How does an online ordering system work?

July 3, 2019 — Cloudwaitress

Ever wanted to know how an online ordering system for food works? Let us show you the components of an ordering system and how it functions

Ever asked the question, how does an online ordering system for food work? In a nutshell, an online ordering system works by providing a website or mobile app where customers can view a restaurants menu and place an order. These orders are then received by the restaurant using an app.

These days there are 100’s of online ordering systems available. From the marketplaces like Uber Eats, Swiggy, Zomato, to the standalone systems like CloudWaitress.

Each of these systems have their own selling points and work slightly differently.

Marketplace Ordering Systems

Marketplace systems fundamentally provide a single website or mobile app that connects hundreds of different restaurants all on one platform. They enable hungry customers to easily order from any of the restaurants on their platform. Marketplaces also streamline the design across all their stores which means limited branding opportunity for the restaurant.

Standalone Ordering Systems

Standalone systems take a different approach by allowing restaurants to create their own unique website hosted at any web domain name. This generally allows for greater branding and customization. Standalone systems tend to be significantly cheaper than marketplaces as the restaurant takes on the responsibility of promoting their online store. For example, with CloudWaitress, a restaurant can create their own website and start accepting online orders for free.