Delivery Apps: They Matter to Restaurateurs
If you’re a restaurant owner, you may find yourself wondering why you should expend time, energy, and expense on integrating with third-party delivery apps like DoorDash or Uber Eats. After all, wouldn’t you prefer having your customers come to your dining room, pick up their food, or utilize your in-house delivery service? Unfortunately, the reality of customer expectation is simple: convenience is king.
Consumers have become accustomed to ordering the food they love with a few swipes and taps of their fingers, and now, it’s something they’ll continue to expect. 60% of US consumers order delivery or take-out once a week, while 31% say they use third-party delivery services at least twice a week.
Beyond simple customer expectations, there are a few more benefits to integrating with third-party delivery sites. Read on to learn more.
Wider Customer Base
One of the many advantages of using delivery apps is that they include a variety of restaurants that can increase the visibility of your establishment. No matter how much your regular customers love you, there are people out there who either haven’t heard of you or don’t know enough about you to give you a second thought. Never underestimate scrolling power: the more people see your name on a list of options, the greater your chances of capturing new customers. Many of these potential customers will convert to actual customers via those third-party apps.
Additionally, when you streamline the ordering process for your customers via the convenience of third-party apps, there will be no hurdles to giving your restaurant a chance. Even if they don’t convert on the delivery app itself, they can be intrigued enough to visit you in person or even call your restaurant directly to place an order. The exposure that the app provides can be enough to gain interest. You can capture new regulars simply by putting yourself out there in a new location—in this instance, in the right app menu.
Fewer People to Manage Internally
Before the pandemic began, many restaurants offering delivery directly employed their drivers. In some cases, this has worked well, but it can often be challenging to ensure that your staff is on shift during your busiest hours. And even if you have staff available, the logistics can be a nightmare, leading to long wait times when your customers expect to have a quick delivery. You don’t want a customer’s delivery experience to sour their impression of your restaurant as a whole over one bad incident.
Delivery apps can aggregate their staff from a much broader base, which means you’re unlikely to run into some of the same problems you would with your internal staff. Especially if you’re using servers or kitchen staff to double as delivery drivers, you’re able to optimize your operations by letting the third-party apps do the driving for you. While they’re out on the road, you can spend more time focusing on the food and making sure the restaurant runs smoothly.
Ease of Integration
You’ll find that integrating with these delivery apps can be very simple. When you have the right POS system, you’re able to integrate directly with DoorDash or Uber Eats without having to rely on separate devices or secondary prep stations. If you utilize an optimized, cloud-based ecosystem for your point-of-sale—like what’s offered by Focus POS—your orders placed through third-party apps will automatically enter into your system just like those seated at a table or through your in-house online ordering platform.
Previously, restaurants have been forced to have special devices which took up extra kitchen space to receive and print orders from DoorDash, Uber Eats, and other delivery apps. With this new integration via Focus POS, you don’t have to waste any more space, time, or staffing on accepting orders through these third-party apps. You can manage your delivery services all in one system, helping you stay organized as well.
While you probably wish that your customers could solely focus on enjoying your indoor dining experience, you have to face the new reality that they expect options. When you integrate with third-party delivery apps, you not only give customers what they expect from you, you also improve your operations and widen your revenue opportunities.
