Wix Restaurants 2023:  Building an Effective Online Presence for Restaurants 

In this feature, we interview Orly Stern Izhaki, General Manager of Wix Restaurants, a comprehensive platform designed to help restaurant owners manage their businesses with ease. Orly shares insights on what sets Wix apart from other website builders in the food and beverage industry, the level of control restaurants have in customizing their websites, and tips for creating an effective online ordering experience. She also discusses the insights Wix Restaurants provides to restaurant owners to make data-driven business decisions and future plans for custom solutions for other sectors within the food industry.

What are some of the key features that make Wix Restaurant website builder a good choice for restaurants that want to establish an online presence? Are there any particular features that you think set your platform apart from other website builders that cater to the food and beverage industry?

Wix offers comprehensive business solutions, such as Wix Restaurants, that provide users with all the necessary tools to optimize their website and streamline their operations.

Our goal is to offer a range of digital solutions that make it easier for restaurant owners to manage their businesses. Wix Restaurants offers restaurant owners a range of features within a secure and reliable platform. These features include

• Customizable templates: Wix offers over 60 professional restaurant and food website templates that allow restaurants to create a website that reflects their brand and style, that include suggested features and apps that they might need.
• Online ordering: Restaurant owners can set up online ordering and takeout options, enabling customers to order directly from the website.
• Menu management: The platform allows restaurants to easily manage their menus and update them in real-time, making it easy for customers to see what's available.
• Table reservations: Wix allows restaurants to manage their table reservations, with options for setting availability and accepting reservations directly from the website.
• Delivery Integrations: Wix offers a commission-free online ordering system, enabling customers to order directly from the restaurant via their Wix website or mobile application, as well as integrations with popular third-party delivery services.
• Marketing tools: The platform includes marketing tools such as email marketing, social media integrations, and SEO optimization, making it easy for restaurants to reach their target audience and increase their online visibility.
• Mobile-friendly: Wix websites are optimized for mobile devices, ensuring that customers can easily navigate and use the website on any device.
• Digital management tools: From automated inventory management to online employee scheduling, the platform includes features to help streamline operations.

We're focused on providing a flexible, user-friendly platform that helps restaurant owners meet the evolving needs of their customers and the industry, and we’re constantly enhancing our platform to meet the needs of our users.

How easy is it for restaurants to customize their website using Wix Restaurant website builder? Can they choose from a range of templates, or do they have more control over the design process?

We’ve built our platform with every type of user in mind so no matter their coding skill level or knack for creative design, they can build a professional-looking website with ease.

Restaurant owners without background knowledge in web development or design can choose from a variety of professional website templates, curated for different sectors within the food industry. We also provide different creation tools and fully customizable platforms.

Business owners with coding knowledge, can advance the solution and further customize it with Velo by Wix, a full-stack development platform that empowers users to rapidly build, manage and deploy professional web applications. With Velo, professional users can use the Wix Editor and then add custom functionality using standard JavaScript and Velo APIs in the built-in IDE to instantly build more dynamic sites with more control and flexibility.

We recognize that some business owners may want to engage the services of professional designers, developers, or agencies to help them create and manage their websites. We refer to those professionals as Partners and offer solutions for them to assist restaurant owners at every step of the process, from constructing a website and displaying their menu to taking care of all aspects of running and maintaining their website. By leveraging our tools and resources, Partners can develop customized solutions that seamlessly align with the business objectives of the restaurant owners they work with.

What advice do you have for restaurants looking to create an effective, user-friendly online ordering experience for their customers?

The importance of a fully functioning online presence, including an effective and user-friendly online ordering experience that meets the needs and preferences of their customers, is essential for restaurant owners. To optimize the online ordering experience, I recommend:

• Keep the design simple and easy to navigate: Use clear and concise language and ensure that the design is intuitive and easy to use.
• Make menu items easily accessible: Clearly label and categorize menu items and provide photos of dishes where possible.
• Offer multiple payment options: Provide a variety of payment options to accommodate different customer preferences, such as credit cards, debit cards, and online payment platforms.
• Optimize your website for mobile devices: As an increasing number of customers use their mobile devices to search for and order food online, it’s essential that a website is mobile-friendly and can be easily accessed from phones and tablets.
• Be reachable: Even if a customer is ordering online, it’s important they can reach someone if they need to. Provide either chat or phone services on your website to customer support.

Does Wix Restaurants provide any insights into customer behaviour and preferences to make better business decisions?

Wix Restaurants provides insights into customer behavior and preferences to help restaurant owners make data-driven business decisions. The analytics reports and dashboards offered by Wix Restaurants can provide insights on users' behavior on the site, including how they progress to orders, which can help restaurant owners understand the order conversion funnel.

Wix Restaurants provides aggregated data regarding orders submitted, which can help answer questions regarding profitability from delivery versus pickup, ASAP versus pre-orders, and popular times of the day. This data can be used to make informed decisions regarding menus, staffing, and opening hours, among other things.

Furthermore, through our integration with DoorDash Drive, business owners have more analytics about customer delivery details, including information on when there’s high-volume delivery orders and what items are usually most ordered via delivery.

Are there any future plans to create custom solutions for other sectors within the Food and Beverage industry?

Wix currently provides solutions for a wide range of sectors within the food and beverage industry such as bars and clubs, cafes and bakeries, catering and chef and others. We are continuously improving, expanding our services, and adding new integrations to cater to the evolving needs of our users.  Furthermore, we are continuing to open the platform to provide users with more flexibility and control to build what they want within the Wix ecosystem and provide standalone solutions that can be easily integrated into other systems.