Five Ways Your Restaurant Can Ride The Food Delivery Surge

More and more people are choosing restaurant delivery services over dine-in these days, as it provides owners with an opportunity to increase sales and capture more repeat customers.

The absolute number of delivery orders and their share in restaurants’ total sales was rising even before the COVID pandemic. The US-based National Restaurant Association (NRA) reported an increase of 300% in food delivery requests from 2014-2019. 

Meanwhile, delivery rose from 7 to 9% of all restaurant sales in the US market in 2021, despite the easing of dine-in restrictions. 

In Europe, Deliverect reported that 60% of all UK customers who placed their first delivery order in 2020 said they would continue having their meals sent to their homes and offices.

Why Restaurant Delivery Is On The Rise

There are many reasons why customer preferences are changing.  

1. Pandemic-related lockdowns

The COVID19 pandemic was responsible for many changes in consumer behavior, top of which was the increased preference for off-premise dining.

The NRA said in its 2021 Mid-year Report that the percentage of Americans who dined-in for breakfast, lunch, and dinner fell by 7, 11, and 12 percentage points respectively from March 2020 to August 2021. Meanwhile, numbers for takeout and delivery for those three dayparts rose by 2, 6, and 3 percentage points. 

2. Gen Z-ers are coming of age and are more comfortable with mobile technology

The NRA likewise revealed in its 2022 State of the Industry Report that 70% of all Gen Z-ers said they would have delivered meals more often now than before the pandemic.

This young, mobile-savvy generation is more open to delivery than average American adults, only 58% of which were more open to delivery now than in the past.  

3. Restaurant owners racing to outdo each other in terms of delivery service convenience 

For example, global QSR chains have taken the lead in encouraging diners to order directly via their apps instead of through third-party partners.

In fact, McDonald’s, Domino’s, KFC, and Burger King’s apps were all in the top 10 in terms of food delivery app downloads worldwide. 

4. Restaurants are winning more customers with great delivery experiences

One study found that 58% of Americans thought ordering through a mobile app was the most-improved aspect of quick service restaurants (QSR) in 2021, followed by 29% for website ordering. 

As more customers appreciate the conveniences of meal delivery, more will make it their primary option instead of dine-in, which will push more and more owners to improve their processes.

Stepping Up to the Challenges of Delivery

Many restaurant owners are committed to adding delivery services to their services, but they’re not easy to set up and maintain at a level of consistency that will satisfy most customers.  

Restaurateurs themselves worry about changes it will bring to customer experience. Here are their three most common concerns.

Loss of personal touch

Not everyone is sold on online delivery, or any other recent innovations in the industry such as self-ordering, QR codes, etc. Some of these customers argue that a restaurant meal is an experience by itself – and removing human interaction detracts from it.

Just another brick in the app

Restaurant owners have many reasons for opting to partner with third-party apps. They’re more cost-efficient than having one’s own delivery fleet, and they give great exposure to thousands of app users and potential customers.

But these all come at a price: it becomes much harder to stand out from all the other restaurants. Restaurants have to supplement their marketing efforts elsewhere to help them build trust and credibility. 

Commissions, commissions, commissions

The most common issue restaurateurs have with third-party platforms is the commission. For example, many restaurants have peak seasons that help them absorb commission fees, and offseasons where business is slow. 

For restaurants with razor-thin margins, sticking with third-party delivery services can be hard, so they have to look for alternative channels – or make the most of their presence on social media. 

The Key To More Successful Delivery Services

Despite the challenges, there are ways to make the most of delivery services opportunities in the market. We propose five: website ordering, social media, customer incentives, promotions, and quality service.

1. Switch to website ordering

Restaurant businesses looking to explore multiple delivery channels should consider having their own website. Customers save time by logging onto your site instead of searching for meals on multiple apps. 

In addition, website ordering that is integrated with your POS enables efficient and real-time collection of  important data such as customer preferences, inventory levels, and sales. This allows owners to adjust important aspect of their operations in relation to the data. 

2. Social commerce is real

As we mentioned earlier, many opportunities lie in social media – and you can work on standing out from the crowd by strengthening your online presence. 

Identify your target audience and their preferred platforms (Instagram and Tiktok for millennials and Gen Z-ers; Facebook for Gen X-ers; review sites like Yelp and Zomato for everyone) and have accounts for your store there.

Customers aren’t just using the Internet not just to research about their next meal. They have been ordering from their restaurant of choice in increasing numbers.

Having your restaurant on social media gives you control of your image and the power to attract more people. And if you’ve got the setup, you can new customers and get orders straight into your kitchen. 

3. Convert app users into website orders with incentives

You can take things one step further with third party apps. Some of the largest QSR chains, even those with their own delivery websites and apps, are present on major food delivery apps to maintain their visibility.

By offering promos and other incentives for placing orders on their own website, these restaurants can eventually increase their chances of winning more orders through their restaurants’ own channels. 

4. Update your menus with promotions

Digital menus should also be updated regularly to highlight promotions and campaigns, whether to convert app users to your own website, encourage customers to subscribe to your Loyalty program, or push limited-time offers (LTOs). 

Having professionally-done photographs of your items and easily-understandable descriptions is a must, whether you’re using a third-party app or your own website.

5. Focus on quality service: food made fresh and on-time

Last, but certainly not least, be relentless about the basics: work hard to ensure your customer gets the right order, on time, every time.

One key to successful delivery services is having a delivery management system that is integrated with your point of sale (POS) system. Connecting these two systems speeds up customer order processing, from the moment customer orders from their device, to the moment an order arrives and is sent to the right station for prepping.

It will also connect order processing to a pickup and delivery system that tracks orders that are on their way to the customer. 

A New Era For Food Delivery Services

The “delivery-first” era for restaurants is here to stay. Growing ease with online ordering among customers, combined with improvements in restaurant processes, are creating a steady rise in the number of patrons.

The COVID pandemic accelerated the rate of innovation in restaurant delivery, ushering in new levels of customer experience. Even as dine-in restrictions being relaxed across the world, patrons continue to prefer having their meals brought to their homes.

This change in customer preference is a potential gold mine for restaurant owners who can address the challenges of delivery operations.

Enhancing your online presence, developing and expanding channels for ordering, and delivering a fast and error-free experience to customers are of utmost priority. Access to digital tools that facilitate this experience are likely to spell the difference in these efforts.