Pizza Today - October 2023 - 57

know when preordering is available
will help guarantee that they get
some of the first slices from a new
pizzeria.
Say, you have an in-demand hot
specialty pizza that sells out faster
than your team can make it. Set it
up for pre-orders only. When you
release it to your loyalty club and
socials, your pizza fans will not only
be able to get the sought-after pizza
first, but they will also know that
you value their time and loyalty to
your pizzeria by adding " exclusivity " .
How will preordering help pizzerias?
*
Sales projections. We see the
operational benefit as the biggest
enticement for pizzerias to offer
preordering. Along with your past
performance stats from your POS
system, tapping into preordering can
allow you to better plan for rushes
and other busy times.
* Guaranteed sales. The customers
who choose to preorder pay in
advance for their pizza order so you
can depend on those sales on any
given day.
* Special events, large groups and
promotions. Another area we see
preordering as widely beneficial is
during special events, large groups
and promotions. Often events can
be considered controlled chaos.
You have an opportunity to harness
preordering to create a controlled
crowd of orders. This also is seen as a
customer service benefit to not have
to wait in long lines. You've seen this
play out successfully in other industries,
like amusement parks' systems
to reserve spots in line for popular
rides and attractions.
* Turning tables faster. Preordering
can help in a dine-in setting,
working similarly to a reservation
system, except once a party enters
the pizzeria and sits down, the wait
time for food is diminished. Their
order can arrive within minutes. I
would recommend limiting dine-in
preorders during predictive peaks
and rushes. Or, managed effectively,
you can designate a portion of your
dine-in seating for preorders.
* Minimize food waste. Depending
on how well your customers
adapt to pre-ordering, you can also
see a significant reduction in food
waste as you're better able to predict
product ordering.
* Competing with third-party.
Preordering can give you an
advantage over third-party delivery
providers. Being able to establish a
predetermined pickup or delivery
time can be an added convenience
for customers. An additional benefit
is that the former third-party
customer is now in your system
with more opportunities to market
specifically to them.
But, like any new technology,
there will be a transitional period
of makeline and oven adjustments
to accommodate the preorders. It
will be similar to the shift when
you added and ramped up online
ordering. Introduce it in key ways
like events, promotions and as a
loyalty-specific benefit to test drive
its application in your operation.
What are the cons of preordering?
There
are a few pitfalls with preorders,
as well. Addressing these two
key areas will increase the success of
your preordering initiative. They are:
Overpromising and under delivering.
If you have not set up preordering
correctly to limit the number
of orders in a specific time slot, you
can run into log jams in the kitchen
which will slow everything down to
a crawl for all orders. Not coordinating
kitchen orders efficiently and
effectively can cause the estimated
times to be delayed. Customers may
be less likely to use the service if
their food is frequently delayed.
Lack of integration. If you go
with a preorder system that does not
integrate with your POS system, it
is at your peril. Using two different
systems for orders can lead to errors
in reentering orders into the POS
system, increase chances of missing
an order and make analyzing sales
more challenging.
Successful Preordering
Examples
Now that I've outlined pros and
cons of preordering, let's look at it in
application.
A Preorder-Only Pizzeria
Moto in Seattle, Washington has a
three-month waitlist on pizza orders.
To control the demand for pizza
in his 500-square-foot pizza shop,
owner Lee Kindell set up a preorder
only operation. Moto receives up
to 250 preorders on a given night.
As he expands, Kindell will open to
walk-ins and same-day ordering. The
preorders have allowed the young
business to grow in a controlled and
predictive manner.
Mobile Pizza Business Preordering
A
Slice of New Jersey in Byram,
New Jersey focuses on public events
and private catering. The output
of this pizza food truck is limited.
Owner Chris Hill devised a plan to
better execute public events through
preordering. He announces the dates
and locations of his public events,
giving his fans the opportunity to
preorder pizza. The initiative is very
effective.
Preordering could help you in the
upcoming holiday season.
DENISE GREER is Executive-Editor of
Pizza Today.
OCTOBER 2023 / PIZZATODAY.COM / 57
http://www.PIZZATODAY.COM
Pizza Today - October 2023

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