The food business has observed many changes all through its history. And, since the start of online ordering and delivery, it has reached to a next level. More and more restaurants are coming up with new ideas and opening. Hence, the food delivery system is very much in demand.
Food delivery has experienced a rapid evolution owing to the advent of user-friendly apps, and smart phones coupled with varying consumer expectations. It has made takeaway food as a chief category for most people.
Studies reveal that in the US, 75% of consumers order home delivery at least once in 10 days. Recurring lockdowns and social distancing early on during COVID-19 gave restaurant delivery sales an enormous boost with home delivery becoming a lifeline for the limping restaurant industry.
For restaurants, which were majorly hit by the pandemic in 2021, delivery service has offered a supplemental revenue flow. Food delivery is continuing to expand with each passing day and its economic structure is developing with each passing day.
When it comes to free online ordering system, consumers are always overwhelmed by the various choices. Anyone with a TV streaming service will understand how much time fades away as you scroll through various TV shows and movies and you end up watching those old classics.
The same is with the delivery industry as more and more food items become commoditized on various delivery apps.
Every restaurant wants to be an exclusion and your restaurant can be an exception. In order to stay ahead of the competitors, start asking yourself a few basic questions.
What will make people order my burger instead of other restaurants providing burgers?
What will make the consumers choose my restaurant over others?
How can we be sure that they are satisfied with their decision of ordering food from our restaurant?
The clearest way to find a difference between you and your competitors is to make sure that your menu is exclusive than theirs. And your other services like delivery, time, hygiene, and fresh food can also be customized according to their taste and preferences. All these things will help you in staying ahead of your competitors.
Below are some tips to follow for a consistent growth in restaurant business. Following these steps will boost your restaurant business more than your expectation.
Some of the tips on ‘how can I improve my restaurant business’ are as follows:
Organize a grand opening occasion to enhance sales
If you are launching a new restaurant, you must start the business by having a grand opening. Invite a number of people and serve the most popular and adored items from your menu. Promote your restaurant opening on different social media platforms to reach out to your probable customers.
Invite the press and other media influencers to produce a buzz before and during the event. Offer free entry to the customers and request the people attending to register online. In this way, you can save their contact details and send them messages later on for all the promotional deals.
Choose an appropriate space for delivery
By assigning an appropriate space for your delivery partners from where they collect their orders, you facilitate them to avoid a queue of waiting clients and enhance their effectiveness. You can also make use of this space from where the customers can pick up their orders.
For being more meticulous, you can create a place for employees to pack all the food for delivery and take orders there. Designating a checkout and take out station for your clients will be ideal for customers who do not pay online or over the phone.
Create a social media presence
It is very important to have a social media presence to connect with customers personally. Create accounts on social media channels like Instagram, Twitter and Facebook. Uploading something on Tiktok could also be a great idea.
Optimize your existence by linking to your online restaurant ordering solution and landing pages, and showing some sections of your profiles. Post high-profile photos regularly to keep your presence on top of the minds of your existing and new customers.
Make frequent Updates by using the latest technology
Ordering platforms online are making it very convenient for customers to see your menu, place orders accordingly, and pay for these services digitally. This saves you from the trouble of taking orders by phone, which is normally time-consuming and often leads to errors in taking the food order.
The majority of mobile ordering apps make it easy for customers to place orders from the convenience of their homes or office. By regularly updating your technology for ordering food kiosks and other items, you can modernize your delivery service and allure new clients.
Training the delivery staff at frequent intervals
If you are keen to explore ways on how to improve restaurant business, you need to have your personal delivery fleet. Chart out a special training program for your staff that will help them understand the entire food delivery process.
Teach the delivery drivers how to make the best use of insulated delivery bags to keep the food items warm, how to pack drinks and food orders in the vehicles and how to deliver the stuff safely to the customers without spilling anything.
If you outsource your delivery service, it eliminates the requirement to educate your personal drivers as these companies have experience and their staff is trained to deliver the goods carefully. But at the same time, the in-house team should be trained to pack all the orders meticulously and ready for pickup.
For this, two to three team members should be capable of taking up the orders, especially when the orders are more. Here, it is important to check the incoming orders for accuracy, pack them carefully for transport, and ensure that required condiments or cutlery are packed along with the food items.
