Technology and the mobile food industry work hand in hand with each other. As technology improves, food trucks have been given more tools to build their mobile businesses. Take out has long been a big part of the restaurant industry, so it’s no surprise that more food trucks are taking advantage of this profit center. Because technology usage among the millennials are rising adding a mobile ordering system to your food truck is an important topic to start thinking about. Before you implement a mobile ordering system to your mobile food business, here are a few thoughts to consider.

What To Consider Before Adding A Mobile Ordering System:

How Will It Affect Operations

One of the biggest concerns a food truck has to look at when deciding if a mobile ordering system is for them is how it affects their operations. While you may now get additional orders, how will these orders affect your walk up customers?

Food trucks are very limited in the amount of inventory that can be stored on-board. Will these additional orders require you to 86 items before the customers you have waiting in line even get to your window? How will the customers who have to wait in line feel as they see people walking up and picking up an order before them? Will these mobile orders cause longer wait times for other customers? How will you maintain the quality of the food that has been ordered, but not picked up 30 minutes later?

Study The Technology

Before you simply sign on with any mobile ordering provider, know what is in store for your food truck since not all of the apps have been created equal. Some are built with cost in mind but these usually could come with a variety of limitations. Others have been designed with large restaurant chains in mind, these usually integrate with an existing POS. You need to understand all of your options before you make your decision.

Does It Work With Your POS

For those that have already have a POS system, the mobile ordering technology must integrate with that system. Your POS is already helps with processing of orders and keeping track of your inventory.  A  system that doesn’t integrate with your POS will create a ton of logistical challenges.

RELATED: 5 Things to Consider When Looking at Point of Sale Systems

Devote the Necessary Internal Resources

It’s understandable that your food truck stretches its staffing for efficiency purposes. But unless you devote certain staff members to mobile orders you risk having your mobile ordering system underserving your truck and possibly eliminating its ROI. Takeout through mobile ordering is usually highly profitable, but not if you don’t have the staff to keep up with the orders.

Keep An Eye On The Results

It’s important to measure your results. Analyze key metrics to understand how your food truck adjusts to this data to maximize your revenue streams. After all, you want your new mobile ordering system to provide what your takeout customers want but not at the expense of bad customer experience. As you analyze your results and make adjustments, you create many more happy customers. And when they are happier, your food truck business will thrive.

The Bottom Line

Use these points to help you determine if a mobile ordering system is a good idea for your food truck business.

Have you implemented a mobile ordering system in your food truck? How has it worked for you? We’d love to hear your thoughts and any additional suggestions you have. Share them in the comment section, our food truck forum or social media. Facebook | Twitter.