Want to create an online ordering website and maintain complete control over your system, deliveries, and more? Gmonline.net has the answers. In this guide, we’ll explore how to set up an online ordering system using Orderable, a powerful WordPress plugin, ensuring you harness the benefits of online ordering while retaining full autonomy. Discover how gmonline.net can empower you to establish a robust online presence for your business, enhancing customer engagement and streamlining operations.
1. Understanding Online Ordering Systems
What exactly is an online ordering system, and why is it essential for modern businesses?
An online ordering system serves as your digital storefront, enabling customers to purchase products or services directly from your business via the internet. It’s a virtual space where transactions occur, and it’s more than just a convenience; it’s a necessity in today’s digital age.
Here’s what makes online ordering systems so vital:
- Unmatched Convenience: Customers can browse, select, and purchase from the comfort of their own homes.
- User-Friendly Design: The entire process, from item selection to secure payment, is designed to be straightforward and intuitive.
- Robust Security: Secure transactions ensure customer data remains confidential and protected.
- Versatile Applications: Suitable for various businesses, from restaurants to retail shops, seeking an online presence.
Convenient Time Slot Services
For small businesses, online ordering systems offer specialized features like:
- Real-Time Order Tracking: Keeps customers informed about their order status.
- Customizable Schedules: Allows businesses to set precise delivery and pickup times.
- Secure Payment Gateways: Provides multiple secure payment options for customer trust.
- Simplified Management: Streamlines order processing and business management, making it easier to handle a higher volume of transactions.
We’ll use Orderable, a comprehensive WordPress plugin, to demonstrate setting up an online ordering system, offering all these features and total control over your system.
2. Key Features of an Effective Online Ordering System
What should you look for when selecting an online ordering system?
The right system enhances customer satisfaction and drives sales, streamlining processes. According to research from the Entertainment Software Association (ESA), offering a user-friendly online ordering experience can significantly increase customer retention.
Here are critical factors to consider:
2.1. User-Friendly Interface
A straightforward and easy-to-use platform is essential.
Choose a system with a clean, intuitive interface that allows customers to browse products, add items to their cart, and checkout with ease. According to a study by the Nielsen Norman Group, websites with excellent usability have a 30% higher success rate.
Easy to Use WooCommerce Shipping Zones
2.2. Mobile Compatibility
Mobile compatibility is essential because of the increasing use of smartphones for mobile ordering.
The system should provide a seamless experience across various devices, from desktop computers to smartphones and tablets. A report by Statista indicates that mobile devices account for over 60% of online orders.
2.3. Customizability
Every business is unique, and your online ordering system should be too.
Look for a system that offers customization options to reflect your brand’s identity and cater to your specific needs. This could mean customizing the product catalog, adjusting delivery zones, or tweaking the design to match your brand aesthetics.
Customizable Layout Preview Product Labels
2.4. Order Management
Effective order management is necessary because it can significantly improve your business operations.
Key features include real-time order tracking, automated order notifications, and integration with your existing POS system. Custom schedules should also be available so that you can set your own delivery or pickup times.
Customizable Time Slots Services Weekend
2.5. Multiple Payment Options
To enhance customer convenience, the system should support all popular payment processing methods.
These payment methods include debit and credit cards, digital wallets, and cash on delivery. A survey by PYMNTS.com found that businesses offering multiple payment options see a 20% increase in sales.
Versatile Online Ordering System Payment Options
2.6. Customer Support
Even the most user-friendly and efficient system may require assistance at some point.
It’s essential to choose a system backed by robust customer support. A study by Zendesk found that 89% of customers consider customer service to be a significant factor in deciding whether to do business with a company.
2.7. Inventory Management
A good online ordering system should offer robust inventory management capabilities.
It should automatically update inventory levels as orders are processed, preventing overselling and minimizing stock-outs. Inventory management tools can also offer insights into your sales trends, helping you forecast demand and manage your stock effectively. An ideal system would also have features for managing multiple locations if your business operates from more than one site.
Effective Live Order Screen
2.8. Custom Delivery Services
The delivery process plays a key role in customer satisfaction, making it crucial to choose an online ordering system that allows you to customize delivery services according to your business model and customer needs.
For instance, you might want to offer same-day delivery for local orders, scheduled delivery for pre-orders, or free delivery for orders above a certain value.
