linking
If you manage your own website, Dine Local can help you add the linking to your site if you provide us access and authorization to do so.
If you're interested in adding links to your website, please contact us and we'd be happy to discuss your needs!
Examples
Below are some screen shot examples of how other restaurants link to their order page from their websites:
Scorecard Harry's - Port Dalhousie
Angelina's Pizza - Welland
Kully's - St. Catharines
The Pizzeria - Niagara Falls
The Office - St. Catharines
https://www.theofficeonjames.ca/
Budapest Bakeshop - NOTL and St. Catharines
https://www.budapestbakeshop.com/order
Patio Andaluz - Port Dalhousie
https://www.patio-andaluz.com/
Parkway Social - St. Catharines
https://www.parkwaysocial.ca/eat-and-drink
Ostin's Restaurant - St. Catharines
Manhattan's Bar & Grill - St. Catharines
Stromboli's Pizza - St. Catharines
https://strombolispizzaltd.ca/
Big Marco's Italian Restaurant - St. Catharines
Pizza Jerry's - St. Catharines
https://www.pizzajerrys.com/menu
Il Gelato Di Carlotta - NOTL, Niagara Falls, and Oakville
