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Takeaway Shop
3 minute read
Takeaway Shop inspiration: 8 ideas

How can you stand out from the crowd with your takeaway shop? We’re sharing inspiration to start a takeaway shop or make yours even better! It’s always a great idea to see what other creative restaurant minds are doing, so let’s have a peek below.

Takeaway
3 minute read
Give your takeaway the boost it deserves

The last two years have proven that online ordering is essential for modern restaurants to thrive and succeed. Today’s diners crave ease in the form of online ordering — 75% of consumers prefer to order directly from the restaurant. But your future buyers do have to know what you’re offering. So, let’s show them what you got! We’ve gathered 5 tips to get the most out of your takeaway.

merchandise
4 minute read
New restaurant trend: branded merchandise

We said it before; restaurants are the new boutique brands. Since Covid is ruining your revenue (amongst others), merchandise is an excellent way to gin up your revenue. You’re generating passive income, which is especially useful in the Covid pandemic. Merch helps you stay on top of mind and strengthen your brand.

promo codes
3 minute read
Inspiration on how to creatively use Promo Codes

Promo Codes are making a comeback. You've probably seen them on multiple food apps to trigger you to order takeaway or groceries. But let's spin this around to your restaurant! You can actually make Promo Codes pretty cool and personalize them for your guests while promoting the experiences you offer. We've lined up some inspiration & ideas for you to start with Promo Codes.

How to get the most out of Raisin
3 minute read
How to get the most out of Raisin

Raisin is leading the way in the natural wine landscape. It’s an app directing you all over the world to the best spots to have an excellent glass of natural wine. The app is also a key indicator of the best local, seasonal and organic food places. This app is how you can guide guests (200k app users!) from all over the world to your restaurant or bar.

The power of storytelling for restaurants by Cor Hospes
3 minute read
The power of storytelling for restaurants

“People don’t remember facts, people remember stories.”

 The Future of Fine Dining at the Best Chef Awards 2021
3 minute read
The Future of Fine Dining at the Best Chef Awards 2021

Yesterday we were part of the Best Chef Awards 2021. Our CEO Raymond Wilders joined the conversation on the Future of Fine Dining.

5 Do’s & Don’ts for Taking the Best Ticket Photos
3 minute read
5 Do’s & Don’ts for Taking the Best Ticket Photos

Next to using catchy ticket descriptions, it is also important to pair good photos with the tickets to make them even more attractive for your guests to book. The picture and the ticket title are the two things that guests first see. This means you really want an attractive, eye-catching image that matches your restaurant's aesthetics and perfectly shows what the ticket will offer.

20 Copy Templates to Boost your Ticket Sales
5 minute read
20 Copy Templates to Boost your Ticket Sales

Struggling with writing ticket descriptions? We are here to help you. Offering different tickets in your reservation widget is a great way to offer a variety of experiences in your restaurant and stand out from the crowd. Tickets work and look best when paired with informative or catchy titles and descriptions.

Double your tables
3 minute read
5 ways to double your tables and spike your revenue

Getting the most out of your restaurant’s reservations sounds like music to your ears right now, we can imagine. To help you get your revenue spiking again, we listed 5 ways to double your tables to get the most out of your restaurant.

no-shows
3 minute read
4 ways to avoid expensive no-shows

Did you know 20% of restaurant reservations aren't fulfilled each year?

promo codes
3 minute read
5 Creative Ways to Use Promo Codes

Would you like to reach more potential guests? Then Promo Codes is the feature for you. It's the easiest way to persuade hesitant visitors and turn them into loyal guests. And the beautiful thing is; you can customize the promotion code to fit your restaurant and style.

Boost profitability post-Covid
7 minute read
How restaurants will rise up and boost profitability post-Covid

We are in the middle of a massive shift in the way guests discover and interact with restaurants. In this article we introduce five new standards for restaurants to rise up to, building valuable guest relationships and boosting profitability long-term.

