The need for order integration APIs stems from the rapid growth of online food delivery and the phenomenal success of online food order aggregator companies such as Swiggy, Uber Eats and Zomato. Restaurants have faced difficulty in managing this large influx of customer data and the need for automating data flows has thus arisen. API integrations is one way in which order data from online aggregators can be synced into the POS.
Through this article, we would be giving you a brief guide on how you can go about setting up an Uber Eats API, that is, sync in every single order that you receive from Uber Eats directly into your POS system.
We would be covering the following:
- Why do you need an Uber API Integration?
- How to sign up with Uber Eats?
- How to link all Uber orders to your POS System?
- The need for an API with online food ordering aggregators today
To begin with, what is API? What does it mean?
API stands for Application Program Interface. In essence, it is a bunch of tools and fixed protocols that need to be used to make software applications. It can act as a link between different kinds of software or different applications.
It is basically like a middleman for two different applications. It dictates and monitors their interaction, without you having to manually check up on two different systems.
Having an API helps you save time and subsequently making operations much more efficient. Uber Eats API makes food delivery seem like child’s play and the entire process is handled entirely by the app, ultimately leaving you with more time to focus on providing good service to your customers.
How to sign up with Uber Eats?
Before you go ahead and start your partnership with Uber Eats, you need to make sure of a couple of things. You need to have a valid FSSAI License and registration details related to your restaurant.
Once you have accounted for all these legal factors and have them ready, you can carry on with the rest of the process.
Next, all you have to do is visit the Uber Eats website. This step is pretty simple. Here, you have to select the “partner with us” link. On opening this link, you’ll have to fill out your name, your restaurant’s name and address, the number of locations that it is based in and the type of cuisine it serves. You will also have to mention whether your restaurant staff already delivers food orders.
After you have filled out all the details required on the website, Uber Eats will contact you for the legal documentation required. Once all your credentials are verified by them, you will become an Uber Eats partner. All food delivery can be done through the app in just a couple of easy steps. You will no longer have to deal with the hassle of managing food delivery or customer service for online orders.
How to link all Uber Eats orders to your POS System?
Once you’ve officially become an Uber Eats partner, you need to focus on managing food orders that you receive from customers through this platform. You already have to handle orders that you receive from customers who are physically present in the restaurant. At the same time, you have to ensure that online orders get processed on time too.
There are a couple of ways to go about this:
- For every order you receive on the Uber Eats application, you could jot it down and manually put it up on your POS system. You could have a person who is only in charge of taking online orders. It would be his or her job to upload each online order on the system. Assuming that you don’t have an API in place, this is the only option you have. However, there is a downside to this- there is always the possibility of human error taking place. Moreover, you will also have to account for the time it takes between receiving an order and then putting it on your system. This definitely isn’t the most efficient way of handling food delivery orders.
- Another option you have is to outsource Uber Eats API integration entirely. Instead of doing the job on your own, you could bring in a third party in to handle things for you. A professional vendor or agency can develop an application to make sure that you can receive and manage food delivery orders properly. However, every time there is a glitch or an error in the system, it might result in having to pay high maintenance fees. In the long run, this might cause some serious damage to your profit margins.
- Your best shot at managing online orders efficiently along with in-house operations is to pick a good restaurant management system. For instance, LimeTray has an Online Ordering Integration Tool called Merge which is designed in a way to link your restaurant’s POS to every order received through online food delivery platforms such as Uber Eats or your website, along with the orders you receive in the restaurant itself. In one easy setup, you can check the status of your orders, see what platforms they have been received on, accept or decline orders and so on. You can also turn the delivery option off entirely for certain locations, depending on the prevailing conditions around the city. This is an easy and foolproof way of managing orders received online as well as offline.
Why do you need an Uber Eats API Integration?
Running a restaurant means handling a number of things all at once. This involves taking orders, preparing food and beverages in the kitchen, making sure that you’re not running out of ingredients, scheduling reservations, cleaning, and whatnot. Apart from these in-house operations, if you also want to receive food delivery orders on your website or even on the phone, it can be quite a challenging task. Each process is equally important and messing up at even step can affect the operations as a whole.
An Uber Eats API integration can help tremendously in managing restaurant operations. This is true especially if:
- You are getting loads of orders from Uber Eats
- You have more than one outlet for your brand
- You plan to expand and open up more restaurant outlets in the near future
- You want to have all the data related to inventory management and orders in one single space for easy access
The need for an Uber Eats API with online food ordering aggregators today
Outsourcing Uber Eats API integrations to a third party vendor comes with a ton of perks. It reduces workload, increases efficiency and even helps in creating reports using past data to approach operations in the future.
Easy Tracking
Managing the horde of orders you receive every day can be quite difficult. With the use of an Uber Eats API for instance, you get to access all your orders and their real-time status. All of this is just one click away and you don’t have to constantly shuffle through pages to check up on one particular order. You could check the status of all your orders at each outlet you have, at any given moment.
Instant Notifications
The best part of having an API linkage is that with every order, you receive real-time updates through notifications on your phone as well as on your email. If you have left your business in the hands of the management and gone out of town, you can still check up on operations every now and then just to ensure that things are in place.
All your Orders in One Place
You get to access your orders in one single place. This includes orders received offline as well as online, through various websites and applications. You get a comprehensive overview of your operations through a simple and easy to use interface. This decreases the pressure on current employees and makes training new employees much easier too.
Higher Efficiency
Once you receive orders online (whether on your website or Uber Eats) you don’t have to manually upload them on the POS system. Instead, the data is processed through API and uploaded instantly. Thanks to real-time processing and updates, you get to save a lot of time. There is also no scope of human error.
Detailed Reports
If you want your restaurant to experience more growth, you have to build strategies for future operations. To do so, you need to evaluate your current status, what works and what doesn’t and only then can you decide the future course of action. With an effective restaurant POS system, you have all this information just one click away. You have data on a range of factors to use from.
Modifications made Easy
If you are running a restaurant, you’ve probably picked up on dishes that are customer favorites and other dishes that people just don’t seem to be too fond of. Or maybe, there’s a festival going on and people are avoiding a certain type of food for a while. Whatever the reason may be, sometimes you need to make quick changes to your menu. With an API, you can make any changes you want to your menu, all through your phone or laptop! You could do this virtually from anywhere in the world, all in a matter of minutes- entirely hassle-free.
We hope this article gave you a good brief on how to approach the Uber Eats integrations via APIs. Do let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.
Good luck!