They should also be aware of where the orders should be placed when they are prepared and delivery staff handed over the appropriate order.
The delivery menu should be aptly created
Food delivery has become an important part when it comes to restaurants. For this, a separate delivery menu should be created that will assist in simplifying preparation and packaging for the delivery staff.
Begin by picking up your most admired and popular food items. Try to eliminate the foods that can get too sodden or melt once they are placed in carry-out containers that are sealed. Also, take the suggestions from your staff as to what additions can be made to your delivery menu.
Stock-up adequate delivery supplies
It is vital to store ample stock of take-out containers, napkins, lids, utensils, cups, pizza boxes of different sizes, condiments, and food delivery bags that are insulated so that the staff is well equipped and never falls short of all these items when the food is ready for delivery.
Hassle-free delivery of food is an integral part of any restaurant business so it should be well taken care of.
Relationships with food delivery staff should be cordial
If you wish to hire other delivery services other than creating your fleet, get to know your delivery partners who are serving in your location. You can work in coordination with your delivery staff to deliver orders on time, so that the customers do not have any complaints.
It becomes easy when your third-party couriers and in-house couriers work in association with each other to connect and effectively transfer orders without any errors. Appoint one of your team members on each shift as the chief person for cooperating with delivery drivers.
Enhance restaurant sales by focussing on SEO
You can get the website of your restaurant on the top with the help of Search engine optimization with related keywords and names. Ranking for different keywords is as significant as ranking the name of your restaurant.
If, for instance, you are running an organic vegetable store in New York City, and its website emerges at the zenith of the SERP when anyone looks for an organic vegetable store in NYC that is exposing your shop to new customers.
Restaurant sales can be increased by running digital ads
By using Google Ads and social media ads, you can attract new customers online. Through Instagram and Facebook ads, you can reach out to people who live and have workplaces near the restaurant.
By using Google Ads, you can connect with people who can be your potential customers who are hunting for keywords associated with your restaurant. For instance, if you are running a burger restaurant in New York town, you can buy ads “finest burger New York,” or “burger restaurant New York town.”
Traditional ads can also boost restaurant business
By creating and running traditional advertisements on TV, and radio and getting ads printed in magazines and newspapers you can boost the sales of your restaurant. Though traditional advertising is more costly than digital advertising, it can reach out to a wide range of audiences and enhance your sales.
How to improve a restaurant business by attracting repeat business
We all wonder why the online restaurant trend has become so popular amongst us. To start with, the services we get online are incredible. Offers, coupons, time saving, quick delivery and many other services that we avail by just a few clicks allow the consumers to enjoy the convenience from their home.
All these services encourage the consumers to opt for an online ordering system as it is so easy for them to browse the menus at their own convenience. Also they can try out new restaurants of the town without actually going there and relish the cuisines with full comfort.
Follow the below-mentioned tips to boost restaurant sales by persuading existing customers to visit your restaurant-
So, here are some quick tips that answer your queries on “how to improve sales in a restaurant business.”
Send messages to the targeted guests
Through restaurant marketing automation software, you can send offers to your existing customers. Through software, you can send “we miss you” notes appealing to guests to go for a reservation – through SMS or email to customers to come and dine with you again.
Have a loyalty program to enhance revenue
Have a loyalty program for restaurants that encourages the customers to build up points for online and on-site orders and use points for free drinks, exclusive events and much more.
To increase sales, cross-promote internally
You can get repeat business through the cross-selling delivery process to your dine-in guests. Encourage visitors who always come to your restaurant to order online by providing them with a promo code for the first order they place. Automated emails can be set to update them about the latest offers.
You can even inspire pickup and delivery clients to make reservations by sending them updates through email and offering them a free champagne toast on their arrival.
Why are delivery services significant for the restaurant?
If you are keen to increase the sales of your eating joint, it is significant that you introduce a delivery service, which will keep you on par with your competitors or even keep you ahead of them. Bear in mind that delivering food to the doorstep of your guests will only grow your brand if you have a market presence.
New customers will not order unless your name is not visible and they have not heard of it. Once the delivery circuit is developed, you can reach out to a larger audience in no time at all, which can majorly enhance your profits.
Before you jump into delivery sales, you should be sure that it is suitable for your business structure and whether it will work for your business form. It has been observed that delivery does not go well with fine dining restaurants and you should also avoid it if your cuisine gets soggy and cannot hold well during delivery.
