Challenges That Hinder the Success of Any Food Delivery Platform
Once there was a time when people used to walk up to the restaurants, order the food and satiate their hunger while sitting in the restaurant itself. Now, the time has changed. People no longer want to walk up to the restaurants; instead they want their food to walk up to them, i.e. delivered to their location. As a result, the revenue generated in the online food delivery segment amounts to $94,385m in 2019 – according to Statista.
Over the years, the customer requirement has changed and so has the food and groceries industry. They have implemented the Uber for X business model to provide better customer service and expand their customer base. For these food delivery platforms to succeed, it is important to build and maintain menus carefully as well as inventory lists for millions of individual merchants, track the huge amount of daily-received orders, and run a well-organized dispatch system. This task needs a very thoughtful approach and a strategy that works with utmost efficiency.
Fact check: The online food delivery services market stood at $81.56b in 2017 and expected to grow at a CAGR of 9.8% during the forecast period from 2017 to 2026. (Source: Credence Research)
Good read: Postmates Business Model
It is not as simple as it seems. Here are the challenges faced by the online food delivery system:
Online food delivery system being extremely popular still has its own share of challenges. Some of which are mentioned below:
- Service providers who cannot maintain customer loyalty.
In this digitally evolving world, fidelity is of the utmost value to the customers. Being a food service provider, if you are not focusing on maintaining your customer base, then you are certain to face the consequences in coming time. Along with exclusive deals and incentives/freebies, extremely helpful customer services also hitches the customers to your offerings making them your brand promoters.
- Food quality is inconsistent
The quality of food matters a lot when you want your customers to come back and order again. Therefore, maintaining the quality of food being delivered to the customers matters a lot more than any other factor. It helps in building loyal customers. Packaging should always be proper without any possibility of leak or damage.
- Unable to cope up with the volumes
As the demand increases, the responsibility to manage and satisfy that demand rises manifolds. For instance, the order received is huge, and the restaurant does not have that much staff or equipment to fulfill the order. This is the scenario where restaurants fail in satisfying the demand and hence lose customers.
- Non-reliable delivery & logistics staff
In the on-demand economy, the time interval for delivery has reduced. People are expecting faster deliveries. But the challenges are high too. This is because of the reasons like inadequate salary, poaching & absconding, lack of training, no employee benefits and no opportunity to grow and progress. The delivery person’s’ life and health risks are extremely high (due to weather, constant changes in the work schedule). They also carry heavy, bulky bags that might lead to health issues in future. Road accidents are also common as they deliver the orders driving the bikes. Deliveries suffer, as a result when there is not enough delivery staff.
Good read: Want To Create a Food Delivery App? Know How It Is Done.
The solution to these consistent problems lies in Tech.
Certain delivery platforms are practicing the ‘New Delivery’ model and are trying to build their own delivery networks. If you have a unique out-of-the-box idea to curb such challenges, we’re all ears. Why wait? We’re just a call away.
