Located in Fresno, California, Tower Blendz specializes in educating their consumers on healthy eating habits by serving fresh, locally sourced açai bowls, smoothies, wellness shots, and salads. Now Tower Blendz is proving that you don’t have to abandon your healthy lifestyle to enjoy a delicious treat, even during lockdown.
Covid-19 has changed consumer behavior as more and more people adjust to using the non-contact methods of ordering, such as online purchasing. This quick adoption allowed Tower Blendz to retain most of their working staff while they focused on implementing new business processes. That’s why owner Antony Ayodele decided to expand his sales channels by using one of the most popular SalesVu tools, the SalesVu e-commerce platform. The tool is intuitive, easy to set up, and allowed Tower Blendz to adapt quickly to the new restaurant landscape.
‘We really like the online ordering option provided by SalesVu. We’ve been pleasantly surprised by the number of people who utilize the system on a daily basis. We also found that the average ticket for orders has gone up 18% since most customers now order through this method.’ – Antony Ayodele.
The online Shop page provides the same level of ease and efficiency for both client and business as third party ordering apps, without the restaurant losing a percentage of each sale to online marketplaces.
When Tower Blendz had to shut down their in-store services due to shelter-in-place ordinances, they saw their online sales increase exponentially. From January to March, they processed a total of 34 online orders. In April and May the number of orders escalated to 115, an increase of more than 300% in online sales. With a user-friendly menu layout and smooth ordering process, their online Shop page has allowed them to retain the majority of their in-store customers.
SalesVu’s cloud portal allows Antony to keep track of his business from anywhere. He uses 3 different types of automated reports to calculate numbers and compare sales month to month. The Sales report is useful to get an overview of what’s been sold in the business. This report can generate sales by categories, products, and specific periods. The Z-report allows him to view a breakdown of the different payment methods such as cash, credit card, gift card, and loyalty. Lastly, the Orders report is essential to break down the channel of the overall sales, making it easy to compare multiple order sources, i.e. in-store, e-commerce, and branded app sales.
Communication with his customers is one of Antony’s secrets to keeping customers engaged from afar during this time. The integrated Email/SMS marketing module makes it easy to keep connected and share new products and promotions.
‘We use the SMS marketing to alert our customers about upcoming promotions and specials. Coupled with our social media campaigns we’ve been able to directly link customers to our website where they can apply their promotion codes while placing their order. It’s been a great system for us’ – Antony Ayodele.
In addition to the e-commerce platform, Antony plans to utilize the smartphone branded app to further expand online sales. And though these features may have been adopted originally out of necessity, he now sees them as invaluable tools for the business and intends to keep using them even after the stay-at-home order is lifted.
If you’re looking for some fresh and delicious additions to your shelter-in-place diet, Tower Blendz is here to help you meet your health and fitness goals from home. Check out their online menu here and follow them on social media for more healthy living inspiration.
