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Front page

Cookies for Thought

An O

verview of E-M

arketing and Site Analysis for the R

estaurant Industry

Edition 1December 2011

Welcome to this month’s special digital edition of Cookies for Thought!

We all know that digital is everywhere, Facebook dominates our mobile internet services and Google can proved billions of results on less than one second! How are we supposed to keep up?

Digital can bring tremendous benefits to the restaurant industry if it is used effectively. There’s no reason why you can’t use your website to develop relationships with your diners, show off your seasonal dishes or even launch competitions. You just need to know how to do it, and see some examples of who does it well.

That’s where we come in. Sit back and get comfortable, this is your guide to designing a great, interactive website that will keep your customers clicking and ultimately, walking through your door!

Enjoy!

Cookies for Thought Team

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ContentsContents• Industry Overview•Digital Marketing Mix• What Makes Good Content?• SEO & Traffic Building•Restaurant Comparisons• Meta Tags• Online Value Proposition•Dynamic Design & Personalisation•Customer Orientation• Aesthetics•Page Design•Copywriting•Navigation & Structure• Interaction•Social Media•Usability

From the EditorsFrom the Editors

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The Restaurant Industry OverviewThe Restaurant Industry Overview

The restaurant industry is a very competitive market to become part of, therefore the first thing to consider is the current market and current trends. This will help identify a possible gap in the marketplace and can ultimately lead to creating a successful business.

Firstly it is important to understand that around 24 million UK consumers will eat out for a special occasion, approximately 19 million will eat out because they feel like it, whilst 15 million eat out for a regular treat. Eating out or ordering a takeaway is no longer considered a luxury by the majority of the British population, but has become an embedded habit which is driven by convenience and the numerous choice that they have.

Recently, due to the recession although around half of consumers haven’t changed their eating out habits, approximately a third have either reduced their expenditure on eating out per month or reduced the frequency of visits. (Mintel, 2011) However, eating out is the most popular leisure activity across all demographics and although its market value has decreased slightly during recession, it has retained its strength. It has to also be noted that It is six times harder to attract new consumers than to please your loyal consumers.

However in 2009 The UK Restaurants Market Development Report highlighted how the next five years will see the value of the restaurant industry increase to £5449 million.Therefore this shows there is a high possibility of creating a successful restaurant. There are a number of aspects which can affect this, however this magazine will focus on just one…Digital! It will identify how using digital can increase the chance of a profitable business and how you can create a great restaurant for you and your customers. We have included examples of four restaurants which are based upon the Italian and Pizza theme. However all elements can be used for any type of restaurant from fast food to American, so read on and enjoy!

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The Digital Marketing MixThe Digital Marketing Mix

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When deciding to start a business online, the main consideration is whether your marketing mix will be affected and how. It is important to know that in fact ALL the elements of the mix will be affected by the online world. The e-marketing mix is CHANGING as products are becoming services, services are then becoming customer driven and customers are creating communities that are extending the brand into new online experiences.

The Digital Marketing Mix is important as:

Let’s Mix It Up...Let’s Mix It Up...

PlacePlace This is CRUCIAL to the success of any online business. The principle of place is to increase your REPRESENTATION and make it widely available and attractive to the target customers. You will

need to think about MULTI-CHANNELS for distribution rather than one specific type to attract

the correct consumer.

It affects all aspects of the business

The elements need to be effective

If the correct audience is being targeted.

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Many believe that with an online business a new P is added to the marketing mix, ‘Partnerships.’ This is due to 64% of the UK top 1000

companies confirming they have partnership marketing in place. These partnerships can open doors to vast new markets, and will be a great

advantage to your business. However skilled management is necessary to succeed with a partnership. Restaurant owners could possibly build

partnerships with well known food brands /suppliers such as; Heinz or Waitrose.