3 reasons why Google Posts are so crucial for restaurants
3 min read
3 reasons why Google Posts are so crucial for restaurants

Google Posts are a huge opportunity to increase your online visibility. Up-to-date business information on Google is essential because most guests look for information on restaurants via Google Search. With Google Posts, you will be right at the spot where the decision-making happens, and you will be able to impact the guest’s process.

Instagram Shopping is an extra free channel to boost your revenue, get inspired by these shops
3 minute read
Instagram Shopping for Restaurants: 6 great examples

Thanks our integration with Instagram Shopping, restaurants can now sell products via Instagram. This free channel is an excellent way to showcase your takeaway to your biggest fans and boost your revenue. We believe this platform has great potential in the food ordering industry.

With Instagram Shopping you have an extra free channel to boost your takeaway
2 minute read
Sell your takeaway products with Instagram shopping

Instagram Shopping is a great feature to boost your takeaway. Tag your products and get more out of your own channels without using extra budget.

Using Instagram for restaurants: we share 6 practical tips that actually drive sales and let you make a connection with your audience!
5 minute read
Instagram for restaurants: 6 tips that actually work

Want to boost your restaurant's presence on Instagram? We've got you, with these 6 quick and easy tips on Instagram for restaurants. These tips will help you grow a loyal following and bring new customers to your business. When you have the Instagram basics covered it's time to up your game. Especially in these unprecedented times, it's highly important to build your online community and stay in touch.

Update your information in Google My Business to keep your guests up to date
5 minute read
4 COVID-19 updates for your Google My Business profile

With the latest updates from Google you keep your guests up to date with everything that’s going on in your restaurant and you're easier to find on Google. Especially in these times it’s important to put the correct information on Google. We’ve listed the most important updates for restaurants.

Get inspired by these lovely takeaway specials for Christmas
2 minute read
5 takeaway Christmas specials

With takeaway you always have the opportunity to bring a smile to guests’ faces at home, also during Christmas. Get inspired by these restaurants who are offering their Christmas boxes online.

With these tips, people will find you quicker when they use local search terms
8 minute read
How to optimize your website for the search term "takeaway near me"

The keyword “takeaway near me” is searched an estimated 117,000 times each month in the UK alone. In Holland, the Dutch equivalent is searched an estimated 36,000 times each month.

Almost all these searchers are looking to get a meal delivered to their home in the near future.

Having your takeaway restaurant appear prominently for a relevant “near me” search (that is one which is made by someone within your area of delivery) is therefore one of the best ways of getting a reliable stream of new customers.

But with the rise of ordering platforms dominating the front page of Google for food delivery related searches, how do you optimise your restaurant for the specific search “takeaway near me”? The following will explain exactly how to do this.

During the second lockdown The Green Rose started with a successful new takeaway concept
4 minute read
Wayan Dijenborgh: "Our new takeaway concept was online in no time"

During the first closure The Green Rose (Arnhem) crafted a new dish every day for their takeaway menu. Prior to COVID-19 the menu was refreshed weekly with small dishes, nowadays the takeaway consists of Indobar and sushi. Wayan Dijenborgh (manager) explains why they made this change

 These restaurants have used their creativity and set up their takeaway shop in their own style
2 minute read
[UPDATE] 10 inspiring examples of takeaway

From a snack box to a michelin star menu and from a shopping bag to thirty different wines. These restaurants have unleashed their creativity and set up their Formitable takeaway shop in their own style. Get inspired by these ten examples.

Everything you need to know about setting up your takeaway
5 minute read
Takeaway: in-house or with a delivery platform?

Are you going to set up pick-up and delivery? It is good to think about everything that is involved. What can you arrange yourself and what would work better with a delivery partner?

With a smooth takeaway shop you can make your home menu a success
1 minute read
This is how you fill your takeaway shop with great content

How do you make your home menu a resounding success? Right, with a smooth takeaway shop that makes your guests excited.

Promote your takeaway and delivery meals via all your channels in no time.
2 minute read
How to let your guests know about your takeaway service

How do you ensure that people really order your delicious home menu? How to promote your takeaway and delivery meals via all your channels in no time.

