In 2024, what person on the planet with access to a computer, smart device or knowledge of Alphabet has not used Google Maps to look up restaurants in their area—either to make a reservation, order a meal, find hours of operation or contact information? These days, it’s pretty difficult to find someone who hasn’t.
In the years following its implementation, Google has proved that the ability to easily map, filter and contact restaurants is a deadly effective tool in directing traffic to restaurants. In 2019, Alphabet released data detailing statistics from their “near me” searches on Google Maps. According to Google, “Restaurants near me” was by far the most popular search query with over 6 million organic searches per month—twice the amount of the search query in second “Food near me.” Their stats showed that 55 percent of the top 20 unbranded “near me” searches were for food, and 60 percent of customers contacted a business directly using information shared from Google searches—showing the potential impact of consumer interest in a local meal.
This trend continued into 2020, as the world shut down, when former managing director of food, restaurants and beverages at Google, Ryan Olohan, told Forbes that Google sees one billion restaurant searches a month. It was with this premise in mind, and years of compounded data finding a growing interest in local food and the ability to order remotely, that Order With Google was developed and released.
Order with Google was released in 2018 with the goal of being an end-to-end food ordering service that would deliver value to their partners, merchants and consumers. Consumers would be able to search, find, and order food without the hassle of leaving Google, while restaurants would reap practically free benefits from the “restaurant near me” functionality that would direct (theoretically) new customers their way, while they maintained complete access to customer data.
In the years that followed, Google found that generally consumers preferred to order through third-—like Grubhub, DoorDash and Uber Eats, which makes sense! Pause and consider this, when was the last time YOU ordered delivery through Google? They recognized that even though they had a fantastic offering, it wasn’t seeing market penetration and so, in February, Google announced that starting July 1 Order with Google would be adjusted. The goal now was to act as a midpoint, a channel for consumers to discover restaurants and interact with them directly, instead of becoming a unified ordering platform. At first, it might be easy to think that this is Google giving in to third-party delivery services, but Google’s approach focused on refining their current capabilities to provide value rather than developing new ones.
The Ability to Choose
Stepping back momentarily, Order with Google’s primary goal was to deliver value to partners, merchants and consumers in a singular platform. The expectation would be a streamlined experience and journey for consumers, while merchants would see improvements to profit by leveraging Google’s “near me” and Maps discoverability and make delivery simple by connecting merchants with third-party services. The updated Order still succeeds in these tasks but improves upon them by giving consumers and merchants the liberty of choice.
The biggest change that Google has implemented is that they grant restaurants the ability to show which third-party marketplaces they are a part of, and their preferred method of delivery/receiving an order. Consumers are made aware of the merchant’s preference and can also see any other delivery services that the merchant is partnered with, giving them the ability to choose their preferred means of interaction as well. Once a consumer selects the delivery method of their choice, they are then redirected where they can place and complete the order.
What is particularly impactful about this update is that it gives restaurant operators the choice to include/exclude services however they choose. A restaurant that has invested heavily in their own first-party delivery can choose to exclude all third-party services and have Google directed guests be sent directly to their own website/app directly feeding consumers to their first-party offering. Alternatively, a new restaurant that has partnered with multiple delivery services can include all of them but choose the one that users prefer over another because of differences in potential fees.
Understanding The Impact of First-Party
As a restaurant operator, your goal is always to get customers ordering from you directly and not on third-party marketplaces. From a purely financial standpoint, operators benefit greatly—first-party guests tend to spend more (35 percent more items per check) than third-party guests and are more likely to join your loyalty program. Guests who are part of loyalty programs tend to be repeat guests, visiting 40 percent more than non-loyalty members, according to the Paytronix 2024 Online Ordering Report. From a decision-making standpoint, first-party guests provide you with significantly more data and information about your customers you can use to update guests about special offers, create personalized messaging campaigns, understand what guests like and don’t like, how often they order from you, neighborhoods where you’re having the most penetration, and so much more. As you’re seeing in the tech world, data and the ability to make quick, informed decisions is essential to a successful business—restaurants have been robbed of this ability with the rise of modern delivery, but Google is giving you more opportunities to get more out of your online orders.
For consumers, first-party ordering is more times than not a cheaper alternative to third-party ordering. In addition to saving money on nearly $10 surcharges, a first-party guest will save money per item as most modern restaurants differentiate prices on first- and third-party listings to make up for fees that are taken from the restaurant. This difference in pricing will encourage them to keep ordering from you directly, saving their wallet some cash and directly feeding you information and customers. Additionally, a change that is understated in the new Order with Google, is that consumers have access to even more information than previously.
Every person has had the moment where you have a restaurant in mind—look them up on a third-party service and they aren’t there. Now you’re looking at any other services you have downloaded to see if they are represented. Because restaurants can list the services they utilize, consumers can make educated decisions on what order process will be the most financially beneficial.
Putting the order together
How disruptive these tweaks will be for consumers and restaurants remains to be seen. The problem with first-party ordering is that generally people flock to third-party marketplaces. By educating consumers in the early phases of discovering a restaurant that first-party is cheaper and the preferred option it’s possible that operators see an uptick in first-party engagement.
According to DoorDash, 80 percent of all U.S. consumers are ordering online the same or more than they did last year, and over a third of consumers order from third-party platforms compared to 24 percent in 2022. While third-party apps do seem to be more popular than ever, Google Maps will continue to be an effective method of discovery, and an even more effective driver of first-party traffic.
But that won’t be enough, brands that will be successful after this shift won’t just sit back but be proactive thinkers on how they can mobilize around newfound data, discoverability and options for delivery. This might be a lot to take, but restaurants have an opportunity to assert themselves like never before. Do some research on the effectiveness of loyalty programs, responding to positive and negative reviews on Google Maps, and how to make effective marketing decisions based on consumer data, and watch the customers roll in.
Ray Gibson has extensive experience at the forefront of the ever-evolving online ordering landscape, as a product developer at Paytronix Systems (www.Paytronix.com), the leader in guest engagement for restaurants and convenience stores. Gibson’s passion for user experience and his deep understanding of the hospitality industry enables him to develop solutions that streamline operations, enhance guest engagement and satisfaction, and drive revenue growth for businesses.