PartnershipsPartnerships

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You’re competing with millions of other websites and thousands of restaurants when you put your business online. We’ve looked into how to drive traffic to your site, but what can you do to make your customers stay? And importantly, come back again? Here are a few tips about your content and how to make it as effective as possible.

What Makes Good What Makes Good Content?Content?

Simply the best...Simply the best...

Information ArchitectureInformation Architecture

This is the way you organise, label and allow navigation on

your website. Ensure it takes only 3 clicks for

users to get where they want to be.

Update frequently

Organisation

Frequent Updates

CRABS

In modern times there hasn’t been a more powerful tool for traffic building and that’s

social media marketing. Using social media cleverly can increase people’s

interaction with the brand and therefore generate more traffic.

Search Engine Search Engine OptimisationOptimisation

Ensure your website runs from one domain, this enables that one domain to achieve a

greater ranking, as a posed to multiple domains with poor rankings. Assigning

yourcompany.com as the primary address and redirecting www.yourcompany.com and any other domains you may use will greatly

enhance the ranking. It may sound simple, but ensuring your site has good content is key. Search

engines will scan paragraphs for keywords and make judgments about its

content from that therefore the more concise and well structured you make it the higher your site will rank in search

results.

It is important not to forget that ensuring all parts of your site are

accessible, all pages and sub pages should be easily navigable and abide

by the ‘three click rule’.

301 Redirect301 Redirect

Good ContentGood Content

Well LinkedWell Linked

Traffic BuildingTraffic Building

Social Media MarketingSocial Media Marketing

Correctly placed advertisements online can help traffic to your site tremendously. Treat online marketing like any other type of marketing, use your research. It’s easy

spending money on small campaigns because they’re so easy and cheap,

placing your adverts in the right places with the right keywords is key.

AdvertisingAdvertising

Utilize programs and schemes whereby people can be rewarded for promoting

your site with an advert or banner on their blog, site or other online resource.

Affiliate ProgramsAffiliate Programs

“It’s important to remember that when directing traffic to your site, that you target the right audience and ensure your site accommodates them”. (Ashley Ktorou Web Developer)

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Restaurant ComparisonsRestaurant ComparisonsThe Famous Four....The Famous Four....

Founded in1965 London, UK First to bring pizza to the UK high street Over 440 restaurants worldwide Owned by Cinven

Founded in 1958 in Kansas, USA Temporarily changed name to Pasta Hut to promote new pasta menu Over 11,600 restaurants worldwide Owned by Yum! Brands Inc.

Founded in the early 1990s in the UK Sells Italian wines from small producers Over 80 restaurants in the UK Owned by Tragus Group

Founded in 1960 in Michigan, USA The world’s largest pizza delivery company Over 9,000 stores worldwide Owned by Domino’s Pizza Group Ltd

Meta TagsMeta TagsEASE OF USE = Structure + Navigation + Page Layout + Interaction

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Three Clicks! Hip Three Clicks! Hip Hip…Hip…

Don’t forget the three click rule, its important to note users should be able to find what they want within three clicks, otherwise the site’s flow-ability may prevent users coming back.

Pizza Online pizzaPizza delivery

Pizza express pizza express pizza express uk Pizza express locations pizza express locations pizzaexpress restaurants

Bella ItaliaItalian restaurantPizza

pizza hut restaurant pizza hut pizza hut menu

Domino’s Meta TagsDomino’s Meta Tags

pizzaexpress jazz pizza express jazz pizzaexpress gift card pizza express gift card pizzaexpress club pizza express club

Pizza Hut Meta TagsPizza Hut Meta Tags

Pizza Express Meta TagsPizza Express Meta Tags

pizza hut deals book a table Order online Pizza Deals

Keep It Simple

Be Consistent

Use Signposts

Local pizza

Bella Italia Meta TagsBella Italia Meta Tags

Pasta London restaurant

Online value proposition is simply what a site can offer:

Online Value Online Value PropositionProposition

DominosDominosNew products advertised across siteEasier to order online than going into store but both options availableCore Product is key benefit

Combines quality dining In store and at homeFind, Book, Order Online or through their mobile appCore Product

Loud & Clear!… and Loud & Clear!… and StrongStrong

With such a huge choice online not only is good content, ease & speed important, but so is having a clear proposition.

