Jik Jik Chinese: 104 dishes, zero commission

Welcome: Jik Jik Chinese, PWD Islamabad

0:00Welcome to Built on Sitey, the show where we look at real Pakistani businesses and the websites that actually run them.

0:07I'm Daniel.

0:08And I am Manor.

0:09Today we are in PWD Islamabad, at a Chinese restaurant called Jik Jik Chinese.

0:15Their website carries a full menu of 104 dishes, and every order goes straight to their WhatsApp, with zero commission to any food app.

0:22104 dishes, their own food photography, prices in black and white, and a cart that writes your order out for you.

The restaurant itself

0:29Let us start with the business itself.

0:31What is Jik Jik Chinese?

0:33It is a proper desi Chinese kitchen at 342 A, Block A, PWD Islamabad.

0:39Everything is cooked after you order, real wok heat, generous portions, and the prices are built for family dinner, not a fancy night out.

0:47They are open every single day, 12 noon to midnight, dine in, and take away.

Before the website, and what food apps take

0:51And before Sitey built their website, they were like most small restaurants in Pakistan.

0:56No website at all at the table.

0:58The menu lived as photos that got forwarded around on WhatsApp, and the same two questions came in all day long.

1:05What is the price, and do you deliver to my street?

1:08Exactly, and here is the part owners feel in their pocket.

1:12When orders come through the big food apps, a cut goes to the app on every single order.

1:17For a family restaurant working on thin margins, that cut is the difference between a good month and a bad one.

Ordering as a customer: cart to WhatsApp

1:22So what did the Sitey website change? Walk me through it as a customer.

1:27You open jikjikchinese.sitey.pk on your phone.

1:30The first thing you see is their own food, not stock photos, their actual chowmein, their actual Manchurian.

1:36The menu is in Urdu and English on the same page, laid out properly.

1:40You tap a size to add a dish, the cart builds itself, and one button sends the whole order to their WhatsApp written out neatly.

1:46Item names, quantities, total, everything.

1:50No account to make, no app to download, no card needed.

1:53And on the restaurant side, the order just arrives as a WhatsApp message they can reply to in minutes.

1:59That is the whole trick.

2:00The website does the explaining, the WhatsApp does the talking.

2:04And because the owner can change prices and dishes from his own phone, the menu online is never out of date.

2:09When the price of chicken goes up, the menu changes the same day, no developer needed.

On the menu: chowmein, lunch boxes, platters

2:14Let us talk about what is actually on that menu, because the range is what makes this a case study and not just a brochure.

2:21What are the signatures?

2:22The Jik Jik Special Chowmein is the hero.

2:25Then there are four lunch boxes at Rs 899 each, rice, Manchurian, chowmein, and a piece of chicken in one box.

2:33Students get their own deals at Rs 750.

2:37And for families, there are platters for four and six, with a free 1.5 litre cold drink in the bigger ones.

2:43And the combos are priced the way Pakistani families actually order.

2:47Chicken Manchurian with rice at Rs 799, chicken fried rice at Rs 750, nothing here, and everything written down.

Show the price

2:56Which brings us to the bigger lesson here, and it is one Sitey repeats on every project.

3:01Show the price.

3:03Customers leave when they cannot see a price.

3:05Some people are too shy to ask how much something costs, so they just go to the place that already tells them.

3:11That is straight from Sitey's own short film, and Jik Jik is the living proof of it.

3:16104 dishes, every price on display in two languages.

Speed, Google listing and their own address

3:21A few more details that matter for a business owner listening to this.

3:24The site is fast, even on a weak mobile signal, because most customers open it from Google Maps on data, not Wi-Fi.

3:31It sits next to their Google listing, which shows 3.5 stars across 46 reviews.

3:37And the address lives at their own web address, so it is theirs, not rented space on someone else's app.

Three things to take away

3:43So if you run a restaurant, a dhaba, a bakery, anything with a menu, what should you take away from Jik Jik Chinese?

3:49Three things.

3:50First, own your ordering channel.

3:53Every order that comes through your own website and WhatsApp is an order with no commission.

3:57Second, put your real menu online with real prices and your own photos, because that is what turns a Google search into a customer.

4:05Third, make it editable from your phone, because a menu you cannot update is a menu that goes stale in a month.

What a site like this costs

4:12And the cost of getting this built?

4:14Sitey shows its prices up front, too.

4:16A restaurant site starts at Rs 10,000 to build, plus Rs 4,000 a month, which covers hosting and any changes you want.

4:23The exact figure is given in writing before anything starts.

4:26If this episode made you think of your own business, the starting point is simple.

4:30Go to sitey.pk, or message them on WhatsApp at 0326 3974343.

4:38Send your business name, and they will look at your Google listing and show you what your site could be before you decide anything.

Wrap-up

4:45That is our episode.

4:46Jik Jik Chinese, PWD Islamabad, 104 dishes, zero commission, all on WhatsApp.

4:52I am Daniel.

4:54And I am Manor.

4:55If you know a business that needs its menu online, share this episode with them.

4:59See you in the next one.