When it comes to online ordering these days, people have an almost overwhelming number of food, grocery, alcohol, convenience, and retail choices. Which means your online menu or catalog plays a critical role in breaking through the clutter to attract new customers and turn them into delivery regulars. 

With spring upon us, here are 6 quick tips for cleaning up your online offerings to help entice delivery customers and keep them coming back for more.

Food allergies. Design aesthetics. Health concerns. There are many reasons customers may want to customize or alter items they order from your business. Add modifier groups to each of your catalog or menu items to simplify the customization process for your customers. For example, if you run a restaurant, make it easy to indicate which ingredients to remove or add to a dish—without requiring customers to type in special instructions.

Because you’re not there to describe or demonstrate items, your online menu or catalog needs to do the job of convincing a customer to place a delivery or pickup order. Each item should include a detailed description (including ingredients, if applicable) and list any extras. Here’s your chance to describe what makes your offerings so special. But be sure to keep descriptions brief, at between 140 and 260 characters each, or you run the risk of overwhelming customers with details.

Nothing irks customers quite like an order that doesn’t meet their expectations. Let people know exactly what to expect in their deliveries by clearly stating in the listing or description the number of items included. For example, write “There are 6 dumplings included in each order.” Or state, “One pack includes 4 items.”

Who can resist a picture of a thick-crust pizza, loaded with veggies? Or a gorgeous bouquet of fresh-cut spring flowers? Listings with photos are proven to be more effective at selling. Take time to snap attractive and appealing photos of as many items as possible, and then post these pictures in your online menu or catalog.

Complementary add-on items can be a great way to boost your delivery or pickup sales. For instance, expand the drink section of your online menu to provide customers with a wider selection of flavors, sizes, and varieties of beverages. You can even include a “Did you forget something?” message to encourage customers to add additional items before placing their order.

And finally, here’s a special tip just for restaurants. If you include vastly different cuisines (such Mexican food and sushi) on one online menu, it can be confusing to customers. Make it easier for people to focus on the different types of food you offer by creating separate menus for each. By providing fewer options in this case, you not only prevent customers from abandoning their carts in frustration, but you can also help them come to an order decision more quickly.

Get your online menu or catalog in order this spring. See how making just a few small tweaks can add up to big changes in your online delivery sales. 

If you’re new to delivery, get started >

Existing merchants can learn how to get the most out of Uber Eats with Menu Maker >