The services offered and credibility to deliver should be shown in the proposition

That is different to its competitors

That is better than the real-world.

That benefits the customer

Pizza ExpressPizza Express

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Family dining, restaurant locatorView menu online & book tableNo surprises when visiting and helps plan

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New products and deals shown across siteExclusive offers that need printing to be claimed in storeDelivery, collection, dine in store all options are catered for

Pizza HutPizza Hut

Bella ItaliaBella Italia

So which webpage is the best for OVP?Domino’s is definitely the champion for online value proposition as it provides the consumer with a clear proposition of what they can offer them, using moving image on the webpage to highlight deals and offers. WINNER! 10/10

Pizza Express also have a good online value proposition as they have created an application that can be downloaded by iPhone users. This is a clear advantage over their competitors as it means the site is more accessible and easier to use. There core product of quality products both instore and dining out is also a key benefit. 8/10

Bella Italia website lacks online value proposition, it has similar aspects to their competitors and does not promote a key benefit to their site. They need to create something unique which will improve their OVP and appeal to their consumers. 2/10

Closely following second place is Pizza Hut. They consistently use their website to promote offers both online and in store. They also provide different choices to the customer such as; delivery, collection and dine in store which the other websites do not. They also have two different WebPages depending on the consumers need. 9/10

Dynamic Design & Dynamic Design & PersonalisationPersonalisation

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Remembering customer names and their needs is a personal thing. It is vital for websites to get personal. With the combination of web technology and database technology any number of customers can be recognized, their preferences remembered and served immediately.

Cookies are the key to web personalization.

Customized website content for each customer.

Sell, Serve, Speak and Sizzle

It’s Getting Personal...It’s Getting Personal...

COOKIESCOOKIES

Cookies are a vital tool within web personalisation, when a new visitor arrives at a website a cookie or small text file is placed on their computer which is personally identified to them, on their next visit, this is recognised and a personalised message will be displayed.Cookies will remember previous information about how they used the particular service and what they are most likely to want from the website. Restaurant websites use cookies to remember what their customers last ordered, where and when they last booked a table and what offers and deal will relate to them. By using this personalisation method, their customers are more likely to return to the restaurant and order from the website again.

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> SELL, SERVE, SPEAK AND SIZZLE> SELL, SERVE, SPEAK AND SIZZLE

This makes it easier for customers to select their products or services that they require and to have this remembered

on their next visit.

Pizza Hut and Dominos personally remember your last orders and address for delivery.Pizza Express and Bella Italia remember the customer on their next visit to the website & show when and where they last booked a table. Each website requires general personal information to be entered, which then will be remembered on their database. This all appears on the customers next visit to the website.

-Customer name-Location-Customer Preferences-Offers and deals specific to customer

All websites offer an opportunity to receive the latest deals and offers via email relating to recent searches, locations and up to date news.

Customer Customer OrientationOrientation

It’s Easy Peasy...It’s Easy Peasy...

Customer Orientation Provides:Easy Access

Appeal to a range of people

Familiarise the audience

It provides easy access to the content and services on the webpage for a range of different consumers, it should appeal to a wide range of people. The website should familiarise the audience about the organisation, their products and the website as a whole.

Generally couples, older customers and families on occasions. Does not familiarise the audience with their services.Homepage does not present any the food or services they are offering. The audience need to navigate to the ‘our food’ section. Presents booking a table in an easy way.

Pizza ExpressPizza Express

Families with younger children. Customers needs are addressed promptly as there is an option to view the menu, book a table or find a restaurant immediately. It familiarises the audience with the products it serves, by using images and also their brand by using a large logo. It promotes a child friendly atmosphere.

