Managing a restaurant in 2021 is an entirely new experience. While the pandemic is hopefully coming to a gradual end, we are in an inbetween phase. The good news is that we have learned lessons from 2020 and now have better management tools than ever.
These tools should bring your restaurant into the online age. In this article, we’ll discuss how you can use Wix to create a website with an online ordering system, online reservations, interactive menus, and much more. You don’t need to hire a professional for this, as all the tools are available at a price that suits you. Before we go into the nitty-gritty, let’s define this “new normal” to which we are referring.
Since the beginning of the pandemic, people have been speaking of the “new normal.” This hinges on the idea that human behavior has changed in a permanent way, with society hyper aware of hygiene issues and the dangers of crowds. However, in cities which have largely weathered the crisis and no longer have active cases of COVID-19, normality has been restored fairly quickly.
But that doesn’t mean life is the same as it was before the pandemic, or that it will be the same in the US. On the contrary, while we may immediately forget about our hygiene qualms, we’re still going to rely on the conveniences we got used to while avoiding stores. Businesses are going to continue letting employees work from home, no longer spending thousands renting office buildings.
The restaurant industry is likely to have seen the most permanent changes. More people are going to continue choosing to order in. Perhaps more significantly, people now expect so much more from an online experience.
This is why your restaurant needs to function differently in a post-COVID world. To help you manage your restaurant more effectively in the new normal, here are some tips to consider.
Create a website that is actually functional
Restaurant websites have mostly been lowkey over the past few years. They told their story in a cutesy way, shared the menu, and gave you contact details. However, it is time to move beyond that format and create a website with a lot of functionality.
A great restaurant website today should be able to do everything but make the actual food. It should have an online ordering system for people who want to order in, online reservations for people who want to dine at the restaurant, and an interactive menu that is always kept up to date. Patrons should be able to specify their preferences about where they want to sit and how long they plan on staying.
They should also be able to ask questions without having to pick up the phone. The person in charge of customer care (whether a host or simply whoever answers the phone) may need some training as to how best to respond in text format.
Take time to figure out patron behavior
There is going to be a period in which restaurants are crowded. Many restaurants have closed down permanently, and people are going to want to eat out often after more than a year of limited opportunities. You might feel tempted to let go of some of the lessons you learned during the pandemic, expecting things to remain this way.
However, there is no way of knowing exactly how people will act over the following months. The rush may only last a few weeks, after which you may have to manage a restaurant with plenty of empty seats. Many people may well discover that they actually prefer ordering in most of the time, now that they have the option to go out.
So, when working on your website, do not assume that the order-in option won’t be used that much. Keep your delivery systems running and wait to see what happens.
Keep hygiene measures in place
Even once everyone has been vaccinated, there is a significant proportion of people who will still feel vulnerable. They will want to avoid crowded spaces, or at the least be reassured that everything is cleaned and sanitized between uses.
You may not have to take temperatures or personally administer sanitizer at the doors, but keep up the standards you have placed on table cleanliness. It might be worthwhile to ask your waiters and restaurant staff to continue wearing masks.
Restaurants have always had to cater to fussy patrons. But in the new normal, this type of approach is likely to be far more widespread even among people who are easy-going.
The new normal is unlikely to be totally different from the old normal. However, there are some lessons you need to learn from the pandemic about how to manage your restaurant going forward.
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