Columbus restaurant gift certificate

While the advantages of having a flashy, online presence remain intangible, restaurant operators are pulling out all the stops and maintaining high-tech Web sites to acknowledge the increasing numbers of customers surfing the Internet.

As high-speed Internet access becomes more readily available and as more people rely on the World Wide Web as a research tool, restaurant operators are turning to the information superhighway as a marketing method to reinforce their brands and drive customer traffic.

America's major cable and DSL providers added a combined 6.4 million Internet subscribers during 2002, according to new data from the Leichtman Research Group, a Durham, N.H.-based company specializing in research and consulting on the impact and adoption of broadband products and services.

Moreover, at least a half billion people worldwide now have some form of Internet access at home, according to Nielsen//NetRatings.

"It's an amazing venue for people at their leisure 24/7 to get a true experience of our restaurant," says Rick Tramonto, executive chef of Tru in Chicago. "We really wanted the culture of the restaurant to be felt with whoever looks at the site."

Shahram Bijan, owner of First Crush Wine Bar & Lounge in Seattle, attributes his restaurant's popularity to its animated Web presence. "The Web is the most useful resource for people to find out information about restaurants," he says. "It's a vital way to allow people to become familiar with us."

Popular restaurants throughout the country are turning away from bare-bones, information-focused sites to give customers a high-tech treat. In addition to featuring pictures of various menu items on Tru's Web site, the page incorporates innovative Macromedia Flash technology and a contemporary design to give customers a taste of the restaurant's Mediterranean-influenced French cuisine.

Similarly, Big Boy's introductory page on the Web presents visitors with an animated time line showcasing the evolution of the chain's signature mascot.

The nutrition section of McDonald's Web site allows visitors to gauge the nutrient and fat contents of a potential meal by filling a virtual "bag" with products and getting a running tally of fat grams, calories and other elements.

Del Taco on its Web site gives surfers the opportunity to view its commercials with a single mouse click. And the Chevys Fresh Mex casual-dining chain spices up its Web presence by including Latin-themed music.

Despite an inability to determine whether increased Web traffic means increased sales, restaurants continue to ramp up the creativity factor on their sites.

"There are a lot of unknowns in this particular form of marketing and advertising," says John Inserra, director of operations for South Water Kitchen in Chicago. "You have to trust the data."

To help quantify the impact his Web site has on customers, Inserra added a separate toll-free number that is available only online. Callers currently are placing an average of about three reservations per day, he says.

One sure-fire method to see immediate results from Web promotion is to implement an online reservation system, according to online reservation provider OpenTable Inc. Officials of OpenTable said it is nearing the milestone of seeing the 2 millionth restaurant reservation placed through its Web site.

"We are definitely seeing some of the highest growth rates in our entire history," says Nadine Weil, OpenTable's director of marketing. While it took the company from its inception in 1999 until last August to reach the one-millionth-customer mark, it gained close to an additional million in a matter of months, Weil adds.

Bijan of First Crush says he receives about 30 percent of his reservations through OpenTable's online service. Tru co-owner Tramonto says approximately 35 percent of his restaurant's reservations come from online booking.

According to Todd Reifenrath, vice president of Chicago-based Webitects.com Inc., which has designed Web sites for such prominent local restaurateurs as Charlie Trotter, a Web presence requires an investment of operators. "At the very minimum to do something right, you're probably talking in the $4,000-to-$5,000 range," he says.

While Reifenrath concedes that many restaurants do not have the excess cash to start a flashy Web site, he says that having some online basics can be a key to a restaurant's success. "It goes back to reinforcing the brand," he says, adding that restaurant Web sites can provide such fundamental advantages as offering the virtual equivalent of a comment card.

Because of the Web's high price tag, many chains are developing creative marketing techniques that promote their Internet sites. Wilbraham, Mass.-based Friendly Ice Cream Corp. recently launched a special Web site as a tie-in to the chain's sponsorship of a Winston Cup racecar. For the first time, the chain combined its restaurant marketing with its wholesale grocery product ice-cream business to maximize the promotion. The new Web site keeps racing fans up to date on the chain's car through news updates and photos.

A special continuity sweepstakes also was designed to keep Friendly's customers returning to the Web site. As part of the program, patrons receive special game books either inside specially marked half gallons of Friendly's Premium Ice Cream or from a participating restaurant. Logging on to the Web site allows customers to bank laps on a virtual race track for a variety of prizes, including a chance to cheer alongside the Friendly's Racing Team and driver Derrike Cope at the New Hampshire 400 on Sept. 14. The Web site also offers Friendly's Racing/Derrike Cope merchandise, such as hats, tee shirts, die-cast cars and a leather jacket.

Friendly began its promotion in March. In the first two weeks of the program, the chain had more than 11,500 unique visitors to the page, according to Pete Bell, Friendly's senior director of marketing. The site recorded more than 8,312 passbook entries from restaurant customers, he adds.

"One week into it, and we're blown away by the number of people who have registered," Bell says.

Taco Bell, in its most recent Web-based sweepstakes, received more than 23,000 entries. For the sweepstakes, which highlighted the quick-service chain's limited-time Monterey chicken quesadillas item, Taco Bell teamed up with popular online dating service Match.com to offer a trip for two to Monterey, Calif.

Columbus, Ohio-based Bob Evans Restaurants launched its Web site in 1999 for investors. But interactive media manager Ellen Griffith said the site is changing its focus to "be more of a relationship builder with customers." In addition to providing copious amounts of menu information and a restaurant locator, the Web site ties in kids marketing by the family-oriented chain.

"It's an audience where if you get its attention early, you can make life-long Bob Evans customers," Griffith says.

Although the 521-unit Bob Evans has been unable to quantify the value of its Web site, Griffith says the chain has doubled its gift certificate sales since they became available online. "Through the launch of our Web site, we really have increased our brand awareness," she adds.

RELATED ARTICLE: Pay-for-play Web site placement helps expose restaurants to online gourmets

Restaurants, faced with the daunting task of setting themselves apart from a host of competitors in the nation's big cities, are optimizing their Web presence by paying online review-and-referral companies to highlight their venues.

As such Internet resources as Citysearch and Digital City become increasingly popular tools for Web-savvy customers to research restaurants with, operators are vying for prominent space on those customer-review-driven sites.

In Citysearch's new pay-for-performance business model, restaurants that sign up for the program pay only an average of 30 cents to $1 per site-visitor "click" and get a prominent slot on Citysearch's main restaurant page, a company spokesman says.

In New York, such popular restaurants as La Caravelle, Bice Ristorante and Penang all pay for Citysearch's optimized positioning.

John Inserra, director of operations for the Chicago restaurant South Water Kitchen, says the fees his restaurant pays for enhanced placement on various Web sites that feature dining reviews represents only 0.7 percent of his total marketing budget. And in terms of hits the restaurant's Web site is receiving as a result of its linkage to the review sites, enhanced placement is "blowing away industry averages."

In New York the restaurant Eatery opted to advertise with Citysearch in order to stand out in Manhattan's crowded dining-out arena. According to Eatery principal Evan Kushner: "We're very much a local, neighborhood restaurant. Citysearch helps us get destination traffic and pretheater business."