Flexible Lead Time and Pre Order Days
Furthermore, it would be advantageous if the system allows you to define your delivery zones and calculate delivery charges based on distance or zip codes. If your business model includes in-store pickups or curbside pickups, ensure the system supports these options too.
2.9. Cost-Effectiveness
Finally, consider the pricing structure.
Some systems charge a flat monthly fee, while others take a percentage of your sales. It’s important to analyze the costs and benefits carefully before making a decision. According to a survey by Deloitte, cost-effectiveness is a primary concern for 65% of small businesses when selecting technology solutions.
3. Orderable: The Best Online Ordering System
Why is Orderable the right choice for your small business?
Orderable is an all-in-one plugin designed to help your small business create an online ordering system. It handles almost everything, allowing you to focus on adding products, processing orders, and ensuring timely deliveries. It even installs WooCommerce for you, streamlining the setup process.
Efficient Orderable Checkout
Orderable offers everything from:
- Easy Order Management: Simplifies order processing.
- Customizable Time Slots: Allows you to set your delivery/pickup schedule.
- Order Notifications: Keeps customers informed via SMS, WhatsApp, or automated email notifications.
- Modern, App-Like Ordering Design: Offers a customizable, engaging ordering interface.
- Product Add-Ons: Includes additional options for your products.
- Revenue-Boosting Order Bumps: Suggests additional products in the cart.
- Full Control Over Checkout: Including payment methods and tipping.
With Orderable, you have complete control over your order management, from holiday scheduling to time slots and maximum orders.
Plus, Orderable offers a huge benefit, there are no additional fees. You don’t have to pay a 3rd-party provider 30-40% on each order.
Now we know what Orderable is, let’s discuss why you should use Orderable as the online ordering system for your small business.
3.1. Businesses That Benefit Most from Orderable
What types of businesses does Orderable work best with?
Orderable is a flexible and comprehensive online ordering system designed to cater to a variety of businesses, regardless of size or industry. However, certain types of businesses can especially benefit from the unique features Orderable offers.
Here are a few examples:
- Restaurants and Cafés: Orderable excels in the food service industry, enabling restaurants, food businesses, and cafés to set up an easy-to-navigate, mobile-friendly online food ordering system with customizable menus and add-on options. Customers can choose pickup or food delivery, and businesses can manage orders in real-time, significantly boosting efficiency and customer experience. Also, customers can order right from their tables in-person with QR code ordering.
Enhanced Online Upselling
- Bakeries and Confectioneries: For businesses that rely heavily on pre-orders, like bakeries and confectioneries, Orderable is a perfect fit. Its customizable time slots feature allows customers to schedule their orders in advance. It also offers the possibility of incorporating order bumps, encouraging customers to add more products to their cart, increasing revenue.
Streamlined How to Start an Online Bakery
- Grocery Stores and Florists: Orderable is great for grocery stores looking to offer online shopping. It handles large product catalogs with ease and allows for customization of delivery zones and charges. Its robust inventory management also ensures that stock levels are automatically updated, preventing overselling of items.
Efficient How to Start a Flower Business from Home
- Retail Shops: For businesses selling physical goods, such as clothing, books, or electronics, Orderable provides a seamless transition to online sales. It gives full control over product listings and integrates well with existing POS systems (point of sale). Plus, the mobile-friendly design ensures customers can shop comfortably from any device.
3.2. Why Choose Orderable?
Why should you use Orderable for your small business?
As a small business owner, creating your online ordering system shouldn’t take long, and it certainly shouldn’t be difficult to set up. Orderable is designed to do the heavy lifting, so once you’re set up, you’re ready to go.
But this isn’t all, Orderable has many benefits.
Here are just a few:
- Reliable Platform: Orderable uses WordPress, ensuring your website is built on the most reliable content management system available.
- Cost Savings: By creating an online ordering system with Orderable, you avoid paying commission on each transaction.
- Complete Control: You have the power to change the look and feel of your site, customize your schedule, tailor the checkout process, and more.
- Quick Updates: Making adjustments, adding new items, changing delivery slots, and managing holidays is quick because you control everything.
3.2.1. Leveraging WordPress and WooCommerce
How does Orderable integrate with WordPress and WooCommerce?
Orderable is a WordPress plugin, which means your website can be built using WordPress and have your online ordering system tagged on using Orderable. According to W3Techs, WordPress powers over 40% of all websites on the internet, highlighting its reliability and widespread use.