With this preparation you're set to serve the best Christmas ever
3 minute read
4 tips to prepare for Christmas

It may seem far away, but Christmas is just around the corner. Especially during these times it’s important to get the most out of this holiday, and we are here to help you. With these 4 tips you’ll be prepared to serve the best Christmas ever.

Get inspired by the Chirstmas offers of these restaurants
3 minute read
5 examples of Christmas tickets

The Formitable widget is perfectly suited to show of your Christmas lunch or dinner. The earlier your guests can book a table for Christmas, the bigger the chances you get a full house. To get inspired we came up with a list of 5 (prepaid) Christmas tickets.

At Restaurant Gebr. Hartering they ask for a prepayment in the weekends, owner Niek Hartering explains why
3 minute read
Niek Hartering: "During the weekends we ask for a prepayment to avoid painful no-shows"

Since a couple of months you have to do a prepayment when you reserve a table a Restaurant Gebr. Hartering (Amsterdam). Niek Hartering (owner): "We were thinking about introducing prepayments earlier, but didn't dare to take the step."

By digitizing the guest registration,  the team of Bar Ramona has more time for their guests
2 minute read
Digitize guest registration in 3 easy steps

Is registering your guests contact details time consuming? Bar Ramona (Amsterdam) made this process digital with three simple steps. Preventing a crowd at the door and improving hygiene.

Use email campaigns as an effective marketing tool
4 minute read
7 tips to set up an effective email campaign

Are you organising an event? Have a new summer menu? With an email campaign you can easily reach a lot of guests. It’s a perfect marketing tool to sell tickets or reservations. Use the following tips to set up an effective email campaign.

Responding to Google Reviews time consuming? Not with our tips and templates.
5 minute read
Responding to Google Reviews: why and how?

Let’s not beat around the bush, responding to Google Reviews is beneficial for your restaurant. You build a relationship with your guests and you increase your visibility. No time to respond? With our tips and templates you can respond in no time.

Guests nowadays look further than your review score
6 minute read
Why Google reviews can attract more guests

Reviews can make or break your business, especially on a platform like Google. However, your rating on Google isn’t the only thing that makes a difference nowadays. Guests want to see more than just a number. Curious guests take their research in your Google Reviews a bit further.

With these tips you will get a great Google review score in no time
3 minute read
6 tips for more positive Google reviews

Having a hard time collecting Google reviews? With these tips you’ll be drowning in them.

Boost your Google rating with this email template
5 minute read
Email template for more positive Google reviews

With a lot of positive Google Reviews guests will easily find the way to your door. The template we show us helped us gain a lot of 5-star reviews on Google. That’s why we gladly share it with you. With this template you’re guaranteed to get more 5-star reviews.

Gijsbregt Brouwer talks about the digital trends for restaurants after Covid-19
5 minute read
Gijsbregt Brouwer: "Digital tools are becoming more important for restaurants"

How will restaurants look after Covid-19? Grijsbregt Brouwer (founder of De Buik and food trendwatcher) wrote the book horeca na corona (Dutch only) on this subject together with hospitality advisor and columnist Wouter Verkerk. What will be the role digital tools will play for restaurants in the future?

After begin closed for weeks, Van Kinsbergen can finally open their doors again, but on their own terms.
4 minute read
Patrick van Aller: "Continually refreshing the marketing ideas made a big difference"

After being closed for weeks, restaurants can finally open their doors again. Patrick van Aller (co-owner Gastropub Van Kinsbergen in The Hague) is very happy, but was still vocal during the weeks they were closed. "We stayed in touch with our guests and are ready to open our doors from June 1st, but on our own terms."

Email is a perfect way to keep in touch with your guests
2 minute read
4 reasons why e-mail marketing is perfect for restaurants

E-mail is the way to keep in touch with your guests and keep them informed about what's going on in your restaurant. 4 reasons why you should use email campaigns.

