Restaurant online orders come from a menu people can use on a phone, a checkout that takes a minute, and a channel you control. This guide covers nine changes that raise online orders, for restaurant owners on WordPress who want to do the work without a developer.
Why online orders deserve their own plan
Customers now expect to browse your menu, customize a meal and pay from a phone or laptop without calling. If your site does not offer that, or offers a clumsy version of it, they order elsewhere.
Online ordering is a revenue channel, not an extra. Customers also tend to spend more when they can read the menu at their own pace instead of ordering over the phone.
Strategy 1: Make the online menu easy to order from
The online menu is the storefront. A PDF on the site is not enough. The menu should be:
– Interactive: customers can click an item, customize it and add it to the cart
– Visual: good photos of the dishes you most want to sell
– Organized: clear categories and a logical order
– Mobile-friendly: readable and tappable on a small screen
Write short descriptions that say what the dish is. “Slow-braised lamb over jasmine rice with a garden salad” tells a customer more than “served with rice and salad”, and it takes a minute to write.
Strategy 2: Own your ordering channel
Third-party delivery apps charge a commission on every order, which eats into margin. Building ordering on your own website keeps more of each sale, gives you control of the experience and leaves you with the customer data.
On WordPress this is simpler than it sounds. FoodMaster, a dedicated restaurant ordering system, sets up an ordering page on your existing site without hiring a developer. Customers browse the menu, customize their order, choose delivery or pickup and pay without leaving your website.
That keeps customers coming back to you rather than defaulting to an app.
Strategy 3: Shorten the checkout
Every extra step between the cart and the order is a chance for the customer to leave. A short checkout has:
– Few fields: name, phone, address, payment
– Guest checkout, so nobody has to create an account first
– Several payment methods: card, digital wallets, cash on delivery
– Clear delivery time estimates
– The order summary visible before the customer confirms
A food ordering system built for WordPress handles most of this already. FoodMaster uses WooCommerce payment gateways and checkout, so you are not building a payment flow from scratch.
Strategy 4: Use upselling and cross-selling
Online orders can outperform phone orders here, because the suggestion appears at the moment the customer is deciding.
When someone adds a burger to the cart, offer a side or a drink with it. Tactics that work:
– Combo deals at the top of the menu
– Add-on suggestions when an item goes into the cart
– “Popular with this item” pairings
– Minimum order incentives, such as free delivery above a set amount
Keep it to one or two suggestions. A well-timed offer reads as service; a wall of pop-ups reads as spam.
Strategy 5: Get the local search basics right
People searching for your cuisine near them are ready to order. To show up:
– Google Business Profile: current menu, hours, photos and a direct link to your ordering page
– Consistent NAP: the same name, address and phone number on every listing
– Reviews: ask satisfied customers for Google reviews and reply to them, positive or negative
– Local keywords on your site: city, neighborhood and cuisine type
– Schema markup: restaurant schema so Google knows what you offer
Someone who finds you on Google and lands on a site that orders smoothly is a customer a competitor did not get.
Strategy 6: Use email and SMS for repeat orders
Getting an existing customer to order again is cheaper than finding a new one. Email and SMS are the tools for it, and if you own the ordering platform you have the customer list.
Campaigns that work:
– Welcome email with an offer on the first online order
– Weekly specials sent before the weekend
– Birthday offers
– Re-engagement messages to customers who have not ordered in a while
– New menu announcements to regulars first
Keep them short: a photo, a line of text and an order button.
Strategy 7: Offer delivery and pickup
Some customers want delivery, others would rather collect. Give them the choice.
A flexible ordering system lets customers:
– Choose delivery or pickup at the start
– See different menus or prices for each option where needed
– Pick a pickup time or delivery window
– Follow the order status
FoodMaster lets you set delivery zones, a minimum order per zone and pickup scheduling from the WordPress dashboard, so you are not turning away customers who fall outside a single fixed model.
Strategy 8: Promote the ordering page everywhere
Many restaurants set up online ordering and then barely mention it. Customers cannot use what they do not know about.
– In-store: table tents, counter cards, receipt messages
– Social media: ordering link pinned at the top of your profiles and shared in stories
– Google Business Profile: an “Order Online” button linking to your site
– Packaging inserts: a card in every bag inviting customers to order direct next time
– Your phone message: mention online ordering when the line is busy
Each of these moves orders from a third-party platform to your own site.
Strategy 9: Track the numbers and adjust
Watch these and change one thing at a time:
– Popular items: what sells and what sits
– Peak order times: for staffing and timed promotions
– Cart abandonment: where customers drop out
– Average order value: whether the upselling is being taken
– Customer frequency: how often regulars order
If you run ordering through WordPress and WooCommerce, you have reporting built in. Add Google Analytics and you can see which pages and steps lose people.
If your restaurant site runs on WordPress and has no ordering system yet, that is the first thing to fix. FoodMaster takes orders directly through your site, with no middleman fees and no complicated setup.