If you own a restaurant, it may seem that you already have a long list of things to handle daily, and you may be experiencing stress because your deliveries are running late. In order to save you time and effort, we have put together this guide to improve your deliveries. These are the most important things you must do to prepare your restaurant for delivery.
In a recent study, 68 percent of respondents indicated that delivery and takeout options were critical for restaurants, especially when they offered table service. The millennial demographic (18–35) mainly depends on delivery choices, and 74% of respondents say they would use the service if offered. When they order food online, 8 out of 10 people would choose fast delivery.
For deliveries to work, restaurants must work hard to close the gap between the front and back of the restaurant. They can do this through proper training, pre-shift meetings, and restaurant management technologies.
1. Prepare Yourself for Success
Prepare yourself with the maximum options for quick delivery. Even though most restaurants accept phone orders, it’s a good idea to have a backup plan in case someone calls and gets a busy signal or has to wait for a very long time, leading them to go elsewhere. So, implementing a mobile carrier lookup can efficiently manage calls and enhance customer service. Many restaurants also provide a delivery service that takes orders online, and some quick-service restaurants even accept text-message orders via WhatsApp or Facebook. To make it as easy as possible, you should check your menu, make sure it is displayed in the right format, post it online on each platform, and set up an app for mobile devices.
2. Define a Specific Reason for Waiting
Restaurants often have trouble with delivery drivers, long pick-up customers wait, and dine-in customers waiting during rush hours.
It doesn’t make for a good first impression when visitors see helmed drivers impatiently waiting around the restaurant. Additionally, dine-in customers may think the priorities are for deliveries only.
Keeping a delicate balance is the key to achieving timely deliveries with a smart restaurant layout and a reliable system. Keeping things as distinct as possible can reduce misunderstanding and annoyance for everyone involved.
It’s a brilliant idea to have a separate waiting area for drivers. If parking spots, water, and restrooms are available, the chance that drive-through cars will wait in the right places and dine-in customers will enjoy the perfect ambiance increases.
3. Choose Where to Deliver
In what areas do you deliver? Keep this question in mind and analyze it simultaneously. In this process, the place and recipient of your delivery are equally crucial. Your team can concentrate on a broad region by setting a delivery radius. It also improves efficiency in terms of how long you have to wait, how far the food has to be brought, and how good it is once it gets there.
To optimize and adjust your delivery radius, your restaurant riders should keep track of delivery statistics on a regular basis. You can use this information to determine which delivery areas make you the most money.
You can also find out what times and days of the week are the busiest and most profitable and then change your delivery schedule to fit. It’s important to explore more areas to determine which is best for your restaurant and which third-party delivery app you can use. If you choose to utilize a third-party app, this may have an impact on your delivery range.
4. Use Technology for Restaurant Management
One of the best ways to improve restaurant efficiency is to integrate technology to improve communication between the front and back of the house. The point of sale (POS) system you use in your restaurant greatly impacts how things get done every day. Restaurants that employ technology to run their businesses also provide better customer service, as evidenced by patrons coming in more frequently and spending more money each time they do.
Restaurants need to operate quickly in order to provide good customer service. You need a POS that can swiftly respond to any menu changes because menu items can change regularly.
It’s important to receive prompt responses to your inquiries. Make sure your POS service supplier provides free assistance whenever you need it. Additionally, the use of plugins helps in the faster development of customized delivery systems for restaurants. Restaurant for WooCommerce is a fully-featured quick-order plugin that enables you to offer a variety of food items online with an intuitive interface and round-the-clock assistance.
5. It’s Time to Maximize Your Packaging
Marketing and building customer loyalty go hand in hand when it comes to the design of your product packaging. A delightful and exciting part of ordering a takeaway is “unboxing” the food. Your brand’s colors, logo, and persona must be included in the package.
A small gesture like including a written note or a message on the box that says “Thank you for your order” can go a long way with the client. Get inventive and come up with ways to thrill your clients so they’ll be compelled to place another order with you the next time they want takeout.
Additionally, you can add flyers, cards, or branded products that offer discounts for recurring orders. You have a great chance to build relationships with your clients and get them to stay loyal to you because you are sending these messages from your heart.
Conclusion
It is easy to increase food delivery efficiency by being more organized, relying on systems that can do the labor-intensive work for you, and maintaining constant communication with your drivers. If you use the tips above to plan your meal delivery strategy, your online sales will increase quickly.
