Creating a great customer experience is crucial for any business. It is the way to keep patrons happy, improves the chances of repeat custom immeasurably and induce all-important and potentially extremely lucrative word of mouth advertising. Any way of improving customer experience, then, should be sought out and embraced by all manner of businesses.
For food outlets – and most notably takeaways – one such way is by providing better tailored packaging. Many such businesses, however, overlook this opportunity and instead only think about price when considering their packaging options. That could be a critical error, and below we will explain exactly why.
First Impressions Count
In business, as well as in life, first impressions count. It’s for that reason that the biggest companies in the world take packaging so seriously, and why even much smaller businesses such as takeaway outlets should also follow their lead.
Packaging of all types provides a branding opportunity and a chance for free advertising, of course, but that is not the end of the story. Poor quality or shabby packaging succeeds in conveying that impression to a customer before they have actually even tasted any food and will, as a result, impact upon the opinion they draw of the food.
Good quality and well branded packaging, on the other hand, helps to communicate quality and value and will immediately make the customer subconsciously more likely to enjoy their experience.
Heat Retention and Insulation
There is nothing that ruins a customer’s experience of a food outlet – and as a result their opinion of that outlet – quite as effectively as cold food. Even the very best takeaway food tastes bad when it’s cold, and it is not something that any restaurant should tolerate. Whether customers intend to eat their food as soon as they walk out of the door or wish to take it home to enjoy, there are packaging options which can ensure they will get a hot meal.
What materials are used, what shape and size of packaging is selected and a number of other factors, therefore, should be taken into account and tailored exactly to the type of food that an outlet serves. That, as a result, will ensure the best possible heat retention and improve the customer experience no end.
Utility
As well as maintaining the temperature of food and drink, packaging should also be as useful and user friendly as possible. Packaging which makes a customer’s life more difficult, after all, is only going to undo any good work done by a restaurant’s service and the quality of their food. A variety of different things can be taken into account when it comes to the utility of takeaway packaging.
Firstly, a customer’s comfort and safety must be considered and that means that food and especially drinks containers must be designed and tested to ensure that they don’t overheat and become too hot to comfortably hold. Secondly, how easy it is to stack and to transport containers is also crucial to a takeaway outlet for obvious reasons. Finally, too, the ease with which any container can be opened should also be considered – especially for a takeaway from which food will most likely be eaten on the move.
Added Extras
Those little things that make a customer’s life easier or that they don’t necessarily expect to receive are often what best succeed at creating a unique and an enjoyable customer experience. Dependent upon what type of food or drink a takeaway outlet provides, there are a number of different added extras which can be offered.
Drinks stirrers, cutlery tailored to the particular food stuff and serviettes are amongst the most obvious examples but are still often overlooked by some restaurants. It’s worth noting, too, that these extra items can also be branded to aid an outlet’s marketing.