What is a Restaurant Delivery Service?
Restaurant delivery services are a popular business that is often utilized by restaurant owners that are looking for alternatives to hiring their own delivery drivers. Some of the reasons restaurant owners use a delivery company are:
- Low delivery volume
- No wireless debit machines available for delivery
- Exposure for a new restaurant to existing delivery clients
- A delivery company to coordinate the delivery times and hire drivers
- Elimination of delivery driver staffing problems
Common Dispatching Problems for Delivery Companies
The delivery dispatcher has a lot of pressure from many events happening at the same time and the need to coordinate everything. A significant amount of time is used on the phone with customers taking orders and address data. Below is an example of how a typical order is processed prior to using online ordering software:
Total time used by the dispatcher for one order: 11-15 minutes
- (5-8 minutes) The customer places a phone call to the delivery company to provides the items they would like to order, the address, phone number and payment method.
- (4-5 minutes) The delivery dispatcher calls the restaurant with the order details and a pickup time.
- (2 minutes) The dispatcher contacts the driver with the order which includes the customer address, restaurant pickup time and the delivery fee to charge.
Total time used by the dispatcher for one order with online ordering software: 2 minutes
- (0 minutes) The customer places their order online with their address, qr code ordering details and payment method. The online ordering system automatically confirms the customer phone number to ensure it is correct in case the restaurant or delivery driver needs to contact them.
- (0 minutes) An email is received to the delivery dispatcher and a copy of the order is automatically either faxed or emailed to the restaurant. The online ordering system sends an automated call to the restaurant so they are aware of the new order. The restaurant then calls the delivery company.
- (1 minute) The delivery service receives a call from the restaurant and arranges a pickup time. The dispatcher has already had time to think about which driver they will send on the new order.
- (1 minute) The dispatcher forwards the order to the driver and sends them a short text about the new order.
The total time processing an order is significantly reduced by introducing online ordering into the process because the customer and online ordering system are doing most of the work. This will allow the restaurant delivery service to process more orders per hour with less pressure on the dispatcher.
Other Benefits of Online Orders
- Online orders are typically larger than orders that are phoned in. The customer has more time to browse over the menu items they would like to order and they are prompted to add popular items along the way.
- Language barriers between customers, the dispatcher and the restaurant are highly reduced.
- The restaurant’s work flow is interrupted less often because they can review the order when it is more convenient. A customer standing at the cash register can take a higher priority than checking the email for a new online order.
Marketing Opportunity
Each customer that places an order online will have an email address that is stored in a database for future email marketing campaigns. That email list is a valuable list of delivery loving customers that can be used to promote a restaurant special or promotion. The restaurant delivery service may choose to offer advertising space to the restaurants they serve on their email marketing campaigns or create clever coupons to drive up the number of delivery orders during slow periods of the week.
