With 60,000+ catering partners nationwide, we’ve learned what the most successful ones have in common. Follow our suggestions to maximize your customer reach and increase your business on both the ezCater Marketplace and your own website through ezOrdering.
1. Sign into ezManage.
Sign into ezManage to follow along with the optimization guide.
2. Delight your customers with delivery status updates.
The number one thing our business customers demand is reliable, on-time delivery. By either assigning an in-house driver or utilizing ezDispatch, you're ensuring customers receive important delivery status updates once the food has left the restaurant and again once the food is delivered successfully.
Offer in-house catering delivery? You can either assign one of your own in-house drivers through your ezManage portal, or drivers can assign themselves by scanning the QR code on the kitchen print-out.
Don’t offer catering delivery but want to add capacity and flexibility?
Use ezDispatch to reach new customers without building your own delivery fleet. Watch the video below to determine which delivery solution will best serve your restaurant operation.
3. Update your lead time in ezManage.
Choose Settings in your ezManage portal and select the store you wish to update. Scroll down to Lead Time and click edit on the right.
We recommend a lower lead time.
7% of orders are placed within 5 hrs of the event time and 36% are placed between 12-24 hrs. A lower lead time lets you serve more customers, but a higher lead time ensures that you have enough notice to reliably fulfill orders without issue.
4. Request an update on your delivery parameters.
Choose Settings in your ezManage portal and select the store you wish to update. Scroll down to Delivery settings at the bottom and click request update on the right.
We recommend less than $100. $150 is the median value of a catering order.
A smaller minimum opens you up to more customers placing small orders (who may return to you with larger orders later).
5. How to request a menu update through ezManage.
You can request menu updates and add individual items through the form in ezManage by emailing our menus team directly at menus@ezcater.com.
Menus that appeal to groups are the most successful on ezCater. To create a competitive menu, offering catering packages – items that include a choice of entree, side/salad – is key. Drink and dessert add-ons can help drive order value as well.
6. How to enroll in our marketing programs in ezManage.
Choose Rankings in your ezManage portal and select the store you wish to update. Choose from each dropdown which percentage you would like to set for either program. Don’t forget to save your settings.
ezRewards is our popular cash-back loyalty program. You can incentivize corporate customers to order from you by offering up to 2-5% back on their orders.
Our Preferred Partner Program is available to top-performing catering partners. You can bid between 2-20% of an order’s total food cost to appear higher in Marketplace search results.
7. Create custom promos for your ezOrdering link in ezManage.
Choose Promotions in your ezManage portal. Click Create New ezOrdering Promotion and fill out the discount you would like to promote.
ezOrdering brings your ezCater menu to your website. Customers get an easy way to order catering from you online. You get catering orders at a lower commission, customer contact information, and even more orders on the ezCater Marketplace.