Fox in the Snow & Daisies on Driving Online Revenue with Catering and Gift Cards

Fox in the Snow is a Columbus, Ohio-based bakery and coffee shop owned by husband and wife team Lauren Culley and Jeff Excell. They opened their business with a website built on a DIY platform but became frustrated by the difficulty of adding e-commerce. “It was just not intuitive, and we didn’t have time to learn about making a website when we were trying to get our business off the ground,” says Excell.

Similarly, in Chicago, Joe Frillman, owner and executive chef of the farm to table restaurant Daisies, was also trying to find the right website for his restaurant. “I’d seen the ads for DIY websites builders and it seemed easy enough to set up, but I quickly realized that it was time-consuming to update and didn’t have all the functionality I needed. I wanted a partner who understood more about restaurants.” 

Frustrated by the limitations of their DIY platforms, both Daisies and Fox in the Snow switched to BentoBox for their restaurant website needs. They both saw immediate results.

Benefits of a one-stop website

After making the switch, Fox in the Snow has enjoyed how much BentoBox has allowed them to simplify their business. “Our new website is so much easier to work with, and with catering, gift cards and merchandise built in, it has everything we need in one place,” says Excell. 

Other additions to their website include:

• Easy integration with Square for online payment processing

• Instagram feeds in directly to their homepage, keeping content fresh 

• Instant notifications on new online orders to streamline processing

As for Daisies, with BentoBox, the restaurant can now regularly update content online with ease, and Frillman has been pleasantly surprised by the additional features that allow him to keep track of multiple aspects of his business, such as:

• A job application form built into the website so they can directly recruit new hires

• Easy integration with key platforms like Reserve and MailChimp 

• Homepage alerts that can be posted on the fly for event promotion

“I used to have to think weeks in advance about communicating with a web agency to promote a special dinner, but now I can do it myself and the event starts selling right away,” says Frillman.

Find eCommerce success

Since launching eCommerce with BentoBox, Fox in the Snow has also been able to grow their business with impressive results:

• Over $18K in gift card sales in just a few months

• Over $21K in catering sales from their catering store

Not only have they been able to see a huge return on their investment, but their new website has streamlined their ordering procedure. Fox in the Snow used to have to process all orders by hand, but with their new restaurant website they can easily manage and organize everything from their BentoBox backend. For Excell and his team, the change has been invaluable. “Adding the ability to order and pay online has become an important revenue stream for us, and it’s so easy to manage through BentoBox,” he says.

Maximize the holiday season

With restaurant websites that allow them to easily update eCommerce options and provide a smoother workflow, it’s no wonder that Daisies and Fox in the Snow have also seen significant results during the hectic holiday season. Highlights include:

• Fox in the Snow sold over $2,500 of Thanksgiving pumpkin pies

• Daisies sold over $2,000 in holiday gift cards in 10 days 

Bottom Line: While Fox in the Snow and Daisies are two completely different dining concepts, each with their own unique needs in terms of growth, BentoBox was the best choice for both of their restaurant websites. Not only does it help them drive revenue, but as Frillman puts it, “The website helps me stay on top of my to-do list and saves me time and money every day.” 

Want to learn more about how BentoBox can help your restaurant drive more revenue online? Get in touch today!