The concept of cloud kitchens has gained immense popularity in recent times. As per the projections by Redseer Consulting, the number of cloud kitchens in India is forecasted to grow at a rate of 50-60%. When it comes to gross merchandise value (GMV), the cloud kitchen industry is projected to become a USD 3 billion industry by 2024, up from about USD 400 million in 2019. As a restaurateur, it’s high time for you to explore the potential of cloud kitchen business.
How does the premise of cloud kitchens work?
A cloud kitchen is a delivery-only restaurant where there is no concept of dining-in. Unlike the brick and mortar restaurants, there is no dining area where your diners can sit and have food. In the case of cloud kitchens, customers order food via website and mobile apps. There is also the option to place orders via third party food delivery platforms, and social media platforms.
Top reasons for diners to choose cloud kitchens
Let’s quickly go through the reasons that make cloud kitchens a clear favourite among customers.
1. Hygiene & Safety Concern
Post the outbreak of Covid-19, restaurant customers have become quite safety conscious. Hence a majority of the customers prefer to order food online. While dining out is an occasional affair, food delivery services have made it convenient for people to access delicious food at the comfort of their homes.
Recently PYMNTS research conducted a survey among superconnected customers, who own six or more different devices such as smartphones, laptops and wearables. During the last 15 months, a majority of them have ordered food online. 87% of them plan to continue this habit as often as they do now, even after they can return to the practice of dining in at restaurants.
2. Ease of ordering
Now diners can order food from the comfort of their home. It saves considerable time as well. They don’t have to get ready, get stuck in traffic jams or go through the delay associated with the serving of food. In the post pandemic world, there are options for no-contact delivery as well. The delivery staff of the cloud kitchen enterprise will place the food outside the customer’s doorstep. With digital payment platforms such as Paytm and Google, diners can opt for contactless payments as well making it an absolutely safe dining experience.
Why to invest in cloud kitchens?
Let’s delve deep into the key factors that make cloud kitchens a clear favourite among entrepreneurs.
1. Cost effective
In the cloud kitchen model, you save on a huge amount as rentals. Since diners don’t visit, there is absolutely no need to set up your venture in a prime locality. Also there is no need to invest in signage, interior design, posh furniture and front of the house staff. When it comes to labour, all you need is a team with chefs, dishwashers and delivery agents.
2. Scalability
It is quite easy to expand your cloud kitchen business. If the first venture becomes a hit among diners, then you can easily expand your business to other locations. There is absolutely no need to invest in expensive real estate. Inviting franchisees would also be a great idea to expand your footprint.
3. Scope of flexibility
There is more scope for trying out new experiments. If any of your ideas are not working out, scrap it and come up with a new one. A menu is a typical example. There is no such concept of a printed menu in a cloud kitchen. The consumers place orders for food based on the digital menu. It’s pretty easy to modify a digital menu when compared to that of a printed menu.
4. Different brands under a single roof
A major advantage is that multiple restaurants can run their cloud kitchens in the same building. Suppose you are offering diverse cuisines such as Italian, Mexican and French. Cloud kitchens offer the flexibility of accommodating all your offerings from the same place.
5. Technology to make life easier
Customers place orders through multiple platforms such as websites, call centers and social media platforms. However, managing a huge number of orders should not be a matter of concern for you anymore. India’s leading digital restaurant management platform inresto POS helps you handle orders from multiple platforms with ease. The software also offers valuable insights such as which are the fast moving and non performing dishes in your menu. It helps you focus more on those items which are the hot favourites. Removing those dishes which are low performing will help you cut down losses. The technology software gives you a 360 degree management solutions to all your restaurant problems and you are able to run your business seamlessly.
6. Get access to customer information
The restaurant management system collects valuable data such as customer phone number, e-mail id etc. The software helps you identify your target customers and run marketing campaigns. It also offers the flexibility to run personalised marketing campaigns for diners. With a single click, now you can reach out to a large number of customers.
It also helps retrieve the list of your loyal diners. Develop a customised loyalty program and offer the option of instant redemption. For those diners who order food frequently, come up with special offers and discounts. It will help create a long lasting relationship with your diners.
7. More efficient
At dine-in restaurants a lot of time is wasted due to wait times and the delay associated with serving the order. When you are running a cloud kitchen, there are no such hassles. Just focus on preparing the food and delivering to customers within the stipulated timelines. Hence a cloud kitchen model is much more efficient than a brick and mortar restaurant.
Parting Words
With Covid-19 changing the landscape of restaurant management, ordering, and flourishing digitization within this industry, we think that investing in cloud kitchens is the sure-fire way to restaurant success. Many restaurants have successfully adopted this model and easily adapted it to a multitude of challenges posed by the pandemic. By starting a cloud kitchen can not only enable you to invest less, but also gain fast loyalty from consumers all over the city.
