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Happy election day! After months of political ad (nauseam) and campaign coverage, it’s almost safe to turn on the TV and check your Facebook feed again. And to that we cast our ballot!

But that’s not the only important issue that gets our vote. Like most Americans, we’re proud supporters of food freebies and discounts. And luckily, many restaurants across the nation are celebrating the big day with big deals.

We choose the following:

• Tim Hortons is giving away a free donut with the purchase of any beverage. Some voters will also get free coffee and donuts while they wait in line at local polls in Michigan, Ohio, and New York.
• Boston Market is holding a “Bowl Poll” today where you can cast your favorite market Bowl (chicken or turkey) and the winner of the poll will be announced on November 7. Boston Market will offer everyone a free Market Bowl with the purchase of a drink.
• Domino’s Pizza is hosting “Voter Bootcamp” in which Facebook fans are able to “vote on some other important issues,” such as thin crust vs. hand tossed, take out vs. delivery, and more for the chance to win free food and prizes.
• California Tortilla is giving away a free taco to each customer today. All you have to do is show your “I Voted” sticker and you can score a free taco with no other purchase necessary.
• White Castle is also encouraging its Facebook fans to exercise their right to vote between the new sweet potato waffle fries or the crinkle cut french fries in exchange for a free small order.

Is your restaurant offering a special promotion for Election Day? Feel free to share here!

We’re ONOSYS and we approve this message. 

Last week we hosted our second annual ONOSYS User Conference (ONO-CON) in our nation’s capital – and LivingSocial’s hometown – of Washington, D.C. And we’re excited to report that our sophomore soiree was not only a repeat success but even more fun than the last!

Our two-day learning conference gave a handful of our clients the opportunity to experience what we’ve been up to in the last year. And first and foremost, that meant introducing them to our new family – LivingSocial. We held our learning sessions at the awesome live events concept space 918 F Street to give them a taste of everything that LivingSocial has to offer.

Mitch Spolan, rockstar presenter, and SVP of National Accounts, shared how daily deals can help grow a restaurant’s business by finding and keeping more customers in a very viral way. We also introduced them to LivingSocial’s Takeout and Delivery – the latest and greatest online ordering portal that gives 65 million hungry customers a quick and easy way to order the food they love.

The ONOSYS product was also front and center as we reviewed all the latest features and functions of our V4 product offering. To top things off, our good friends Boston Pizza and Papa Gino’s shared best practices in maximizing online ordering both with unique ad campaigns and business analytics.

But of course there was so much more to ONO-CON than learning sessions! We played Sporcle, sipped old-fashioned cocktails at a speakeasy, surprised and delighted with FroYo, snapped some pics at the White House, and ate/drank our way around Capitol Hill. 

Check out the highlights pics on our Facebook page. And while you’re there, don’t forget to click that “Like” button to keep in the loop of future ONOSYS events. Huge thanks to all of our guests for taking time out of their very busy schedules to join us at ONO-CON. Hope to see you all for an even bigger and better 2013!

Hoodies

American Apparel – California Fleece Pullover Hoodie
$25 – Unisex S/M/L/XL

Independent Trading Co. Fleece Zip-Up Hoodie
$25 - Out of Stock

T-Shirts

American Apparel Tri-Blend 50/25/25
$15 – Unisex S/M/L/XL

American Apparel Tri-Blend 50/25/25
$15 – Unisex L/XL

Jackets

American Apparel – California Fleece Track Jacket
$20 – Out of Stock

Fossa Downtown Softshell Jacket
$50 – Out of Stock

Mugs

ONOSYS Travel Tumblers
$5

Shoes

ONOSYS All-Stars
$80 – Size and Order via Converse.com

To purchase items from the ONOSYS Swag Shop, contact SwagShop@onosys.com

When it comes to choosing a restaurant, sometimes you want to go where everybody knows your name (cue the Cheers theme song). But even more appealing – and impressive – is when the folks there already know you prefer crushed ice over cubed and your patty a little pink.

