How to Choose a Food Delivery Partner

Restaurant e-commerce websites have seen explosive growth over the past years, thanks in part to the continuous digitalization of the food industry. Smartphones nowadays make it convenient for customers to enjoy their favorite meals from the comfort of their homes.

Customers want warm, delicious meals delivered to their doorstep, which is why restaurants have to find a way to deliver that dine-anywhere experience to their customers.

Food delivery partners aim to help restaurants bridge the gap between them and the customer. These partners act as a middleman by taking and delivering orders for the restaurant for a fee. 

Most owners cannot afford to have their own dispatch and delivery service, which is why food delivery partners are popular among both new and established restaurants. 

By partnering with the right food delivery services, restaurants can increase their sales and improve brand recognition without having to spend much on maintaining delivery operations.

How to Choose the Right Delivery Partner

Choosing the right delivery partner is important to maximizing your profits. While different partners can get the same job done, there are certain factors you have to consider before committing to the best restaurant e-commerce management partner. 

1. Select a Food Partner with an Established App

Online food delivery is built on convenience. Customers want a quick and easy way to order food. Having a well-optimized delivery app is a telltale sign of a good delivery partner.

Some delivery services only offer services via text, phone calls, or social media. While those platforms are great, having an easy-to-use and accessible restaurant e-commerce platform is much more important in growing your brand.

Food apps are well designed to help customers discover new restaurants around them and simplify the online ordering experience. That way, they don’t have to go searching for pages on the Internet and instead search by cuisine, restaurant proximity, or price brackets. 

Established food delivery apps such as Grab, Deliveroo, or Uber Eats also have their own loyal customer base, and partnering with such apps gives your restaurant access to those customers.

These apps are well-optimized for a smooth restaurant e-commerce experience. If a customer enjoys using an app, it increases the likelihood of repeat orders. More orders mean more sales and more profits.

Some apps also take convenience a step further by recording their customer’s order history and feature a reorder button to make ordering their favorite meals a breeze. 

Food apps also include delivery tracking for their customer’s peace of mind. If they know where their order is at all times, it reduces the likelihood of complaints or unnecessary “Where’s my order?” calls. 

In short, partnering with a food partner with an app can increase sales, brand recognition, and brand loyalty.

If you’re going to commit to a delivery partner, make sure to check out their app’s reviews, interface, and user experience.

[acf_delivery_banner]

2. Research Food Delivery Commission Rates

Food delivery partners charge fees for using their services. These fees may range from 20 to 30% of the total order, meaning you have to either adjust your prices, or accept the fees and rely on more online orders to stay profitable.

Various partners can have different rates depending on your restaurant’s location. One great tip is to scout your restaurant’s area and ask other restaurant owners about their preferred delivery partners. 

Read the terms and conditions of your delivery service contract. Sometimes, higher rates are justified by things like delivery insurance or driver certification. Calculate your expected ROI and plan accordingly.

Remember, more sales do not always mean more profits. Increased business isn’t always good if it means you’re not making money.

3. Consider Your Delivery Partner’s Speed and Reach

A delivery partner that is popular in one area might not be so popular in another. Like any other logistics business, food partners have better reach in certain areas over others. 

When selecting your delivery partner, it’s important to take note of their reach and speed in delivering online orders. Both these factors come hand in hand in determining the customer’s overall satisfaction with their service.

In a 2021 study by McKinsey & Company on the evolution of food delivery, delivery costs are unlikely to decline in the coming years, while improved routing and the ability to dispatch batch orders are key to optimizing the profitability of delivery services.

When choosing a delivery service partner, research your target delivery areas and learn about which partners cater to each area best. Check on which restaurant e-commerce or third-party food aggregator apps are most commonly used per area, and commit to ones that can deliver your product best.

Of course, you also have to make sure that you do your part and package your meals properly. Remember, should anything go wrong in delivery, customers are more likely to blame you instead of the delivery partner.

4. Set the Right Expectations

Many restaurants opt to partner with multiple delivery platforms in order to maximize their profit and minimize their risk on one platform. 

Of course, not all platforms are expected to perform the same way, which is why it’s important for you to conduct regular performance checks on each platform. The ideal restaurant management setup enables you to run your restaurant business as you always do – and connects you to a wide range of delivery partners.

Sort your sales by the delivery partner and check how each platform performs. Don’t be afraid to drop a service if it does not match your expectations. 

Consider customer feedback. Do what is best for your business. Numbers don’t lie, so always make an effort to check your sales data and decide accordingly.

[acf_delivery_banner]

5. Check if Your Partner is Integrated With Your POS

Modern point-of-sale (POS) systems are powerful tools for restaurant management. They host a lot of features that make it easier for business owners to keep track of their business’s profitability, such as accounting software integration, inventory management systems, and real-time business dashboards.

Manually inputting food delivery orders into your POS can take up valuable time and manpower, which is why it’s important to check out if your food partner is integrated with your POS.

Proper food partner integration automatically sends information from third parties directly to your POS for fast and accurate order processing. This also helps in generating accurate sales reports and business insights that are generated by your POS.

If you opt to have multiple delivery partners, the right POS systems can integrate all orders into one platform for better order visibility and management.

Some delivery partners require partner-specific devices and terminals to manage their platforms. However, leading POS systems offer full third-party integration, meaning restaurant owners can save on having to buy proprietary hardware to manage third-party orders.

Check if your POS has a good third-party integration setup, and see if it’s compatible with your system. Optimizing the order cycle in any way possible is key to creating a successful business.

Pick the Partner That’s Right for You

Choosing the right food delivery partner is important as it becomes your point of contact with new and existing customers. Their experience with the partner will translate into their experience with your restaurant.

Pick the partner that goes well with your business model. Research their different features and check which ones customers enjoy. Food delivery is here to stay and investing in the best option is essential for any modern restaurant.

Make the necessary changes, optimize your menu, and pick the partner that’s right for you. Who knows? Your next customer might just be a click away.