Bella ItaliaBella Italia

Families, children and students due to its value for money approach. The option for takeaway is a quick and easy method of purchase. Connect their audience with the information they need.It is easily accessible for all types of audiences and easily identifies a customers need.

Pizza HutPizza Hut

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So which webpage is the best for Customer Orientation?

Bella Italia provides a website which appeals to a range of different people, they make it easy for children and adults to achieve their needs whether it is to book a table, look at their food or find a restaurant. This is definitely the WINNER! 10/10

Domino’s have created a great customer orientated website which allows customers with a specific menu depending on their postcode as many Domino’s restaurants provide different products. However there is not an option to look at the menu without having to create an order which is inconvenient for some consumers. 7/10

Pizza Express was considered the worst website for customer orientation due to the fact that it does not appeal to children, whilst the others do. It does not familiarise their food immediately and navigation is needed to address the need of the audience whereas elsewhere it directly tackles them. 3/10

Pizza Hut follow closely behind Bella Italia as it provides excellent customer orientation due to ease of use, familiarising the product and brand to the customer and also addressing their main needs immediately. However the layout of this is not as easy as Bella Italia, therefore it has to take a worthy second place. 9/10

Families and students due to their promotions and deals presented on the homepage. It efficiently connects their audience with the information they need. It is easily accessible for all types of audiences. They conveniently check that the customer can receive their services by allowing them to enter their postcode.

Domino’sDomino’s

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AestheticsAestheticsIt’s all about your It’s all about your image..image..

SITE PERSONALITYSITE PERSONALITY

Effective website design includes both form and function, this covers both the

visual design layout and interaction, navigation and structure of the website.

To help communicate a brand’s essential values and what they offer a website

must portray powerful aesthetic appeal.

Site Personality

Site Style

Colour and Typography

Aesthetics = Graphics + Colour + Style + Layout and Typography

A website’s personality must be consistent with the brand, what they want to perceive and how they want to be represented is shown through the design style, colours and layout.

Pizza Hut and Dominoes highlight a sense of fun, excitement and value for money through their website design. The bright colours used throughout both emphasis this.Pizza Hut presents itself as an informal restaurant in comparison to Bella Italia and Pizza Express and since Dominoes is a delivery service they highlight their services through their quick and simple layout on their website.Bella Italia and Pizza Express present a more formal and elegant approach, highlighting good quality, high end service and a place for special occasions.

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SITE STYLESITE STYLEInformation Intensive vs. Graphic IntensiveInformation intensive sites may appear cluttered because they have a lot of text but the intention is to provide a lot of information to the visitor and come across more formal and usually more expensive. On the other hand graphic intensive sites contain lots of images, animations to create an instant impression.

Info intensive = Pizza Express and Bella Italia: although both websites have images and few graphic animations, they offer vast amounts of information to highlights events, what they offer and other forms of promotional activity.

Graphic Intensive = Pizza Hut and Dominoes thrive on grabbing their visitors attention through colour, animation and images. This shows simplicity, to the point information about the brand as well as making it exciting and fun to look at.

Bella Italia have articles and large amounts of text information for their customers to read. They

want to keep their visitors on their

website for as long as possible.

Dominos use graphics, loud colours, animations and large text to capture the

audience, make the website exciting and get to the point as quick as

possible. Like their service they want their website to represent a quick, easy

and exciting brand.

Company name and logo clearly at the top of home page and is coherent through every page navigated to. The navigation bar along the top is consistent. Simple headings create ease for visitor. The traditional layout of the website allows the customer to access all information easily. Black and white are the main colours used.

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Page DesignPage Design

There are many page design aspects that a restaurant website must consider whilst in the constructing stage. A good page design will have the following; a visually pleasing

layout, emphasis of different content types, clear navigation options, prioritisation of

marketing messages and finally consistency throughout the website. If these are applied correctly the restaurant will achieve effective

web as well as being attractive to the audience.Pizza ExpressPizza Express

The page design aspects which need to be considered are:

Visually pleasing layout

Emphasis on different content

Consistency

Time for a makeover...Time for a makeover...