According to a recent New York Times article, more restaurants are paying attention to your pesky preferences and using that knowledge (aka data) to please you. For example, they’re recording whether you’re a regular, first-timer, or a friend of the manager. They archive where you like to sit and whether you want Pepsi over Coke.

There’s more. With a few clicks, savvy food spots can trace your past performance as a diner; how much you ordered, how you tipped and whether you were a ‘table camper’ that lingered long after dessert. Feeling a little guilty right now? Don’t be.

Restaurants say their main goal of keeping score is to pamper you – to recreate the comfort of a local corner spot. But they’re also looking after their bottom line. In a cutthroat industry, this kind of intelligence gathering can make or break ‘em. And the ability to know and read a customer is critical to staying on top.

A solid online ordering system rocks data collection like nothing else. It gives restaurants a complete picture of the online customer so they can tailor communications to their specific interests and needs. It personalizes the relationship and boosts loyalty and engagement, thus creating the “Cheers” effect even on the web.

So the next time you’re dining at your favorite spot and the server brings you stevia instead of sugar, don’t think it’s because you have a killer smile. Know that they know because a computer told them so.

Think about it — when you order something online, you enjoy a wealth of options, skip long lines and avoid seeing other people. So it’s no surprise that when it comes to ordering food, you might go a little overboard. Like double meat, extra cheese overboard.  Besides, there’s no one there to judge you.

But you’re not alone. A new study by the University of Rochester evaluated 160,000 orders from a popular pizza chain over a four-year period. What they found was online orders by the same people who had ordered on the phone or in person previously were 15 percent more complex, 4 percent more expensive, and 6 percent higher in calories.  It even points out the statistic that when ordering online, people quadrupled their bacon toppings!

This proves that when we’re hiding behind a monitor, we’re more likely to throw our inhibitions to the cyber-wind.  The social transaction is eliminated, as well as the embarrassment that would influence a lighter order. Besides, not many people have the guts (pun intended) to add a fourth layer of bacon to a pizza when they’re face-to-face with a waiter in public.

While this research may be heavy news for consumers’ wallets, it’s positive proof for restaurants. Online ordering leads to higher average ticket sizes by allowing you to upsell products to customers (calorie-conscious or not) that love to customize.

So the next time you’re standing in line at a coffee shop do you go for the double-whip grande mocha despite the onlookers from every angle? Or do you wish upon an online order so you can grab and go without the guilt? Feel free to share a little calorie-free food for thought.

Oh, Cajun food, the style of cooking named for the French speaking immigrants of Louisiana, or in ONOSYS terms ‘just plain delicious’. The travels of the ONOSYS supper club continued with a mouth-watering trip to a new East-Side restaurant, Jezebel’s Bayou.

Quickly gaining notoriety in the area as a wonderful place to satisfy your spicy desires, this new establishment goes the distance to bring New Orleans inspired food to the table. Seriously, they ship their seafood in daily from Louisiana which means (based off the calculations of Google maps) that shrimp and crawfish traveled one thousand and fifty miles to end up on your plate.  Impressive? Maybe it wouldn’t be if the food hadn’t been prepared with care and mindfulness of flavor, but that doesn’t seem to be this tasty location’s MO. To partner with some classic entrée’s such as jambalaya, chicken etouffee, and creole we also had a wonderful selection of specialty drinks and appetizers. The majority of the group enjoyed trying out starters such as alligator and melt-in-your-mouth catfish.

While filling our quickly contented stomachs we were also treated with friendly and insightful service as well as the relaxed yet appealing contemporary décor. The attention by staff made it feel almost like we were on stage – or wait, we were, literally. Part of the restaurant’s layout includes a small ‘stage’ yet thankfully the heightened seating didn’t come with a script to perform. 

It’s officially summer – the season that sizzles and shines – and that means it’s time to announce the winners of our second annual ONOSYS Spark Awards. This year we’re recognizing 17 companies that used ONOSYS to heat up their cash registers by surpassing monthly sales milestones ranging from $100,000 to $4 million from May 2011 and May 2012.