Expand your mailing list with these 4 tips
2 minute read
Email marketing is a numbers game, this is how you get more subscribers

Email campaigns are a numbers game. The more email addresses you have, the better the result of your campaign. Use these tips to increase your mailing list.

Improve your restaurant's findability on Google
4 minute read
Reclaim your Google search results from consumer platforms

There are a lot of ways to improve your restaurant’s findability on Google. A quick win is to reclaim your Google search results from consumer platforms. Four ways to reclaim your Google search results, so you won’t have to lose any more money on your online reservations. 

Working with shifts is an excellent solution to get the most out of your tables.
2 minute read
10 creative ways to work with shifts

Working with shifts to double tables is an excellent solution for getting the most out of your tables. We have listed 10 creative examples for you.

50 examples of restaurants that use prepayments
4 minute read
50 examples of restaurants that use prepayments

Prepayments are the best way to avoid no shows. Guests are no longer surprised when they have to pay in advance for a reservation, even on the terrace. For your inspiration, we have collected 50 examples of restaurants that work with deposits.

With videos you bring your restaurant experience to the living room of your guests.
3 minute read
5 restaurants using video in a creative way

With videos you bring your restaurant experience to the living room of your guests. How about an instructional video with your takeaway menu? Or an online wine course? Five creative solutions.

Dennis Middeldorp: 'I love bringing joy to people's homes'
3 minute read
Dennis Middeldorp: 'I love bringing joy to people's homes'

Dennis Middeldorp, chef and owner of Restaurant Sense* in Den Bosch, was not immediately convinced of takeaway, but quickly changed his mind. How does a star restaurant deal with takeaway? Middeldorp: "We offer a three-course menu that is ideal for home."

4850 reinvented itself with a fully customized ordering menu
3 minute read
Judith Dekker: "We treat our guests with high quality comfort food"

4850 (Amsterdam) reinvented itself with a fully customized ordering menu. Judith Dekker (creative director and partner of owner Daniël Schein): "It is difficult to take a six-course dinner with you. But you will find everything that we enjoy ourselves after a busy day on the floor. And a lot of wine." In addition, 4850's action for the health care workers is heartening.

David Caron: 'People want a restaurant experience at home'
4 minute read
David Caron: 'People want a restaurant experience at home'

If you had asked the Caron family earlier this year if they had plans to offer a takeaway menu, they would have burst out laughing. But times are changing. And so Café Caron (Amsterdam) opened an online takeaway shop. Co-owner David Caron: "We sold out immediately. I hadn't seen that coming. You notice that people need a restaurant experience, but at home."

Starting takeaway? An overview of all delivery platforms, including temporary initiatives
2 minute read
An overview of all delivery platforms, including temporary initiatives

There are three major delivery platforms in the Netherlands. We list the most important features for you, plus a list of temporary initiatives that will help you through the COVID-19 crisis.

7 tips for fantastic food photography
3 minute read
7 tips for fantastic food photography

Do you need inspiration for photos? Alain Parry runs Balthazar’s Keuken in Amsterdam. He used to be a photographer in his earlier life. You can see his expertise in the photos he takes for his restaurant, all taken with a smartphone. To kick-start your photography, we discussed some tips with him.

5 dining experience trends with great return
6 minute read
5 dining experience trends with great return

Leveraging the experience economy can help you to get more paying guests into your restaurant. Learn from 5 successful restaurants and apply 5 key trends in the industry to increase your number of guests.

4 reasons to offer gift vouchers
3 minute read
4 reasons to offer gift vouchers

A gift voucher from your restaurant holds a promise for a beautiful night out, which is great for everyone involved, including your business. We’ll tell you why.

5 tips to promote your online gift vouchers
3 minute read
5 tips to promote your online gift vouchers

There are several reasons why every restaurant should turn their dining experience into a gift voucher. One of the reasons is, that it costs so little effort. Put a gift voucher onto your website and everything else happens by itself. Do you still want to get more out of your vouchers? These tips help you to get started selling more, smarter.

