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BEGINNER’S to ONLINE GUIDEORDERING Are you nervous about adding online ordering? Keep these eight tips in mind to get started, and it will be easier than you think. By Liz Barrett

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ccording to the 2016 PMQ Pizza Power Report, digital ordering for restaurants is growing 300% faster than dine-in traffic, and 60% of customers say that ordering delivery or carryout via a smartphone app is easier than calling a restaurant. It’s getting more and more difficult for independent operators to ignore the public’s demand for online ordering. “As pizzeria operators, we all know the technology need is there,” admits Matt McClellan, owner of Tour de Pizza in St. Petersburg, Florida, and a brand-new adopter of online ordering. “I have an old-school philosophy, and I don’t like change; I entered into online ordering with a lot of fear and hesitation.” The fear isn’t necessarily unwarranted in some cases. Jonathan Schroeter, director of operations at Il Primo Pizza & Wings, with six locations throughout southwest Florida, says that before finding the ChowNow platform he’s been using since 2014, he initially worked with an online ordering company that caused a lot of frustration. “I pulled the plug and took a loss as opposed to introducing my customers to a sloppy platform,” Schroeter says. “The process with ChowNow was very simple.” March 2016 pmq.com

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