These exceptional restaurant brands leveraged the power of online ordering to rake in the revenue and fuel continued growth. For example, online ordering sales for repeat winners increased 30-60% compared to 2010-2011. And 10-15% of total sales came from those smartphones we can’t seem to get enough of.  New customer acquisition rocked for our clients as well, with a 72% increase in first time online ordering users across all restaurants chains! Good stuff, right?!

So without further adieu, huge congrats to the following 2012 Spark Award winners: Applebee’s, Boston Pizza, Chanello’s Pizza, Corner Bakery Cafe, D’Angelo, Dion’s Pizza, East Side Mario’s, Hungry Howie’s Pizza, Jersey Mike’s Subs, Jet’s Pizza, Mr. Goodcents, Panera Bread, Papa Gino’s, Pizza Boli’s, Round Table Pizza, Silver Mine Subs, and Toppers Pizza.

Learn more about the Spark Awards program here. And while you’re here, check out our hilarious list of the “Top 10 Things to Do with Your ONOSYS Spark Award.”

Need to spark a fire to get your sales smokin’? Give us a call and let us explain how ONOSYS can help add your company to this celebrated list in 2013.

Once upon a time, you had time.  And grocery shopping was grand. Strolling down the produce aisle, frolicking in the bakery, and pulling your lucky number at the deli counter. Ah, life in the slow lane. Remember those days? Yeah, me neither.

Truth is your grocery shopping strategy is – and will always be – get your food, and get out. That’s why it’s no surprise that grocery chains like Whole Foods, Publix, and Lowes Foods are jumping on the online ordering bandwagon for deli, bakery and prepared foods. They know their customers are on-the-go and that convenience is key to keep ‘em coming back for more.

After all, grocers are part of the service industry too.  And when it comes to serving food, folks want it fast and easy. That’s why online ordering rocks the restaurant industry and why it’s expected to do the same for supermarkets.

According to Nielsen, the U.S. grocery market is a $538 billion industry, and by 2014 the online grocery segment will hit $25 billion. That means it’s ripe for tech integration. And there’s no better time than now for food shops to plug into the future.

So the next time you’re standing around waiting for a deli tray, think of all the things you could be doing if you would’ve ordered your grocery goods online and picked ‘em up in the drive-thru. Ah, to live life in the fast lane.

Does your local grocery store sell their goods online? If so, do you use it? Why or why not? Share with us here. 

Have some friends in the supermarket biz that need a little tech persuasion? Feel free to send them our way!

The fourth installment of Supper Club brought the ONOSYS crew to Happy Dog – a Cleveland landmark located on the West Side of the city.  Happy Dog is known for their great live music, the array of old school video games, casual neighborhood atmosphere and fantastic beer list. But our main (and most important!) mission was to sample the famous build-your-own Hot Dogs.  Celebrity chefs from the area have all created their own favorite famous dog, and being a group that “lives hungry,” we opted to follow in suit.  Each of us (including our dedicated paleo peeps) built a unique Hot Dog from the 50 toppings to choose from – and delicious masterpieces were created before our very eyes!

The build-your-own list consists of many options to add to your dog.  They range from house made ketchup, to Pimento Mac-n-Cheese,  to Bacon – Balsamic Marmalade, a Fried Egg or Ginger Sesame Coleslaw.   We all congregated in the Underdog (lower level of the restaurant) and tackled the list.  Multiple scrunched up papers in the middle of our table proved that the decision is not an easy one to make.   I went through four rounds before creating what I thought was the perfect dog, and of course added the side of tater tots to round out the meal.

Happy Dog lives up to the hype!  All of our hot dog creations were delicious and unique.  My Hot Dog creation of Blue Cheese Coleslaw, Caramelized Onions, Kansas City BBQ Sauce and Bacon Balsamic Marmalade hit the spot.  Other unique creations included Peanut butter, hot sauce and Alien pickle relish, as well as Dill Pickle Spears, Applewood smoked bacon, and Habanero pickled onions.  Though all of dogs should require a fork and knife to be consumed, we happily dominated the Happy Dog experience with messy hands and full bellies!