Best of Marketing Technology for Restaurants

by Back of House Staff

Updated August 31st, 2023

Defined as “the activity or business of promoting and selling products or services,” marketing is an essential part of running a successful restaurant. There are many different layers to marketing a restaurant, but the first, and perhaps most important, is building a website so customers can find you on the internet.

But simply having a website isn’t enough; your website platform should also be able to provide you with built-in analytics about traffic to your website, integrate with other technologies (like menu and online ordering), and even help you to create emails and loyalty programs in order to encourage customers both old and new to keep spending money at your establishment.

Feeling overwhelmed by all the website and marketing options out there? We’ve got you covered. We’ve identified the top choices for you to consider for your restaurant.

Jump to:

  • Best for Agency-style Services

  • Best for DIY Services

  • Best DIY With Online Ordering

  • Best AI Website Builder

Bentobox

bentobox

Best for Agency-style Services

Bentobox offers agency-style website design services to get your restaurant’s name out there.  With POS and payment systems, online ordering, and a suite of marketing tools, it’s a great solution for restaurants wanting to enhance their customer experience.

Visit Bentobox Website

Who it's best for

Restaurants who want to fully outsource their web design services.

Things to consider

BentoBox is the more expensive option on the market, so it might not be in the budget for smaller restaurants. 

Where it excels

BentoBox is truly a full-service experience. In addition to building your restaurant a website, they can also integrate an online ordering system and email marketing loyalty programs that you can automate.

Feature overview

  • Build a custom-branded, SEO-enabled website with full-service support throughout the process

  • Control how key information like restaurant hours and menu items displays on Google, Facebook, and Foursquare from one simple dashboard 

  • Create a seamless customer experience with online ordering capabilities directly through the website 

  • Build an e-commerce digital storefront where guests can buy gift cards, and merchandise 24/7

  • Establish a loyalty program to inspire repeat orders during the checkout process for online orders

  • Schedule automated email marketing and SMS campaigns, and then track performance and gain insights about customer behavior and preferences all on one dashboard

  • Keep every shift running smoothly with first-party access to a powerful reservation management system any team member can use

Onboarding and support

Troubleshoot a variety of issues by visiting their comprehensive Help Center, emailing them with pressing questions, or calling their customer service team between 8:00 AM and midnight, 7 days a week.

Pricing

Tier

Who it’s best for

Price

Essentials Website

Restaurants that need a web presence focused on attracting and converting diners

$149/month, per concept PLUS $1000 set up fee

Plus Website

Restaurants that want a custom digital experience that brings to life their concept

$249/month, per concept PLUS $1500 set up fee

Online Ordering

Restaurants that want to grow faster and improve profitability with direct online ordering

$79/month, per location PLUS $500 set up fee

Reservations

Table service restaurants that want a first-party reservation system that delivers a unified diner experience

$199/month, per location PLUS $250 set up fee

Learn more about Bentobox

 

 

 

Wix

Wix logo white BG

Best for DIY Services

Wix offers website templates, online ordering capabilities with delivery integration, as well as marketing and loyalty tools.  Wix gives restaurants the ability to create a custom website without needing design expertise. 
Visit Wix Website

Who it's best for

Restaurants on a budget that want to put a simple site together

Things to consider

It has an AI website builder, but you might not need it.

Where it excels

Wix can help you build a good looking website without a hefty investment or any previous design knowledge.

 

Feature overview

  • Explore a variety of restaurant website templates for different cuisines that you can customize with your own text and photos

  • Add a robust online ordering system to your website that you can run through one comprehensive dashboard

  • Get paid safely and securely through multiple payment methods that easily integrate with your POS system

  • Expand your reach with on-demand delivery integration

  • Build a strong customer base with an easily customizable loyalty program

  • Use a suite of built-in marketing tools to grow and promote your business

  • Access real-time data and analytics to tailor online experience to customer needs

Onboarding and support

Wix offers new clients a free 30-minute one-on-one call with one of their restaurant account managers to answer any questions before getting started. They also have a comprehensive Help Center and offer 24/7 technical support in 11 different languages. You can visit their website to learn more, as certain language support options have different hours of operation.

