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Damson restaurants says majority of bookings now made online, not over the phone
An acclaimed North West restaurateur claims that over half of his bookings now arrive online through his website and believes the trend will continue to grow in 2015.
Steve Pilling, Managing Director of Damson, the award-winning independent restaurant has a thriving business across Greater Manchester with restaurants in both MediaCityUK and Stockport.
At the end of last year, the company commissioned new web studio experts Nettl to carry out a complete overhaul of the company’s website in response to changes in customer booking habits.
“It was only a year ago that we were still getting the majority of our bookings over the phone but we have seen a radical shift in customers’ behaviour in the past nine months. There is much more confidence in booking online, especially with the increased use of smartphones to view web content” explains Pilling. “The website is now a truly integral part of our business. Most of our marketing is designed to direct people there and we have a platform from which we can grow and evolve, including the potential for event bookings and bespoke gift voucher purchases.”
Nettl is a cross-media design studio franchise, the evolution of sister brand, printing.com with head office in Trafford Park, Manchester. It offers a complete marketing strategy across branding, web design and online media and website services in the UK. The brief from Damson was to create a more visual, engaging website which included an easy to use booking system, SEO consideration and full integration with social media so that staff could easily update all digital platforms at the same time. With more than half of all web visits in the UK now taking place from a mobile device*, the new website also had to be fully optimised for mobile and tablet use.
The new website launched last year and as a result, Pilling says that online bookings have already seen an incredible boost and now account for over 50% of all reservations. The number of hits to the website has also doubled in this short space of time and the business has seen even further sales growth which bosses say they are in no doubt is attributed to the impact of the new website.
So why isn’t everyone doing this? Nettl Chief Technology Officer, Peter Gunning, says it’s often a case of perceived priorities, combined with confusion about where to begin: “Since launching Nettl last year we’ve lost count of the number of times new clients have told us they have been meaning to sort out their website for ages.
“It’s a familiar story but with the rapid growth of ecommerce, websites are one of the most crucial assets for any business. As consumers become more savvy, convenience and ease of use becomes critical – if you can’t make a restaurant reservation within a couple of swipes on your phone while sitting on the bus you’ll move on, it’s as simple as that.”
Pilling concludes that the priority for Damson now is to ensure the website is constantly maintained and updated, keeping consumers engaged and ensuring Damson is front of mind: “We have exciting expansion plans for Damson with new sites in the pipeline this year so our objective is to make sure our online presence reflects the exciting evolution of the brand offline.”
NETTL’s TOP 5 TIPS FOR SUCCEEDING IN A MULTI-CHANNEL WORLD:
1. Don’t be scared of change – it’s what keeps business alive
2. Embrace new technologies instead of shying away from them – they’re not going anywhere and the only one who’ll suffer is you
3. Make sure all marketing and online activity is closely aligned to the brand – don’t deviate and at every junction ask yourself if this fits with your brand’s ethos and core message
4. Keep it simple – there’s a perception that going digital is complex but with help from the experts you can keep your online presence clean, concise and easy to use
5. Listen to your team on the floor – they are your front line assets and probably know more about your customer’s daily needs than you do!
Visit www.nettl.com for more information. In a bid to help small businesses and entrepreneurs get started, Nettl is currently offering £500 grants and a free consultation to restaurants and cafes hoping to make the move online or revamp an existing website that is in need of some attention.
