4 ms·

Maybe I'm just out of touch, but the appeal of online pizza ordering is something I can't wrap my mind around. Calling and placing an order using the tradition

by JackCh 9y ago

Maybe I'm just out of touch, but the appeal of online pizza ordering is something I can't wrap my mind around. Calling and placing an order using the traditional telephone method seems far easier to me. I do it often, more often than I should. Furthermore it seems better for the business since presumably the phone company takes a much smaller cut of the sale than whatever web platform they may be using. Is it because people are growing more adverse to the brief limited social interaction of a phonecall? Is it because people are placing very large and complex orders that are difficult to convey over the phone? (admittedly most of my orders are for a single pizza with two or three topping specified..) Is it because websites have more pictures that people find attractive?

nxc18 9y ago
1) having to talk over the other restaurant staff; receiver can't hear you. 2) reading my credit card number over the phone 3) explaining the details of the order. The human always messes it up. 4) getting surprised by the cost, or having to calculate the cost for all the items ahead of time. I'd rather negotiate my order with a machine in the privacy of my own home than with a person on the phone.
- wand3r 9y ago
  interesting, i have never had this experience. i can hear the staff, explicitly order what I want, confirm the price with the person and then pick it up paying with card or cash. also, most delivery places have square-type pos services or i just pay cash so i don't give a card over the phone. i love online ordering of products but i think ordering food is a bad experience. Typically my orders are uncomplicated and small though and usually for pickup.
- JackCh 9y ago
  I see. I typically pay with cash, however whenever my trip to an ATM is overdue I pay with credit and they have my number (and delivery address, and typical pizza order) on file, correlated with my phone number. The pizzeria I most frequently order from is a loud bar and I hear the din of the bar noise in the background quite clearly, but I've never had to repeat myself when talking with them over the phone. Often times I can order a pizza over the phone using nothing more than three words "yes ... yes ... yes", in response to the questions "are you still at [address]", "same order as last time?", "cash?". Certainly a website can remember such details as well, but poking around at a webpage that remembers such details isn't nearly as straight forward in my mind as simply talking to a person for a few seconds.
  - Operyl 9y ago
    Which is just as terrifying if someone knows you order from that place .. caller id spoofing is pretty easy and I doubt it’d be hard to convince them to change the address.
    - JackCh 9y ago
      Honestly I have better things to worry about. Despite that being theoretically possible, how often do you think it actually happens? It's more likely that I'll be hit and killed by a car tomorrow, a more likely scenario with a far more severe consequence. And even that is a scenario I don't find myself dwelling on. Possible? Yes. Terrifying? Not even remotely.
- gnahckire 9y ago
  > reading my credit card number over the phone I find this interesting because most places I call for carry out just take my order and name. I then pay at the counter with my credit card when I pick it up.
  - JackCh 9y ago
    In my experience it's standard to pay in person when you pick it up, whether you're using cash or credit. But if you're getting delivery they ask for your credit card number when you place the order (and obviously cash is handed over when it's delivered.)
    - khedoros1 9y ago
      Odd. If I'm paying in cash for a delivery, I'd question them asking for a credit card number.
glitcher 9y ago
It's probably a combination of all the above. Personally I don't like talking on the phone. Busy shops will commonly begin the phone call with a greeting followed immediately by "can you please hold". That alone is enough to drive me to their website next time I order.
jupiter90000 9y ago
Reasons I order pizza online instead of over phone usually: - Online only or other coupons/deals are usually displayed - Entire restaurant menu and other sides can be perused at my leisure and selected - When ordering for multiple people can build a shopping cart of what is wanted by all and verify it's right before confirming order - Phone calls feel rushed to me when I call in, like 'hurry up and order' - I don't get put on hold on the phone
- ryanwaggoner 9y ago
  I agree with all of this, and I’ll add four more: - fewer worries order will be put in wrong - sometimes have a hard time understanding, due to noise, accents, bad connection - sometimes in an environment where I need to be quiet - just don’t like the phone
- entelechy0 9y ago
  Hilariously, I get told a lot that customers have trouble using the online system. Maybe I'm just a young, hip tech geek, but the online system is easy as hell. I love it. Old people suck at computers more often than not, so they are always dependent on a human touch, no matter how frail it is.
Spooky23 9y ago
Mostly laziness. The restaurants push it because it makes upsell easier. Try one of the touchscreen McDonald’s order kiosks. You need to navigate many dark patterns to order anything that isn’t a meal deal.
dragonwriter 9y ago
> Maybe I'm just out of touch, but the appeal of online pizza ordering is something I can't wrap my mind around. Online pizza ordering could be awesome, and good for pizzerias, because most of them are limited on phone staff at the times the most people order which can make the phone order process inconvenient (and filled with long hold delays) unless you avoid ordering at busy times which, by definition, lots of people don't. OTOH, most online ordering systems for pizza seemed to designed for maximum UX horror, making calling a better experience even at busy times. But online ordering should be a win through asynchrony.
stordoff 9y ago
For me, it's usually because if I'm ordering something it's for a group of people (family or group of friends), so it's easier to put the order together online (you can go round the room and ask them what they want, then get them to double check the order at the end). There's also the fact that at a couple of the local places, the staff don't speak English as a first language, which combined with the noise of the shop often leads to you repeating yourself or there being occasional mixups.
khedoros1 9y ago
I often order at work, just before going to the pizza place (and then home). Ordering online means that I can spend some time thinking about what to order, whether I want more than just pizza, poking around to see if there are special offers that day (even check on more than one restaurant without bothering their employees), and so on. I can avoid the person at the register punching the wrong thing in, get a receipt on my phone, and not have to call several times in a row to get the teen working the register to pick up. The phone call's easier if I know which restaurant I'm going to order from, which coupon I'll use, and everything I plan on ordering, but often those 3 things don't apply at the same time...and I still have to go online to find the place's phone number.