Pricing

Tier

Who it’s best for

Price

Light

Small teams who only need 2 GB of storage for their site and very basic marketing functionality

$16/month

Core

Small teams who want 50 GB of storage and basic marketing functionality with built-in analytics, payment processing, and basic e-commerce

$27/month

Business

Growing restaurants who want 100 GB of storage for upgraded marketing, analytics, payment processing, and e-commerce capabilities

$32/month

Business Elite

Growing restaurants who need unlimited digital storage for advanced marketing, analytics, payment processing, and e-commerce capabilities 

$159/month

Enterprise

Ideal for multi-units with the need for more than one website, custom integrations, and custom templates

Upon Request

Learn more about Wix

 

Sociavore

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Best DIY With Online Ordering

Sociavore allows you to modularly scale your digital presence based on your business needs. It’s cost-effective, because it allows you to add features without adding to the monthly cost of the service.

Visit Sociavore Website

Who it's best for

Restaurants who are looking to build their own website and want additional built-in features all in one place.

Things to consider

If you’re ready to scale up, Bento Box might be the better option than Sociavore.

Where it excels

It’s a template-led marketing website that has a variety of built-in features, including loyalty programs, gift cards, and, of course, online ordering.

Feature overview

  • Create a gorgeous website without any technical knowledge necessary with their no-code website builder

  • Bring your restaurant to life in every browser, tablet, and smartphone with mobile-responsive themes

  • Avoid costly third-party platform fees and commissions with your own restaurant online ordering system that sends orders directly to your POS system

  • Maintain a direct relationship and keep your guest data to drive more traffic to your online ordering

  • Create your delivery zones with minimum order requirements, and access North America's largest network of on-demand delivery drivers

  • Eliminate the need for a third-party reservation service with built-in reservations

Onboarding and support

Access their Help Center to find answers to common questions. Should you need additional help, all plans come with a messaging service within the dashboard, which connects you directly to the Sociavore team. 

Pricing

Sociavore is $49/month per location. You can try it free for 14 days, and they don’t make clients sign contracts, so you can cancel at any time.

If you need help getting started, they have an Express Setup package for $799 that promises to assign a Sociavore Expert to your account and have your website up and running within 7 business days.

10Web.io

10web-logo

Best AI Website Builder

10Web allows restaurants to generate a business website, complete with text and image content, using the power of AI.  Customize your website with additional pages, premium widgets, and more.
Visit 10Web Website

Who it's best for

Restaurants who are trying to save time and resources building a website.

Things to consider

You can only generate content and images once within your free trial. After upgrading, the limits will depend on your plan.

Where it excels

For those without a design background, 10Web.io can build a professional looking website, complete with AI-generated images and content, without much effort on your end.

Feature overview

  • Generate content and images quickly just by answering a few simple questions about your business — AI will handle the rest 

  • Enhance your marketing and e-commerce efforts with premium widgets

  • Create a winning marketing strategy and achieve exponential revenue growth by leveraging the power of AI

  • Automatically generate top-notch keywords tailored to your business to supercharge your ranking progress

Onboarding and support

The 10Web care Team works around the clock, 365 days per year to provide customers with premium support. You can browse through the Help Center, chat with them on the website, or email them at support@10web.io

Pricing

Tier

Who it’s best for

Price

AI Starter

Restaurants who want simple websites with up to 5,000 words generated with AI

$10/month

AI Premium

Restaurants who want professional websites with up to 50,000 words generated with AI

$15/month

AI Ultimate

Restaurants who need to build high-traffic websites with unlimited AI-generation

$23/month

Enterprise

For large-scale businesses looking for a more customized solution for their website

Upon Request

Learn more about 10Web

 

 

 

Our evaluation process

We’ve developed a process to find the best marketing technology solutions for restaurants to enhance your marketing efforts. Here’s how we did it:

Surveys and other research with people in the industry

We conducted surveys and gathered feedback from operators and employees across different service models and segments with experience using these systems on a day-to-day basis.

Interviews with Back of House restaurant tech experts

We also gained insights from our staff of experts who have years of experience in the industry and with restaurant technology. 

Secondary research

All of this was supplemented with our own research and participation in product overviews and training sessions with vendors on their products and services.