Barry Bagels, a sandwich, salad and soup company, is letting consumers order via mobile in an effort to increase sales.

The bakery chain has an online ordering site and went mobile to be in front of a much broader, busier demographic. Using the application, consumers can access past orders, favorites and specials.

“We are looking for ways to make it extremely easy and convenient to order from our locations anytime anywhere,” said Mark Greenblatt, president of Barry Bagels, Toledo, OH. “The idea of putting our logo on customer phones is priceless since it builds brand recognition and reminds them every time about their favorite bagel brand.”

Barry Bagels is a five-unit restaurant with four stores in Ohio and another in Michigan that was founded in 1972. The company serves bagels made from scratch, coffees, soups, salads, sandwiches and desserts.

Onosys Online Ordering, a provider of online and mobile ordering services, developed the application for Barry Bagels.

College kids want convenience
The iPhone ordering applications created by Onosys are customizable for every restaurant.

Using the application, customers can find restaurant locations and get directions via the device’s GPS.

Favorite and past orders are synchronized immediately with the consumer’s online profile. This feature allows complete functionality of the program to be in the hands of the consumer.

Stan Garber, a partner at Onosys, Cleveland, said Barry Bagels launched an application to make it extremely easy and convenient to order from their restaurants anytime, anywhere.

“With the Barry Bagels logo always being on the customer’s phone, that’s brand recognition and reenforcement that’s very valuable,” Mr. Garber said.

The application is addressing Barry Bagels’ challenge in figuring out how to reach young, on-the-go consumers who are sometimes hard to reach through traditional media outlets.

The targeted demographic for the application is mainly college students and middle-to upper-class consumers.

Barry Bagels has in-store and online advertisements promoting the application.

Future marketing plans include marketing at Toledo University and University of Michigan. Barry Bagels plans to offer a free bagel with a consumer’s first iPhone order. 

Mobile loyalty
Mr. Garber said Barry Bagels customers are very loyal.

The application ordering needed to be quick and convenient for consumers to place orders anytime and for them to think Barry Bagels when it comes time to pick a restaurant.

“As customers grow increasingly more dependent on their mobile devices to deliver information, Barry Bagels wants to make sure that their locations have the advantage of being always visible and always available to taking customer orders,” Mr. Garber said.

However, mobile ordering is not for every eatery.

Mr. Garber said locations that do not have a high to-go business are not really ideal candidates for mobile ordering applications.

The same goes for catering heavy locations because of the complexity in the order process.

“In general, any eatery that is doing more than 6 percent of their business to-go could benefit from a mixture of online and mobile ordering,” Mr. Garber said. “Eateries next to schools, downtown, or around business parks are perfect for a mobile solution because they are always on the move and saving 15 minutes during lunch would be a big win for them.”