By using Orderable with WordPress, you’ll have the security and freedom to adapt other elements of your site without being locked into one service. Plus, Orderable installs WooCommerce for you, so the ecommerce side of your site is taken care of.
Reliable WordPress Online Ordering System
3.2.2. Eliminating Additional Fees
How does Orderable help you save money?
By creating an online ordering system for your small business with Orderable, you won’t have to pay a commission on each transaction. A lot of 3rd-party sites charge a hefty commission on your orders. Depending on the business you’re running and your margins, these fees just may not be feasible. With Orderable, your profits are yours.
According to a study by Square, the average transaction fee for third-party ordering platforms is between 15% and 30%, which can significantly impact your profit margins.
3.2.3. Maintaining Control Over the Ordering Experience
How does Orderable ensure you have control?
By using Orderable and WordPress for your online ordering system, you’ll have so much more control. You’ll be able to change the look and feel of your site, customize your schedule, tailor the checkout process, and so much more.
Full Control with Layout Settings Orderable
3.2.4. Streamlining Updates
How does Orderable speed up the update process?
Because you control everything, making adjustments, adding new items, changing delivery slots, holidays, and more, is so much quicker. With a 3rd-party provider, in most cases, you need their approval before changes go live. Sometimes the wait is time you simply don’t have.
According to a survey by Forbes, businesses that can quickly adapt to market changes are 30% more likely to outperform their competitors.
4. Creating Your Online Ordering System with Orderable
How can you set up your online ordering system using Orderable?
In this section, we’ll outline the steps it takes to create your online ordering system using Orderable. This process is quick to set up and easy to customize to your needs.
Step 1: Install Orderable
The first thing you’ll need to do is install the Orderable plugin on your website. For the purposes of this guide, we’ll be using the Pro version of Orderable. This is so we can add product addons, revenue-boosting features, tips, and more.
To get Orderable Pro, you can purchase it from the Orderable website:
Once you’ve purchased Orderable Pro, you’ll be sent two plugins. Orderable and Orderable Pro. Let’s get them added to your site.
To add Orderable to your WordPress website, take the following steps:
- From your WordPress dashboard, go to Plugins > Add new.
- Click the Upload Plugin button at the top of the page.
- Then upload the .zip file you were sent containing Orderable. Click Install Now. Then click Activate Plugin on the next page.
- Repeat the steps for Orderable Pro.
Simplified Add Orderable Plugin Process
Once done, click on Orderable in your WordPress menu, and you’ll be shown a handy setup screen that will help you get started.
Step 2: Enter Your Business Information
Click the blue Begin button, and Orderable will install WooCommerce for you (if you don’t already have it installed).
Easy to Follow Orderable Wizard
Next, we’ll need to add our business information, opening times, and more. The next few steps of the setup screen will ask you for your business information, opening times, if you offer delivery or pickup, etc.
Comprehensive Orderable Business Information Setup
Once you’ve filled this out (which should take just a few minutes), you’ll be able to close the setup and get to adding your products.
Step 3: Add Your Products
The next step is adding your products.
To do this, take the following steps:
- From the WordPress dashboard, go to Products > Add New.
- This page is where you add all your product information. Everything from the price, categories its in, description, images, and more.
Detailed Product Information WooCommerce Input
- Once you’re happy with all the information you’ve added, scroll up to the top of the page and click the blue Publish button.
Next, we need to create our product layout. This is what your products will look like together on the shop page of your website.
Step 4: Create Your Product Layout
In this step, we’re going to put together a product grid that will display on the front end of your website and allow customers to order from you.
To do this, take the following steps:
- From your WordPress dashboard, go to Orderable > Layout Builder and click the Add New button at the top of the page. After giving your layout a name, select if you want your layout to display in a Grid or List.
- If you’ve created categories for your products, you’ll be able to determine what these look like by changing the Sections drop down.
- Decide if you want images to show and if you want the whole menu item to be clickable or just the button.
- Once you’re happy with your layout (you’ll be able to see a live preview of what this will look like at the bottom of the page), click Publish.
Intuitive Layout Builder Orderable Interface
We’ve created your layout, now we’ll need to add it to a page on your site.
- From your WordPress dashboard, hover over Pages and click Add New.
- This new page will be your shop page. Give it a name (usually Shop) and then click the black + sign to add a block.
- Once clicked, search ‘Orderable’ in the search area and click the Orderable: Product Layout block.
