There are many ways restaurants can increase their revenue. Whether it’s cutting corners, offering in-house specialties, live or table-side entertainment, or through promotions and discounts, there is no reason food establishments can’t turn a profit. Still, one common way is through restaurant delivery. Many restaurants struggle with this opportunity and often lose more money than expected. Therefore, anyone in this situation must read these tips on how to improve your restaurant delivery system. They’ll help save you time, money, and increase customer satisfaction all through easy steps and changes.
Make Use of Modern Technologies
Modern technology is not only great for home devices or large-scale industries. They also help small-scale restaurants maximize efficiency, speed, accuracy, and general improvement. Computerized systems and widespread Internet usage led to greater restaurant delivery systems across the globe. Nowadays, customers utilize online ordering and smartphone ordering software for easy pick-and-choose accessibility. The upsurge in technological viability at restaurants and other food establishments is tremendous, leading to greater profits and customer satisfaction without much change to the business itself.
Modern technology also improves order assignment and tracking. Smartphone tracking software shows GPS locations for the driver and clients, so managers can keep a constant watch over every phase in the delivery. Once an order transmits, drivers can optimize routes and performance for the shortest possible delivery times. Aside from tracking orders, technology can also track customer data. When customers place future orders, they can review past orders that your system saved on file.
Keep Your Team Informed
Communication is essential in every department, and that includes your delivery team. The less communication given to your team (phone and online order operators, cooks, and delivery drivers), the more potential problems arise. Whether it’s from lagging orders or slow delivery time, you must ensure clear communication to avoid these issues. Explain the necessary training protocols relating to order processing, transport times, delivery management to staff. This strategy will not only improve your customer satisfaction but improve team building as well.
Have a Readable Menu
Naturally, customers want a simple, well-designed online menu to navigate. Many restaurants make the mistake of putting their entire menu on their online or mobile ordering system. Even if their intentions are good, like wanting to expand their marketability or enhance customers’ tastes, this leads to confusion and may overwhelm the customer. A convoluted, hard-to-manage menu can increase turnover rates, meaning you lose potential patrons and revenue. In that regard, keep your menu simple and easy-to-read. For this reason, you should either offer select items from your menu or reduce your menu overall. Another trick to maximizing sales while using a simpler menu is customization. Offer fewer menu items with add-on promotions like sides, beverages, and/or desserts, rather than offering more options and overwhelming the user.
Consider Third-Party Delivery Services
There are many third-party delivery services available to restaurants that might not have ever entered that realm in restaurant ownership before. Mobile delivery services like UberEATS, Grubhub, and Postmates have become hotspots for younger markets, college students, and young adults alike for their convenience and easy interface. Utilizing these services cuts extra costs such as payroll, tips, and overtime pay for your own drivers in addition to reducing delivery times during peak hours. Alternatively, third-party delivery services typically only cost your restaurant an overhead charge, fee, or tax while increasing your delivery fleet, thereby reducing customer wait times. While some food establishments want control over their delivery service, third-party deliverers save time and money on potential setbacks that could jeopardize your business.
Optimize Delivery Procedures
As previously mentioned, it’s crucial to have the address and client communication on file. Every food service business must optimize their delivery procedures to improve their restaurant delivery system. As it goes together with communicating these steps to your employees, have your drivers call clients as they arrive or while they’re on the way to their destination. Your drivers should call to confirm the client’s address and to inform them the drivers are en route as a courtesy. This includes third-party drivers and kitchen staff as well. Even if you can’t maintain the same control as with your on-staff drivers, third-party drivers should be well-versed in the coverage area. The kitchen staff should know who bags orders, so they are ready for delivery. CRM software saves all customer data, such as the customer’s name, contact details, and address, which eliminates the need to ask every time. However, it’s still a good idea to review and update this information as necessary.
Don’t Skip Proper Packaging
Proper packaging can make or break the customer’s experience with your delivery service. In other words, using incorrect packaging that leads to spillage, mess, or food waste will eradicate any future business with that client. It can also lead to negative reviews and hinder future business overall. Nevertheless, only use proper packaging. Soups, stews, and curries must be placed in a tight container. Contrarily, place entrees, sides, and desserts belong in Styrofoam containers. Ultimately, the packaging should ensure no spillage while keeping the food in good condition. Labeled packaging is also not a bad option, as this can increase your brand outreach as well as embed your restaurant deeper into the customer’s memory or consciousness. If they remember a positive experience from your service, they are more likely to return their business.
Maintain Great Service
All in all, great restaurant delivery narrows down to great service. Just as you would treat all in-house guests as a high priority, you should treat your delivery targets the same. Keep food hot, package food safely, and give special attention to all add-ons. Hot food illustrates the feelings of freshly prepared foods. Insulated food bags increase your food’s hotness and freshness for customers to enjoy. Of course, delivery drivers must store packaged foods with precaution so that they avoid spillage and messes. This causes issues with drivers and creates an unhappy customer. Finally, make sure every order is complete or fulfilled. Any add-ons or special requests should be taken seriously for greater customer satisfaction.
Many of these options are feasible with the right restaurant POS equipment. That’s why it’s no surprise the BPAPOS Restaurant POS system has all the necessary functionality not found in other POS systems. Our simple, easy-to-use complete POS system includes full-service operation, like loyalty programs, gift card processing, inventory management, time tracking, payroll, and accounting system. Not to mention, it’s also integrated with our EatOnTheWeb Online Ordering software for smoother online transactions. Call now to learn more about what our POS system can do for your restaurant, café, bakery, or other food establishments.
