Restaurant spices up its prices
An Indian restaurant has been able to spice up its prices with big discounts for takeaway customers after signing-up to a new e-commerce service designed to help small businesses survive and thrive.
Like many other small independent restaurants Tamarind, at Walsall Road, Cannock, works with third-party online ordering and delivery services, which take significant amounts in commission to process the orders.
But after hearing about Ourlocal.uk, an innovative company that designs and builds low-cost e-commerce websites for small businesses, the owners of Tamarind are now encouraging customers to order direct via their own website, instead of using the big app companies.
Because of the significant savings the business makes compared to using major delivery firms, customers that order direct from Tamarind can now get a 20 per cent discount off their favourite dishes.
Russ James, director at Ourlocal.uk, said: “Many people don’t realise that when they use the major delivery apps such as Just Eat, Deliveroo and Uber Eats, the restaurant has to pay high commission rates which means they may have to charge more for their dishes or risk going out of business.
“It may be a cliche, but buying direct from local businesses really is a win-win situation for customers. They get to order direct with the team at Tamarind and their food is delivered by the Tamarind’s own drivers. They get the same great food, delivered to their door, but at a price that is 20% less than before.”
Mohammed Ali, owner of Tamarind, said: “We do use the big food delivery apps, because customers like to use them and they became very popular during lockdown. The problem is they can be quite demanding and offer us little to no access to our customers.
“The high commission rates charged means it was difficult for our business to grow in a sustainable way. However, with our new online shop – built by OurLocal.uk – we are now getting orders direct from new and old customers. This is helping us to build a database of customers and we can offer them special deals from time to time and reward them for their loyalty.”
He added: “What I really like about OurLocal.uk is they are only interested in promoting my business. They appreciate my customers should remain my customers - and they do everything they can to help us achieve that.”
Staffordshire entrepreneur Darren Nelson launched Ourlocal.uk to help save local high streets. He invested heavily in the service, which designs and delivers e-commerce websites for small businesses so they can take online orders, and joined forces with businessmen Russ James and Andi Elliot.
He said: “It’s heartening to hear how the Tamarind and its customers are benefitting from using the Ourlocal service because both are making significant savings and getting much better value for money. Every pound counts for a local business because it means the difference between surviving and thriving. It’s exactly why I launched the service.”
Tamarind is open seven days a week from 5.30pm.
