In the foodservice sector, consumption patterns have changed significantly in recent years, partly as a result of the health crisis, but not only. Today, offering a delivery service is a major asset for restaurants, and even more so for dark kitchens. It’s all about choosing the right delivery solution to be efficient and, above all, profitable. Today, let’s compare the 3 delivery systems available to restaurateurs: developing your own delivery service, registering with a delivery platform, and integrated platforms such as DOOD’s offering.
Delivery: changing consumer habits
With the development of technology and catering services, the French have seen their consumption habits evolve. A decisive turning point came with the health crisis and confinement, which encouraged people to have their meals delivered to their homes or workplaces. Today, the figures speak for themselves, and show just how important it is for a restaurateur to offer a delivery service:
- Every second, 3 online orders are placed in France;
- 71% of French people had their meals delivered after the confinement, including 42% for the first time;
- The average basket per person is €16 for lunch and €17 for dinner;
- 98% of French customers who tried delivery for the first time continue to use the service afterwards;
- 50% of customers order at least once a week;
- A delivery driver handles an average of 5 orders per hour.
This last figure testifies to the profitability of a delivery service for a restaurant, but it also reveals the complexity of managing deliveries and the delivery fleet alone.
Own delivery or platform delivery?
The most popular delivery solutions today are in-house delivery, managed entirely by the restaurateur, and delivery via a platform. Before we turn to DOOD’s integrated platform, let’s take a look at these two order and delivery systems.
Own delivery
Own delivery involves setting up a fleet of delivery drivers and developing your own online ordering service. There are a number of advantages and disadvantages to this solution that you should consider before taking the plunge.
The advantages of in-house delivery
Total autonomy and freedom are clearly the major advantages of this home delivery solution. The restaurant owner is free to set his or her own prices, times and promotional periods… But these are not the only advantages of own delivery.
- Customer experience management: the restaurateur has total visibility over the quality of the customer’s purchasing journey, from the moment the order is placed to delivery;
- Optimizing customer relations: the manager is free to communicate with his customers, to create a loyalty program, or to propose any offer or service to satisfy the customer;
- The profitability of delivery: although the set-up is costly, the company’s own delivery service quickly pays for itself, as no commission is taken on each sale;
- Improved local referencing: by offering customers the opportunity to leave reviews and comments, the restaurant’s website achieves a higher ranking in search engine results.
The disadvantages of internal delivery
While great freedom seems to be a major asset, freedom comes at a price, and it’s important to take this into account.
- The start-up budget: purchasing a fleet of vehicles, hiring delivery drivers and creating a dedicated online ordering platform all represent a substantial budget. It is important to develop a marketing and communication strategy to ensure the profitability of the project;
- Time-consuming service management: if you manage everything yourself, you have to be able to handle room service, orders, deliveries… ;
- Specific knowledge: to guarantee a standardized home delivery service, you need expertise in a number of areas, such as delivery driver insurance, the payment system and payment terms, HACCP standards, packaging…
Platform delivery
No one has been able to get past the big home meal delivery platforms, such as Deliveroo, Just-Eat, or Uber Eats. While they represent a great opportunity for customers to get a broad view of the catering services on offer nearby, for restaurateurs, it’s not all plain sailing.
Delegating delivery to an external platform: the advantages
Restaurateurs are often seduced by the idea of almost completely offloading the management of home deliveries, and only having to worry about preparing dishes and menus. This is what external platforms offer, and it’s not their only strength.
- Customer acquisition: thanks to their high visibility and powerful communication strategy, platforms take on the task of attracting customers;
- Visibility: delivery apps put numerous points of sale online, attracting customers who initially came to another restaurant;
- Regular offers: platforms often offer promotions that encourage customers to order;
- Diversified sources of income: set-up is so simple that it’s worth diversifying sources of income by using several locally-based partners.
The disadvantages of external delivery platforms
While the idea of offloading delivery management is appealing, many restaurateurs have complaints about external platforms.
- Tough competition: applications offer so many competing brands that it’s easy to attract new customers, but also to lose some;
- Very high commissions: for each order placed via the delivery platform, a commission of 20 to 30% is charged to the restaurateur;
- The precarious status of delivery drivers: it’s no secret that the working conditions of platform delivery drivers are questionable and sometimes unethical (pay, cover, payment cycle…) ;
- A shared database: all customer information acquired with each delivery belongs 100% to the platform, which means entrusting it with the entire customer file and losing its independence;
- Lack of control: the restaurateur has very little control over the delivery service. Yet when a customer is unhappy, it’s almost always the restaurant that they turn to complain.
DOOD and integrated platforms: a simple, cost-effective alternative
Halfway between control of external platforms and complete management of your own delivery, integrated platforms offer an advantageous alternative in many respects. This is what DOOD offers all restaurateurs.
How the integrated platform works
Integrated platforms offer catering professionals the opportunity to integrate an online ordering and delivery service on their website or Facebook page. The platform provides a turnkey, white-label solution, with the owner remaining the sole manager.
The restaurateur can then manage his website or online store, orders and deliveries from a single source. This solution is designed for all types of food service: restaurants, convenience stores, fast-food outlets, bars, food courts, food halls, dark kitchens, etc.
In addition, the delivery service solutions offered by the platforms connect to the market’s leading integrators and cash registers, for optimized order and cash management, without having to change equipment.
The advantages of the DOOD integrated platform
At DOOD, we offer an integrated solution including a website, online ordering service and home delivery management. This operating system combines several advantages.
- The choice of delivery drivers: the restaurateur is free to recruit his own drivers, or to use DOOD’s partner drivers (Stuart, Coursicab…);
- Unrivalled service quality: the restaurant retains total control over the quality of its deliveries, and listens to its customers to constantly improve its service;
- A customizable delivery service: professionals are free to set their own terms and conditions, from the minimum order to the delivery radius, including delivery charges and promotional offers;
- Commission-free: the owner of the catering service finances access to the offer, with no further budget constraints, regardless of the number of deliveries made;
- Data management: the customer database can be fully exploited by the owner, who can track performance to improve or create loyalty programs;
- All means of payment are authorized;
- DOOD is a white-label provider;
- An integrated solution: the platform is easily integrated with most integrators and cash registers.
Would you like to diversify your revenue streams by offering a delivery service in your restaurant? DOOD can help you set up your project quickly and easily.