There is still no concrete data on how many restaurants were severely affected or closed down due to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, walk down any Metro Manila pre-pandemic food spot – whether that be Poblacion, Kapitolyo, or Maginhawa – and the number of “For Rent” signs you’ll come across would be enough to paint a picture.
“Our brands, King Sisig and Bulalo World, were hit hard by lockdown,” said Rafael Nemeno, owner of Royal House Food group. “Our business was primarily based in malls and relied heavily on dine-in revenue,” he explained.
Nemeno’s story is just one of many. The government’s closing of public venues during the early days of the pandemic, as well as the consumer preference to stay indoors even when safety regulations were finally relaxed, forced entrepreneurs to pivot. It was an “evolve or perish” scenario. And this evolution, for the most part, involved embracing digital.
Digital transformation pain points
According to Forbes, globally, 6 out of 10 businesses digitally transformed their businesses. This ranged from accepting online payments to setting up their own websites and e-commerce platforms.
For Rafael Nemeno, at least for his group, their digital transformation had to go back further. It also required them to rethink things from the ground up; they had to adjust their menu. They came up with frozen food pack versions of their best-selling dishes like bulalo, sisig, crispy tawilis, and kare-kare. Of course, these pivots would be all for nothing if they didn’t use technology to make their food available to the people.
Nemeno, now operates ayosbusog.com, an E-store powered by Zap, which allows Filipinos to order their favorite Filipino food for pick-up or delivery.
Amare La Cucina, a famous Italian restaurant located in the Kapitolyo food district, found themselves in a similar predicament. They also had to switch operations to focus on deliveries and pick-up since dine-in was not allowed during the pandemic.
However, their pain points came in their chosen method of adaptation. Early into their journey into digital transformation, Amare La Cucina took orders via phone and Facebook Messenger. According to Tristan Tio, co-owner of the Italian resto, this led to frequent back and forths between their representatives and customers.
Tio and his business partners also tried their hand at the delivery app route, but they found a huge chunk of their income going into the apps’ fees.
Today, both owners still use food delivery apps but mainly just to boost customer discovery. They found better success in doing in-house deliveries.
“[When we set-up our own E-store] we got a lot more in-house deliveries. This saved us a lot from the commissions that the apps get,” explained Tio. “Since we posted about our site on social media, most of our orders would go directly to the website.”
Success in E-stores
Both restaurateurs Nemeno and Tio attribute their success to their E-stores. For Nemeno, the convenience of removing manual processes like inventory management and delivery coordination helped their efficiency, boosting the overall customer experience.
“Zap E-Store helped us build this website. Powered by their technology, our customers are able to conveniently schedule their orders with complete delivery addresses and details up to the hour,” explained Nemeno.
On the other hand, Tio couldn’t hide his happiness when talking about Amare La Cucina’s website. “I think the site being user-friendly was a come-on for most guests, and perhaps that resulted in additional orders,” he expressed.
Coming from their stories, both restaurateurs agree that they genuinely enjoy the benefits of customizability with their E-stores. They get to exercise ownership in how they want to operate their shops. Aside from the efficiency and higher profit margins, they can implement their promos, discounts, and loyalty programs.
For them, an E-store feels more than just a website. An E-store is the closest thing to running your own actual restaurant online.
For restaurateurs looking to digitally transform their business in a way that’s efficient and effective in building loyalty, you can check this link to learn how to set up your E-store: https://www.zapestore.com.
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