Facebook to let Restaurants Post Menus to their Pages
The days of having to snap a picture of the menu or typing out the entire menu is a thing of the past. Facebook is now allowing restaurants to post their menus on their facebook pages. The new development is powered by SinglePlatform from Constant Contact, an online listing service aimed to help local businesses advertise their products, photos, and menus. This service is only available for those who have designated their restaurant page under the category of “Restaurant or Cafe.” As such, the push to classify restaurant and cafes under this category will expand Facebook’s platform as a social network that supports and will be used by local businesses.
As of now the menu option through SinglePlatform is only available in the U.S. and Canada. However, since it is only available in these two countries, Facebook is allowing restaurant pages to upload a PDF version of their menu for restaurants outside of the U.S. or Canada. (You can do so by going to Settings, Page Info, then Menus). On the other hand, restaurants that already use SinglePlatform will have their menus automatically uploaded to their facebook pages. The process will make it easier for both restaurant owners and customers to disseminate information and research restaurants.
What does this mean for websites that act as an online food ordering site or restaurant directory? Simply, it means raw competition. Facebook will now compete with other restaurant service websites such as Yelp and GrubHub. Yelp—a virtual directory of restaurants, OpenTable—a website that allowed users to review restaurants and owners to post their menus—, and GrubHub—an online food ordering company will all be affected by the new changes made on Facebook. Although customers can make online restaurant reservations on OpenTable through Facebook and Yelp, Facebook is attempting to engage local businesses—while on the other hand Yelp is attempting to become more social.
Allowing restaurants to post their menus on their Facebook page is a natural progression from what restaurant pages were able to display on Facebook. Previously a restaurant could post pictures, its business hours, and post about events or menu specials. It is only natural that now they are allowed to post their menus. Similarly, we should expect Facebook to allow customers to order from restaurant pages directly. For now, the update will present a chance to see how Yelp and other restaurant pages competing with Facebook will fare off and update their services to stay ahead of the game.
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