Template for promoting gift vouchers
3 minute reading time
Toolkit to promote gift vouchers

Gift vouchers are great if your business could use some support. Whoever purchases a voucher helps your restaurant survive, while having a great evening ahead of them. Use this mini toolkit to promote your vouchers through all your channels.

Why your guests love reserving a table online
2 minute read
Why your guests love reserving a table online

Do you think guests hate online reservations? Not a chance, they go crazy for convenience. You want to give your guests what they want, right? Reserving a table online is definitely on their most wanted list.

Why using an online reservation system is a must
3 minute read
Why using an online reservation system is a must

An online booking system makes your life so much easier and tremendously delights your guests. Five reasons why you can’t go without an online reservation system in this day and age.

3 pro-tips to use Squeeze to its full potential
2 minute read
3 pro-tips to use Squeeze to its full potential

Squeeze offers online reservations with a shorter table turn and fills the gaps in your planning. It helps you to fill your tables, like a real online floor manager. With these three pro-tips you can use this powerful feature to its full potential and give your evenings a boost.

Squeeze: turn your tables faster using the power of online
4 minute read
Squeeze: turn tables faster using the power of online

Would you love to serve more guests per evening? Are you done with tables collecting dust for hours on end? By offering online reservations with a shorter table turn, you’ll double those tables without seeming inhospitable. Squeeze, our online floor manager, has got you covered.

6 best practices to up your Instagram game
4 minute read
6 best practices to up your Instagram game

Instagram lets you make a lasting first impression on your guests and helps you build a relationship with them. Sounds complicated and time-consuming? With the right approach, it doesn’t have to be. Get inspired by these six best practices.

Why Google My Business likes #foodporn better than your logo
3 minute read
Why Google My Business likes #foodporn better than your logo

Your guest craves answers. Always happy to help, Google came up with Google My Business, placing all information on your business on the right side of your screen. Great, but why the hideous cover photo? Why those photos that seem to have nothing to do with your business? Is there anything you can do about that?

Add a reservations button to your restaurant’s Facebook page
2 minute read
Add a reservations button to your restaurant’s Facebook page

Does your restaurant have a Facebook business page? Adding a reservations button makes it super easy for guests to make reservations at your establishment.

3 reasons why your guests love using Reserve with Google
2 minute read
3 reasons why your guests love using Reserve with Google

Reserve with Google enables people to reserve a table directly from Google search results. And it enables you to attract more diners to your restaurant. In a way that is convenient for them.

Get a Google My Business account in 3 steps
3 minute read
Get a Google My Business account in 3 steps

Learn how to claim ownership of your restaurant on “Google My Business”. As the official manager of your business, you can make sure that your potential guests have a smooth dining experience from start to finish.

Adding a reservation link on Google
2 minute read
Google My Business: add your own reservations link

Fed up with commissions? Connect your reservations link to your own online reservations tool rather than to a consumer platform’s booking tool.

Interview with Richard van Oostenbrugge & Thomas Groot
6 minute read
Richard van Oostenbrugge: 'Prepayments were the first certainty we had'

After seven years at restaurant Bord'Eau, chef Richard van Oostenbrugge and sous-chef Thomas Groot leave their kitchen to make their dream come true: a restaurant of their own. To realize their ideas they renovate a beautiful location near the Amstel river. It is the first no-table restaurant in the Netherlands, with only twenty-four seats and ten chefs.

David Caron - Opening a family restaurant at age 21
6 minute read
Opening a family restaurant at age 21

David Caron is only twenty-one years old when he co-founded Café Caron. The popular family restaurant is open since 2017. The front of the house is his responsibility. Because of their success, his focus is now shifting. “Luckily, we were able to build a great team. If we had to do everything ourselves, it would not benefit our guests experience.”

Dennis Huwae - The most beautiful restaurant in the Netherlands by 2020
4 minute read
The most beautiful restaurant in the Netherlands by 2020

Dennis Huwaë is chef and co-owner of restaurant Daalder. After a career at several Michelin starred restaurants he is now writing his own success story. Gault Millau awarded him a the most talented chef of 2018. What is on the agenda for the coming years?