by JackCh 9y ago

nxc18 9y ago

1) having to talk over the other restaurant staff; receiver can't hear you. 2) reading my credit card number over the phone 3) explaining the details of the order. The human always messes it up. 4) getting surprised by the cost, or having to calculate the cost for all the items ahead of time. I'd rather negotiate my order with a machine in the privacy of my own home than with a person on the phone.

wand3r 9y ago
interesting, i have never had this experience. i can hear the staff, explicitly order what I want, confirm the price with the person and then pick it up paying with card or cash. also, most delivery places have square-type pos services or i just pay cash so i don't give a card over the phone. i love online ordering of products but i think ordering food is a bad experience. Typically my orders are uncomplicated and small though and usually for pickup.
JackCh 9y ago
I see. I typically pay with cash, however whenever my trip to an ATM is overdue I pay with credit and they have my number (and delivery address, and typical pizza order) on file, correlated with my phone number. The pizzeria I most frequently order from is a loud bar and I hear the din of the bar noise in the background quite clearly, but I've never had to repeat myself when talking with them over the phone. Often times I can order a pizza over the phone using nothing more than three words "yes ... yes ... yes", in response to the questions "are you still at [address]", "same order as last time?", "cash?". Certainly a website can remember such details as well, but poking around at a webpage that remembers such details isn't nearly as straight forward in my mind as simply talking to a person for a few seconds.
- Operyl 9y ago
  Which is just as terrifying if someone knows you order from that place .. caller id spoofing is pretty easy and I doubt it’d be hard to convince them to change the address.
  - JackCh 9y ago
    Honestly I have better things to worry about. Despite that being theoretically possible, how often do you think it actually happens? It's more likely that I'll be hit and killed by a car tomorrow, a more likely scenario with a far more severe consequence. And even that is a scenario I don't find myself dwelling on. Possible? Yes. Terrifying? Not even remotely.
gnahckire 9y ago
> reading my credit card number over the phone I find this interesting because most places I call for carry out just take my order and name. I then pay at the counter with my credit card when I pick it up.
- JackCh 9y ago
  In my experience it's standard to pay in person when you pick it up, whether you're using cash or credit. But if you're getting delivery they ask for your credit card number when you place the order (and obviously cash is handed over when it's delivered.)
  - khedoros1 9y ago
    Odd. If I'm paying in cash for a delivery, I'd question them asking for a credit card number.

glitcher 9y ago

It's probably a combination of all the above. Personally I don't like talking on the phone. Busy shops will commonly begin the phone call with a greeting followed immediately by "can you please hold". That alone is enough to drive me to their website next time I order.

jupiter90000 9y ago

Reasons I order pizza online instead of over phone usually: - Online only or other coupons/deals are usually displayed - Entire restaurant menu and other sides can be perused at my leisure and selected - When ordering for multiple people can build a shopping cart of what is wanted by all and verify it's right before confirming order - Phone calls feel rushed to me when I call in, like 'hurry up and order' - I don't get put on hold on the phone

ryanwaggoner 9y ago
I agree with all of this, and I’ll add four more: - fewer worries order will be put in wrong - sometimes have a hard time understanding, due to noise, accents, bad connection - sometimes in an environment where I need to be quiet - just don’t like the phone
entelechy0 9y ago
Hilariously, I get told a lot that customers have trouble using the online system. Maybe I'm just a young, hip tech geek, but the online system is easy as hell. I love it. Old people suck at computers more often than not, so they are always dependent on a human touch, no matter how frail it is.

Spooky23 9y ago

Mostly laziness. The restaurants push it because it makes upsell easier. Try one of the touchscreen McDonald’s order kiosks. You need to navigate many dark patterns to order anything that isn’t a meal deal.

dragonwriter 9y ago

> Maybe I'm just out of touch, but the appeal of online pizza ordering is something I can't wrap my mind around. Online pizza ordering could be awesome, and good for pizzerias, because most of them are limited on phone staff at the times the most people order which can make the phone order process inconvenient (and filled with long hold delays) unless you avoid ordering at busy times which, by definition, lots of people don't. OTOH, most online ordering systems for pizza seemed to designed for maximum UX horror, making calling a better experience even at busy times. But online ordering should be a win through asynchrony.

stordoff 9y ago

For me, it's usually because if I'm ordering something it's for a group of people (family or group of friends), so it's easier to put the order together online (you can go round the room and ask them what they want, then get them to double check the order at the end). There's also the fact that at a couple of the local places, the staff don't speak English as a first language, which combined with the noise of the shop often leads to you repeating yourself or there being occasional mixups.

khedoros1 9y ago

I often order at work, just before going to the pizza place (and then home). Ordering online means that I can spend some time thinking about what to order, whether I want more than just pizza, poking around to see if there are special offers that day (even check on more than one restaurant without bothering their employees), and so on. I can avoid the person at the register punching the wrong thing in, get a receipt on my phone, and not have to call several times in a row to get the teen working the register to pick up. The phone call's easier if I know which restaurant I'm going to order from, which coupon I'll use, and everything I plan on ordering, but often those 3 things don't apply at the same time...and I still have to go online to find the place's phone number.