You would not like to lose your existing customers by providing them with inferior-quality food.
What are the advantages of having an In-House Delivery Team?
Wondering how to begin a restaurant delivery service? If you have the money and time to build and create an in-house delivery team then it is certainly a better option. Approaching a third-party service will involve a lot of hassles. Two perfect examples of this kind of delivery system are Panera Bread and Starbucks.
The chief advantage of having your own delivery service for the restaurant is that it gives customers the confidence that the delivery will be on time and the stuff offered will be of the best quality. It will enhance the brand visibility, and loyalty of the customers and assure you won’t be outshined by the massive third-party services which your competitors may be hiring.
Recent studies have revealed that approximately 75% of customers like to order directly from a restaurant rather than ordering from third-party services. Maintaining your personal delivery team falls cheaper up to 50% than hiring the services of third parties. This will also enhance your income as you are accumulating 100% of the profits from every meal served.
Ultimately, if you have your personal delivery team, you have full control over the dining experience of your consumer, right from ordering, preparation of the meal, and payment. Your trusted employees can directly deal with the consumers, rather than the unfamiliar staff of any third-party company.
Benefits of collaborating with a third-party delivery company
There are many advantages to partnering with a third-party delivery service. It increases the visibility of your brand, thus boosting sales to a great extent. These companies are managed very professionally and reduce losing consumers due to busy phone signals.
Employing a third-party service is an incredible choice for businesses that are managed by managers who are not keen to take up the accountability of training and hiring a delivery team. These companies are also offering lucrative offers to attract repeat orders and also have apps, which will save their credit card information for hassle-free ordering in the future.
According to various studies, third-party delivery will grow continually. It will have a positive impact on the business as it will help in increasing the sale and profit of the business. On the other side, many experts also believe that refusing integrated delivery will negatively affect the food business.
Dining is an $869 billion-plus industry in the US, so food delivery is surely the most profound and will have a long-lasting impact on billions of establishments.
Also, you should make sure that your business should not unintentionally engage with authorized 3rd party delivery without your knowledge. Because many companies call in or place food orders online for customers and then pick them up, you might not be aware of such an interface with a delivery service.
So, it is vital to have a clear partnership and contracts with the third-party service.
From coffee shops and restaurants to many convenience stores and markets, businesses are collaborating with third-party delivery services. If you plan to incorporate a food delivery service into your restaurant business, the most vital decision you should make is to collaborate with a third-party service or create your own in-house delivery team.
No matter what you opt for, utilizing delivery services properly will help in boosting your revenue and also your brand name in the competitive market.
How to improve my restaurant business and attract millennial Customers
The use of an in-house team and outsourcing the delivery services of your restaurant is a perfect way to attract more generation Y consumers. As per the USA census, 80% of the population is opting for home delivery and takeaways rather than a proper dine-in system. This generation prefers convenience and instant access over cost, so they are a good thing for restaurants to have delivery services.
The most important thing to remember about generation Y is that they don’t stick to any one 3rd party service. They want to try out new services every time they want to order something. So the restaurant owners might have to collaborate with one or more delivery services for better growth and long-lasting relationships with their consumers.
Moreover, you should not sign any contracts that have an exclusivity section. If possible, you must try out the delivery services that offer customers the ability to earn points and rewards, so this is also something that attracts this generation who are active online.
Utilize take-outs and delivery during pandemic restrictions
The pandemic has changed the lifestyle and everybody looks for convenience at their place, making delivery services for those who can’t move out of their home to buy groceries and other home-related items.
It is always better to diversify your restaurant stream by adding a delivery option to your service. You can always notify the consumers through various social media platforms and also on your website for various delivery services like a drive-through, takeaways, and home deliveries.
Conclusion
It’s all about the little things, we all are certain that you will see a major change in your restaurant orders, sales, and also happy consumers by following the steps mentioned above. With the delivery system rising, make sure that your restaurant not only stands out from the competitors but also creates returning customers through the help of a user-friendly delivery set.
By organizing and managing your menu on a daily basis and optimizing suggestions on every order, make sure that those picky eaters can also modify their meals by including promotions and descriptions along with scrumptious pictures to seal the order every time they scroll through your website. Your restaurant is surely going to see big improvements in both sales and ratings.