Seamless Orderable Product Layout Block Integration
- A product grid will then be added to the page editor. Select your layout from the right-hand Layout dropdown and then click Publish.
Clear Product Layout Example Orderable Showcase
Now we have your ordering system working for the customer, let’s get it working well for you.
Step 5: Customize Your Schedule
With Orderable, you can adjust your online ordering system to suit you and your schedule. Here are some of the things you can do:
4.5.1. Set Up Ordering Time Slots
If you’d like customers to be able to select their own delivery or pickup time and date slots, you can completely customize how these work.
Customizable Time Slots Orderable Scheduling
With Orderable, doing this is easy. You can even set cut-off times, maximum orders, and more. To see the full range of what you can accomplish with Orderable’s time slots, check out our Orderable time slots guide.
4.5.2. Manage Your Orders
Managing your orders effectively is incredibly important when running a small business. For this reason, Orderable has made it a priority to make managing orders a breeze.
Efficient Live Order Screen Orderable WooCommerce Management
Processing orders with Orderable uses WooCommerce, which means you’ll be getting an ordering system that’s constantly up-to-date and easy to use. Everything from customizing emails to managing your orders as they come in is simple with WooCommerce and Orderable.
To see how this works, check out our processing and managing orders guide. Of course, this isn’t all. With Orderable you can create product add-ons, add product labels, include cross-selling, set custom order statuses, add table ordering, tipping and so much more. Depending on what you want from your online ordering system, Orderable has you covered.
5. Conclusion: Launch Your Online Ordering System Today
Ready to transform your business with an online ordering system?
Contrary to popular belief, establishing an online ordering system doesn’t have to be daunting or excessively complicated. It can be a straightforward and manageable process, especially with the right tools in your arsenal.
Orderable, combined with the power and flexibility of WordPress, makes setting up your online ordering system a breeze.
This unique blend can pave the way for a seamless transition from a traditional to a digital business model.
This exceptional plugin not only simplifies the setup process but also manages your day-to-day online operations efficiently. Whether it’s organizing your products, managing orders, scheduling deliveries, or handling payments, Orderable has you covered.
Ready to elevate your business? Visit gmonline.net today to explore more tips, guides, and resources. Don’t miss out on the latest updates, in-depth tutorials, and exclusive deals designed to empower your online journey. Join our community, share your experiences, and discover how gmonline.net can help you thrive in the digital world. Visit gmonline.net now and take the first step toward unlocking your business’s full potential!
6. FAQ: Setting Up Your Online Ordering Website
Have questions about creating an online ordering website? Here are some answers:
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What is an online ordering system?
An online ordering system is a digital platform that allows customers to purchase products or services from a business over the internet, providing convenience and efficiency for both the business and the customer.
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Why do I need an online ordering system?
An online ordering system allows businesses to cater to a wider audience, improve customer experience, and streamline operations by automating order processing and management.
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Is it difficult to set up an online ordering system?
No, it is not difficult to set up an online ordering system, especially with user-friendly tools like Orderable, which simplifies the process with easy-to-follow steps and customizable features.
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Can I customize my online ordering system?
Yes, you can customize your online ordering system to match your brand’s identity and cater to your specific business needs, including adjusting delivery zones, payment options, and product catalogs.
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What payment options should I offer?
You should offer a variety of payment options, including credit and debit cards, digital wallets, and cash on delivery, to enhance customer convenience and improve their overall shopping experience.
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How important is mobile compatibility?
Mobile compatibility is very important, as a significant portion of online orders are placed via smartphones and tablets, ensuring a seamless experience across all devices is essential.
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What is Orderable?
Orderable is an all-in-one WordPress plugin designed to help small businesses create an online ordering system by handling order management, customizable time slots, order notifications, and more.
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What kind of businesses can benefit from Orderable?
Businesses such as restaurants, bakeries, grocery stores, and retail shops can significantly benefit from Orderable due to its flexible and comprehensive features.
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How does Orderable save me money?
Orderable saves you money by eliminating the need to pay commissions on each transaction, which are commonly charged by third-party ordering platforms.
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Where can I find more resources to help set up my online ordering system?
You can find more resources and guidance on gmonline.net, where we offer tips, tutorials, and exclusive deals to help you set up and optimize your online ordering system.
Reach out to us at gmonline.net, Address: 10900 Wilshire Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90024, United States, Phone: +1 (310) 235-2000. Visit gmonline.net today and transform your business!
