#image_4 The practice of ordering take-out food has been alive and well for many decades. The call is made - and presto - made-to-order meals are ready for pick-up within 20-30 minutes. Some restaurants took the idea another step further by implementing a delivery system where menu items could be efficiently packaged for delivery to a patron’s doorstep. This innovation made take-out pizza infamous and created a convenient method for people in the neighborhood to feed small or large groups during parties, family movie nights and impromptu gatherings.

In the late 1990’s, after the Internet had gradually become a household commodity, restaurants began exploring ways to go digital with take-out ordering. In fact, some of the first eCommerce sites were hosted by quick serve restaurants, and – you guessed it – take-out pizza merchants.

Today, online food orders are about to overtake phone orders in the U.S. In May 2010, approximately 1.39 billion phone delivery orders were placed in the states.  By May 2015, that number dropped to about 1.02 billion. In the same period, online orders more than doubled from approximately 403 million to nearly 904 million. Now, another year later, it is likely these two trends have converged and may be already heading in opposite directions.

Moreover, many customers in our contemporary world order food online using mobile devices. In fact, about 69% of all online order customers today make food orders using a smartphone or tablet device. And, studies also indicate that customers who place orders online will also visit the restaurant 67% more frequently than those who don’t order online. These trends alone make the decision to offer online ordering a fairly easy one for most restaurants operators.

“As online ordering emerged into the restaurant industry, UP Solution saw the opportunity to integrate an online ordering platform with our popular restaurant POS software,â€ said Jay Yoon, UP Solution CEO and President. “In answer, UP Solution developed epipay™, a robust online ordering platform that has been designed to meet both the consumer’s and restaurateur’s needs as online ordering turns into the most preferred consumer method for making pick-up and delivery orders.â€

#h2 More than just an ordering platform

The epipay™ online food ordering solution helps restaurant owners develop an online presence that will foster brand recognition while also giving them robust tools to engage in digital marketing and social media campaigns to attract new customers and retain current ones.

The system offers an intuitive back office that makes set-up and operation quick and easy. Integration with the UP Restaurant® and UP TAB™ Restaurant POS solutions is very easy to accomplish and ensures data on customers and their ordering habits is electronically merged with POS transaction data to ensure accounting and reporting are as efficient as possible. epipay™ can be also be utilized as a standalone solution for restaurants that do not have a POS.

The epipay™ product features a mobile optimized design, built in search engine optimization, web analytics, integration with the UP Restaurant® and UP TAB™ Restaurant POS systems, and connection to the UP Solution® Cloud Services interface. Altogether, maximizing productivity and revenue, providing  business analytics and streamlining employee, vendor and inventory management.

The technology equips all restaurant owner/operator users with:<ul>

<li>Increased online exposure
<li>Fast online ordering for pickup or delivery
<li>Instant order notifications
<li>The ability to accept online payments
<li>An enhanced customer experience
<li>A seamless integration with UP Solution’s advanced POS systems
</ul>

#h2 Give your restaurant clients the best POS options

If your portfolio is full of delivery and pickup restaurant merchants that still have not yet integrated an online ordering platform into their POS process, or they are looking for an all-in-one provider, now is the time to get them onboard with using the epipay™ online ordering system.

For more information about UP Solution or offering epipay™ online ordering, UP Restaurant® or UP TAB™ Restaurant POS products, visit <a href="http://upsolution.com/epipay">www.upsolution.com/epipay</a>, or contact us directly at (855) 835-7919 / <a href="mailto:sales@upsolution.com">sales@upsolution.com</a>.