Consistently used the company name, logo and navigation bar. The website is graphic intensive as the visual appeal is of high importance. More information can be accessed by clicking on the different graphics. The background uses moving image, each highlight a different message.

Pizza HutPizza Hut

Company name and logo clearly at the top of home page. The navigation bar along the top is consistent. The layout is kept the same throughout each webpage. The main colours red and blue are used to relate the webpage with the brand logo, it also helps make it visually appealing. However this website does not promote the Domino’s marketing message to the audience.

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The Pizza Hut webpage design is the clear winner, they provide consistency, visual appeals, use moving image to convey their marketing messages and the layout is simple, even though it is busy, everything is placed nicely. However they should pick a prominent colour to use throughout each page . 9/10

Pizza Express page design is similar to domino’s, they layout of the images and text is consistent throughout each page, they also have coherent colour scheme which is used throughout. However it lacks marketing messages to the customer, they should also include moving image to portray this. 6/10

Unfortunately, Bella Italia has been rated worst restaurant for page design. Even though they have many aspects which are positive, such as moving image and consistency, however the homepage is very cluttered which makes it less visually appealing to the audience. 5/10

Domino’s should be proud of their webpage design even though a few things should be included to improve such as; presenting their marketing messages more effectively all their other aspects are great, the layout is the best, using a simple design consistently with each page. 7/10

Domino’sDomino’s

Homepage layout is very busy, with many different aspects presented on the webpage. The navigation bar at the top and the logo are consistence throughout. They have good emphasis of different content using moving image. The colours used are mainly neutral however the bold colours are used to highlight important sections to catch the consumers attention.

Bella ItaliaBella Italia

So which webpage is rated highest on Page Design?

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Score: 4/10

Score: 7/10

Score: 6/10

Score: 4/10

CopywritingCopywriting Grab their attention..Grab their attention..When users land on your website, they tend to scan for information they can read quickly. You need to made sure the writing on your website is chunky, relevant, accurate, brief and easy to scan. And never, ever assume your visitors know about your company!

Bella Italia has very limited text

on its website. It assumes

visitors are familiar with the

brand and don’t explain their

brand image or culture. They

use advertising and social

media heavily, but should

dedicate more of the website to

explaining what the business is.

Copywriting is relevant,

accurate and certainly brief but

the site is too busy to be easy to

scan through chunky text.

Pizza Express provides information about

what it is and what it does succinctly on the

homepage. The website text is brief yet

provides substantial information. The words

‘PizzaExpress’ and ‘pizza’ are used a lot

which relevant and beneficial for SEO.

Domino’s uses its name and ‘pizza’

frequently in its text to increase SEO. It is

easy to scan as text is separated into

relevant paragraphs with clear headings

and bullet points and italics are also used

which helps highlight key points.

However, the homepage suggests that

the website assumes visitors know the

company although an explanation can be

found under ‘The Business’.

Pizza Hut’s copywriting is relevant to each page but is not chunky and too brief. It is however easy to scan as headings have been written in bold so visitors will easily find what they want. The news section has not been updated for almost a year and the timeline ends in 2008, website should be kept up to date so regular visitors have a reason to return.

Navigation and Navigation and StructureStructure

EASE OF USE = Structure + Navigation + Page Layout + Interaction

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Dominos have a simplistic page structure that compliment the brand and the business. As

dominos don’t do tables all food is for delivery or collection. The site takes you from the main

screen with postcode input, to a menu that follows you through the order. Sections

brighten to indicate your position in the site.

Bella Italia are more of a dinning experience, locating a restaurant, booking a table and

viewing the menu can be done from multiple areas. Similarly, buttons contrast to show user

of their location within the site.

Pizza express has a deeper structure than the previous sites, a menu bar is displayed across the

top which like the others changes to indicate position on the site, they however have a sub menu that appears depending on whether the

page has sub links to further pages.

