A lot of people who call themselves 'foodies' are now opting for home delivery of meals. Originally, home delivery of food was confined to low-tier fast food, like Chinese food and Pizzas. Some other restaurants would do local deliveries, but once you got to the middle tier of sit-down and family restaurants, the most they would consider was carry-out.
Things are different today: Today we expect to have anything and everything delivered, even from the more up-market restaurants. Services like Seamless have taught everyone that whatever it is they’re craving tonight, they can have it brought to their door. If you’re a small restaurant and you’re considering adding a delivery option – whether through a service or on your own – there are a few things no one ever thinks about that could have a disastrous effect on your restaurant’s online ratings.
Range of Delivery
Be very careful about how far out you’re willing to deliver. If the range is too wide your drivers are going to be out for a long time, while orders pile up, and remember that if delivery takes too long the food is going to be cold. While a larger delivery range means more potential customers, it can also mean a PR debacle if all those new customers are complaining.
Kitchen Capacity
Remember, delivery and carry out can increase the number of tickets your kitchen has to field every hour – make sure you’ve got the staff necessary to keep up with demand both in and out of the dining room. It can be quite difficult to determine the amount of time it takes to put orders and meals together, but it's certainly worth tracking these figures for a few weeks before you officially announce your delivery service. You need to be prepared.
Staff Training
You'll need qualified drivers who are able to very quickly deliver orders and bring the receipts back, and you must ensure that your in-house staff members know exactly how to pack an order. You can’t have your customers receiving spilled or smashed food, and we all know how we feel about receiving orders where items are missing. Click here to find more about restaurant social media.
Backup
Once you offer delivery, people will expect it – so be careful about hiring delivery staff. You wouldn’t inform people as they arrived for a table that your wait staff hadn’t shown up so they’d have to get their own food from the kitchen – so don’t ever tell your customers that your drivers are all out and so you can’t deliver food to them today.
Exceptions
Not every dish is suitable for delivery. Think about the logistics of each dish, including the problems with packing it up and transporting it, and if you have to recuse any dishes from your deliveries, create a specific delivery menu that lists only the items you feel comfortable delivering.
Delivery and carry out can greatly expand your nightly receipts, but there are costs, both financial and logistical, involved. So, before you jump in, be aware of what these costs will potentially be and try to pre-empt any problems that could arise.
Things are different today: Today we expect to have anything and everything delivered, even from the more up-market restaurants. Services like Seamless have taught everyone that whatever it is they’re craving tonight, they can have it brought to their door. If you’re a small restaurant and you’re considering adding a delivery option – whether through a service or on your own – there are a few things no one ever thinks about that could have a disastrous effect on your restaurant’s online ratings.
Range of Delivery
Be very careful about how far out you’re willing to deliver. If the range is too wide your drivers are going to be out for a long time, while orders pile up, and remember that if delivery takes too long the food is going to be cold. While a larger delivery range means more potential customers, it can also mean a PR debacle if all those new customers are complaining.
Kitchen Capacity
Remember, delivery and carry out can increase the number of tickets your kitchen has to field every hour – make sure you’ve got the staff necessary to keep up with demand both in and out of the dining room. It can be quite difficult to determine the amount of time it takes to put orders and meals together, but it's certainly worth tracking these figures for a few weeks before you officially announce your delivery service. You need to be prepared.
Staff Training
You'll need qualified drivers who are able to very quickly deliver orders and bring the receipts back, and you must ensure that your in-house staff members know exactly how to pack an order. You can’t have your customers receiving spilled or smashed food, and we all know how we feel about receiving orders where items are missing. Click here to find more about restaurant social media.
Backup
Once you offer delivery, people will expect it – so be careful about hiring delivery staff. You wouldn’t inform people as they arrived for a table that your wait staff hadn’t shown up so they’d have to get their own food from the kitchen – so don’t ever tell your customers that your drivers are all out and so you can’t deliver food to them today.
Exceptions
Not every dish is suitable for delivery. Think about the logistics of each dish, including the problems with packing it up and transporting it, and if you have to recuse any dishes from your deliveries, create a specific delivery menu that lists only the items you feel comfortable delivering.
Delivery and carry out can greatly expand your nightly receipts, but there are costs, both financial and logistical, involved. So, before you jump in, be aware of what these costs will potentially be and try to pre-empt any problems that could arise.