Photo by mp1746, CC0 1.0
The ability to order food online is taking the world by storm. Soon, Americans may actually order the majority of their food online. Home sick with the flu? Get on your computer and order some soup! Having a party and need some more pizzas? Just tap in an order on your phone! People are even starting to buy their groceries online! If you need more reasons to hop on board, just keep reading.
- You Can Order from Your Phone or Mobile Device
One super convenient advance in food ordering technology is the ability to do it all online or even using your smartphone. This is great if you don’t relish having to explain your order over the phone twelve times or worry that the person taking your order couldn’t hear you over the noise from the kitchen. Plus, you can be in the middle of a meeting at work or sitting in a cab on your way home from a party and just tap in your order on your phone!
- You Can Order Any Time
The internet never sleeps, which is great news for you if you want to place an order for food online. Wake up hungry in the middle of the night and don’t have anything in your fridge? Order in from the comfort of your computer! Only have a 30-minute lunch break and no time to actually go get food? Just put an order in from your phone while you’re still on the clock!
- You Can Order from Any Place
Online ordering isn’t just something you use from the comfort of your own home. Since you can order from your phone, too, you can place an order from a friend’s house, at work, or pretty much anywhere else you can think of. You can even order on the go so you’ll have food ready for you right when you get wherever you’re going!
- You Can Still Eat Healthy
Ordering delivery can tempt you to cheat on diet or usual healthy eating habits, but it doesn’t have to be that way. In fact, some studies have shown that ordering online distances you from the food (and the smells!) enough that you can make smarter, healthier decisions. From the safety of your computer or smartphone, you can look for healthier alternatives on the menu or even choose to order only from health-food restaurants. Just because pizza is the most common delivery food doesn’t mean you can’t get a salad or a wrap! If it helps, try writing down the kind of food you are looking for in advance. With a goal in mind, you are less likely to stray towards those tempting, fatty foods.
- You Won’t Go Broke
Ordering food online doesn’t have to hurt your wallet. In most cases, you’re just charged a small delivery fee. Plus, the tip for your driver is usually way less than you’d tip a waiter at a sit down restaurant, so in some ways you’re actually saving money! Also, you can see your total when you go to check out and are free to remove items from your cart if the charge is higher than you’d like. This is way better than being stuck with sticker shock when you receive your bill after eating a meal out at a restaurant.
- You Can Tip Online, Too
One great thing about ordering food online is that you can still tip your driver without having to have cash on hand. Most places allow you either to write in the amount of your tip on your receipt or via the driver’s smartphone. Sometimes they even just have a button for you to press to choose from a 15%, 20%, or 25% tip, with an option for selecting your own amount as well. This is a great feature for people like me who aren’t good at doing mental math on the spot!
- You Have More Options Than You Think
Even though most restaurants today offer online ordering and delivery, there are still a few holdouts who don’t. Thankfully, there are ways around that! If a place offers delivery but not to your address, or if they only allow for in-person pick-ups, you can use services like Uber eats to get around the problem. what is uber eats, you ask? Well, Uber is mainly a ridesharing service, but they can also pick up your take-out orders for you!
Final Thoughts:
Ordering food online is, at least as far as I’m concerned, one of the greatest inventions of the 21st century. Now that you know all of the tricks, take advantage of it!
