Building a Foodservice Website for Your Retail Brand

Don’t let your foodservice site play second fiddle to retail.

Say your retail brand is breaking into foodservice. You need the autonomy to build and track targeted campaigns. You need to quickly launch, test, and repeat. And that requires a dedicated website.

Budget-splicers may ask, do we need another website for another channel, really?
The answer is yes – when you have a new audience, distinct functionality, and the need to nimbly create and prove ROI.

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Here are the top reasons why you need a separate digital presence for foodservice.

1. It’s a new audience / new UX.

Your brand should show up differently for foodservice buyers than retail consumers. Think serious chef versus home decision maker. Consider how foodservice decision-makers are:

Highly knowledgeable.

• Many have decades of industry experience. They are experts.
• Chefs are looking for menu inspirations, not step-by-step recipes.
• Buyers appreciate technical or industry language that builds trust.

Time-strapped.

• Less time means a greater need to cut to the chase.

2. The function is unique.

When you’re running a dedicated media campaign, it pays to drive operators to a targeted digital experience. An independent site can help you:

• Clarify communication channels throughout a campaign.
• Secure more qualified lead-gen.
• Fully vet sample requests before they go out.

3. Get your hands on the steering wheel.

Finally, factor in the response time – to build, update, and revise a site.

Adding a foodservice page (or three) to a retail site sounds simple enough, like a smaller investment. But a retail site’s complex dev and management system can actually make it more difficult to build – or even update – a single page compared to a dedicated site that’s made for flexibility.

Why swim upstream for even the smallest updates when you can have full independence based on real-time metrics tied to your exact audience?

Having control of the site allows your foodservice marketing team to work independently – and get things done.