Pizza hut have a simplistic first page that rivals domino’s site. Greeted with whether you will be

dinning or getting a pizza delivered. From the user’s choice the site then takes you to the

appropriate side. Where the takeaway is very similar to dominos and dinning typical of the

restaurants seen so far.

Don’t get lost...Don’t get lost...Users need to be able to create a mental map of your website as they use it; this will ensure they find it easy to navigate and find what they want quickly and easily.

Mini Navigation & Structure ReviewMini Navigation & Structure Review

Keep It Simple

Be Consistent

Use Signposts

Mini Navigation & Structure ReviewMini Navigation & Structure Review

Mini Navigation & Structure ReviewMini Navigation & Structure Review Mini Navigation & Structure ReviewMini Navigation & Structure Review

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When a customer lands on your homepage, you want to engage them. The best way to do this is to interact with them and create two-way communications. This will make them feel more involved and in control of their experience with your restaurant.Interaction ranges from a simple mouse click to a web chat between an employee and a customer.

Score: 8/10

Interaction Interaction Get involved..Get involved..

Learning: simulations, geographical tailoring, e-mail a friend, testimonials “What kind of restaurant is this?”

Deciding: interactive sales advisor, chat facility, on-site search engines, e-mail a friend, location-based menus “Is this the right place for my celebration/ business lunch?”

Buying: location selection tool, promotional offers, book a table tool “I would like to eat here.”

After sales support: e-mail follow up “I’ll go there again!”

The Buying Process

Bella Italia’s website focuses on interaction. Most options on the website are enhanced by the ability to input details or by relating the page to Facebook or Twitter. Interactivity is prominent but it seems quite one-sided and Bella Italia could encourage customers to have conversations with the company through its website.

Reinforce Brand Values

Create an experience on your website

Conduct research from interaction

You can also track the interactions

to conduct company research. What

was the response to promotions?

Which pages are most visited?

Which links get the most clicks? This

will help you to understand your

customer base.

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Score: 8/10

Score: 4/10

Score: 9/10

Pizza Express offers many opportunities

to interact. Its social media is regularly

updated and there is blog with sharing and

commenting options. There’s a genuine

sense that they want to create a

relationship with the online visitors and

take this experience into the restaurant.

Interaction is mostly on a mouse click basis

as there are few drop down menus or

hover features.

Domino’s is a very interactive website because it is used to order pizza online for collection or delivery. The site design excels in this area. Drop down menus and click-through advertising has been utilised.

However, there aren’t any additional interaction features, like social networking, and the enquiries page is basic and not informative.

Pizza Hut has a highly interactive online presence. Not only have they used social media but there are many options to register to the site, tell a friend and enter competitions. There’s also a kids’ section so children can interact with the brand.

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Social Media: Friend or Social Media: Friend or Foe? Foe?

Social Media in Business

30 Ways to Use Social Media

Making Use of Social Media

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I found it hard to move

around Pizza Express’

page, things seemed to pop

up and then disappear. I

could use Bella Italia’s

website though, just simple

buttons to click which take

you where you want to go!

Paulette, 52

Domino’s is definitely the easiest to use. It’s really simple, especially

compared to Pizza Hut where there was so much going on. I think the other two were pretty similar: go to the website, see

menus and sign up for newsletters.

Can’t say that I struggled with any of them, they’re all straightforward. Maybe they should try harder to be more

unique.

David, 49

Grace, 19

Ben, 30

Robbie, 23

They’re all really easy to use and have lots of clear links so it’s

hard to get confused.

I found Domino’s and Bella Italia the easiest to use. Pizza

Express and Pizza Hut required more clicking to get where I wanted to go but I think all these websites are

quite good.

I found myself

getting a bit lost on

Pizza Hut’s

website.

Monica, 26

What do people really What do people really think? think? You really want to know...?You really want to know...?

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