With more and more people preferring to order from their couch instead of going to the store, last few years have witnessed a dramatic increase in the use of third-party delivery services, be it booking of hotels, air travel or car rental. The next decade will see the expansion in the third-party food delivery industry. Various businesses including Caviar and Postmates provide customers with a platform to browse menu, place orders and have food delivered at their doorsteps. The question is can third-party deliveries put restaurants out of business. While we cannot say yes to it, let us see the broader picture to understand how on-demand delivery model is affecting the restaurant business.
Statistically, 47 percent of the 6,000 consumers surveyed used an online food delivery service in 2017. Besides, coffee and burger chains saw the largest increase in activity. One of the promising aspects of sustaining in the food and beverage industry for the restaurants is to seize this opportunity. When food delivery is going on-demand, restaurants should enlist themselves with third-party delivery services and benefit from catering to more number of customers.
Have a look at some of the benefits –
- More revenue
Third-party delivery services allow you to serve people who are not even familiar with your restaurant. Thus, you can spread your business among a new audience that will in turn increase sales. If you are running a business that is struggling hard to find success, enlisting with the third-party delivery services will provide great benefits.
- Convenience for customers
A third-party delivery service enables a convenient way for consumers to order amazing food whenever they want. The ease and speed of ordering food and beverages in just a few taps on the on-demand delivery apps helps consumers to satiate their odd time hunger cravings. Moreover, the customers can try out their long-loved favorite meals from their favorite restaurants without stepping out from their homes and at any time of their day.
- No administrative tasks
Think of a time when your restaurant is jam-packed with diners, no breather for your staff and your takeaway phone is ringing in every couple of minutes. Seems like quite a hassle to manage orders, supply and deliver the best customer service. When you are listed with an on-demand delivery partner, the order information is conveyed to you electronically and you can have sufficient time for preparation. Since these delivery businesses have their own delivery staff, you do not have to worry about the delivery.
The never-ending benefits of the third-party delivery services have raised the expectations of the customers. They expect more choice, convenience, and control when it comes to food options. With the increasing demand for instant and affordable food deliveries, various restaurants have made up their mind to collaborate with third-party deliveries in order to survive in the competition.
Undoubtedly, these services have prevented restaurants from the regulatory and the administrative demands. However, there are some factors that need to be considered when joining hands with the third-party delivery platforms:
- The communication gap between restaurant and customer
Despite the increasing trend of third-party delivery platforms among people, 55% of the customers still prefer to order food directly from restaurants. They also desire to interact directly with the brand itself. Collaborating with third party platform will cut all the direct ties between customers and the restaurant. Consequently, the restaurants have to sacrifice their customer relationships.
- Restaurants are putting their reputation at stake
Placing products in the hands of the third party is actually going to put the reliability and accuracy of the restaurants on high risk. Let us say a customer has placed an order with UberEats and he is not much happy with the delivery, it will eventually have a negative impact on the perception of the customer and the restaurants will end up losing their brand reputation. The customer will decide never to reorder even if the restaurant is not at fault.
- Harming the business of the restaurants
These third-party delivery services are boosting up more and more customers to place the order and stay at home rather than dining out and enjoying the ambiance of the restaurant. If a customer visits a restaurant, it is most likely that he would spend more money, thus adding more to his meals such as drinks, appetizers, and desserts.
Keeping into mind the aforementioned factors, the restaurants need to be highly cautious while collaborating with third-party delivery platforms.
- Make the restaurant efficient enough to handle the deliveries
While collaborating with the third-party delivery platforms, your restaurant should be efficient enough to easily prepare and assemble the orders. In addition, you have to inform the delivery partner to deliver the food in such a way that it does not affect the in-store process in any negative manner. If not, then a bad delivery experience may cause losing a customer forever.
- Analyze the return on investment
The return on investment can be better analyzed by analyzing the delivery data. You can have a better vision of how the customers have used various channels including eat-in, drive-thru, pick-up and delivery. Keeping track of your customers and their experience will help you to make a strong bond with them. The customers will also love to use your restaurant frequently.
- Carefully choose the on-demand company that perfectly matches your brand
It is of utmost importance to choose the on-demand service provider that matches your brand. Just get an idea of how the company trains its team to deliver the orders and how it handles the customer complaints. It is also important to take a note whether the company conducts background checks on drivers or not.
The on-demand delivery services have opened up newer opportunities for restaurants by allowing them to serve new customers and stay in business for long. However, the restaurants need to do their homework on the front-end prior to considering a third-party delivery service.
