Food delivery is the future of the food industry. Hot, delicious food delivered right to their door is the best form of convenience restaurants can offer to food lovers at the moment when coronavirus have reduced us to stay at home.
If you were lagging behind the delivery services in the past, this is the best time to fine-tune them. For example, if you are based in East Bay, your restaurants should come right on top when someone types “East Bay restaurants open now” or “the best cuisines and dishes in the East Bay”. However, it is easier said than done. So many restaurants are popping up on the scene and trying out new ways to stand out from their competitors in terms of ensuring excellent food delivery services. Our team has conducted elaborate research to figure out the best tactics used by the leading restaurants across the world.
Just keep reading to come to terms with how you can up your delivery services by a notch:
Robust Communication for FOOD DELIVERY
Although phone ordering is still very popular, it can be slow and inefficient at times. Your staff might accidentally take down an incorrect order or not understand a customer’s request. That’s where training comes in. Correctly trained staff can effectively communicate with customers over the phone. To ensure that there is no discrepancy, hone their skills to confirm the order politely. At the same time, providing clear ordering options is essential to enable customers for placing orders.
Make The Most Of Technology for FOOD DELIVERY
Online ordering is a top food service trend that will not be going away soon. The market is dominated by tech-savvy millennials. This means that restaurants will need to adapt to the new technology so that customers can reach out to them with ease. One way to do that is to acquire quality SEO services from digital marketing agencies. It will ensure you become more and more visible on the search to the food lovers and they have to put up with the minimum hard work to find you. For example, you can find all the top restaurants in East Bay by merely adding commands such as “East Bay food near me”, “Popular food and best restaurants near me in East Bay”, etc. Contrary to the popular assumption, you don’t necessarily need a strong financial footprint to initiate this step.
Another option is to partner with third-party online ordering platforms, such as FoodPanda or Zomato. These popular platforms can provide instant access to thousands of users. You will need to hire a professional to create your online ordering site and mobile app.
Thoroughly Research Your Delivery Area
You have already drawn a radius for delivery around your headquarters. It’s now time to go over that map. You should first look at how many restaurants have opened. Are there any local or non-franchise owners? You can make a list and reach out to them to inquire about adding your food delivery service.
Next, consider the delivery radius. Your delivery radius should not be too large. This will likely cause delays in your deliveries. It doesn’t mean that you have to shrink the delivery radius to a great degree. You might think about adding another base to handle certain deliveries, particularly if one quadrant receives a lot of requests.
Examine Your Marketing Campaigns
As buyers’ needs change, marketing material should also evolve with the passage of time. When people become more aware of you and your services, the marketing strategies that brought you new clients last year might not work anymore. Reexamine your marketing plan and make changes accordingly.
Also, take a look at the website. Tap into your statistics, for instance with Google Analytics, observe what your peak visit times are and where most of your visitors are coming from. Nowadays it is also possible to determine what pages website visitors find out of the place and you can remove them easily.
Keep your content updated. It is a good idea for your website to be managed regularly. You might also consider hosting a new menu from a well-known restaurant if you are in the food delivery business. You could also offer discounts to restaurants that don’t receive a lot of business. That way, you’ll earn their loyalty and appreciation by helping them drive business and milk more money along the way.
Standardize The FOOD DELIVERY Process
When fulfilling delivery orders, create a simple and efficient process that all employees must follow. First, establish a separate area in your restaurant to accommodate and process deliveries. Print the order ticket and use it down the service line from cooking to packing to delivery if you are taking online orders. This way, you can quickly contact customers and inform them of their order status.
It’s a good idea to verify the delivery address of customers and ask about any landmarks that could help speed up delivery. It is important that drivers are familiar with their delivery area and that kitchen staff understand their responsibilities when fulfilling deliveries. Label each item once it is packed and attach the ticket so that the customer can authenticate that they have been delivered a specific order.
Optimize Your Kitchen For Delivery Orders
Many restaurant owners have moved to delivery after the pandemic. Now that coronavirus has somewhat been controlled and dine-in customers are returning, the question is: How can you manage the delivery line efficiently?
Arguably, splitting your kitchen staff between delivery and dine-in is the best option. A dedicated line for delivery will ensure that dine-in orders are not affected by rush orders. Staff from either side can help the other in case of an emergency. However, keeping them separate allows each side to be more focused on their respective tasks.
You might get more orders during rainy days, major television events such as the Super Bowl and the Oscars. That is why you must schedule specific hours for delivery and dine-in in the face of peak season.
Join Associations
Continue to join food associations to improve your service. You can find associations for your state or city no matter where you deliver food. Make sure you become part of the association worth your time and effort. To be on the safe side, we recommend you to get an idea about the popular choices in this respect before making your mind to take the final decision.
Arguably, the biggest benefit of joining well-reputed associations is that you gain online visibility, which eventually boosts your SEO. As a result, the search engine starts crawling in your favor and you begin to show up on the first page with commands like “popular food and best restaurants near me in East Bay”, the best cuisines and dishes in East Bay”, and so on.
Mobile Optimization Is Key
Make sure you’re optimized for mobile devices. You will need to optimize your website for mobile if you plan to advertise to certain customers and set up social media to take orders. You might also need to create a small mobile app that makes it easier for customers to contact you.
It is not a good idea to have a difficult-to-read website popping up on your customers’ phones. Or else, they will end up going to your competitors.
