The trend of ordering food online using third party food delivery apps is gaining increasing popularity. As per the report by Forbes, 63% of young adults use third-party delivery apps. However, if you are still relying on third party delivery apps, it’s high time to realise that it’s an imperative to build and promote your restaurant’s own delivery channel. Let’s first try to understand how a third party delivery app is posing a strong threat to your restaurant business.
Major drawbacks of a third party food delivery app
- Exorbitant commission fee
As per the report by CNBC, delivery providers typically charge restaurants 15 to 30% service fees on every order they fulfil. Hence, third party delivery apps are making a big dent in your profit margin. With such huge commissions, it’s just not possible for you to survive in the long run.
- Badly affects the food quality
Third party food delivery apps enter into tie-ups with several restaurants. Hence their delivery staff will try to pick up as many orders as possible to increase their profits. In this process, there will be a delay in delivering the orders placed by your restaurant’s customers. The delay will also cause the food to go cold or soggy.
- Fortunes Paid for Promotions
Third party delivery applications have visibility as their main selling point for restaurants. They know that restaurants’ sales are directly linked to how visible they are on these applications. This causes mounting prices for getting promoted on these applications. However, this alone does not guarantee a sale and your restaurant’s sales are not ensured.
With multiple other factors deciding a successful sale from your restaurant including reviews, rating, and price points, this fortune paid for promotions might also be a big gamble for some restaurants with unfortunate incidents in the past.
How to set up your restaurant’s own website or app
If you are all set to launch your restaurant’s in-house delivery services, then the first step is to build a website and mobile app of your own.
India’s leading restaurant management platform inresto has the right solution for you. With inresto Online Order, build a website of your own, with both iOS and Android mobile apps for your restaurant. It helps you increase your online reach, bookings and aids your customers in ordering food online directly from your website.
Techniques to promote your restaurant’s delivery service
1. Market your food delivery business
Building a website of your own is not enough. There are several methods to make the public aware of your delivery service. Placing a banner on your restaurant website is good to start with. Post the news of the delivery service on your restaurant’s Facebook, Instagram and Twitter pages. Running a radio, television or print ad is also a great idea to ponder upon. Come up with deals and special discounts that lure your customers to place orders from your website. As per the research by National Restaurant Association, 87 percent of consumers would go to or order from a restaurant if provided with a savings offer.
2. Promote your menu items
The best way to promote your restaurant’s delivery service is by marketing your food aggressively. Assume that you have introduced a range of new dishes to your menu. Highlight the news of the latest offerings in your website and mobile app. A brief description of the mouth-watering dishes will definitely prompt your audience to try out the new dishes.
3. Engagement is the key
Keep your customers engaged with marketing campaigns via SMS, E-mail and push notifications. It makes your online delivery service linger in the minds of your customers. With the help of real-time analytics, evaluate the effectiveness of the marketing campaigns. If it’s not working out, tweak the campaigns, run again and check the impact.
4. Personalised offers make the difference
A restaurant management platform helps you collect valuable information such as the name, contact details and date of birth of customers. On special occasions such as birthdays and wedding anniversaries, send personalised offers to customers. An example can be a 15% special discount on birthdays for placing orders from the company website.
5. Increase traffic with SEO friendly content
Include content in your website that is search engine friendly. With Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) friendly content, your website stands a greater chance of appearing on the top of Google search results. A user who is guided to your website will naturally get to know about your restaurant’s delivery service as well.
6. Gather feedback from customers
Seek feedback from diners on your restaurant’s delivery services. Ask them to rate your delivery service on various parameters such as promptness, behaviour of the delivery staff etc. Feature those reviews on your website and social media platforms. Any prospective customer would be interested in trying out a delivery service that has got rave reviews.
Parting Words
Since the pandemic, diners have become quite hygiene conscious. They no longer want to step out and prefer to order food online. In this scenario, it’s an imperative to build your restaurant’s own delivery service. The techniques discussed above will help you enormously in attracting more orders and spread the word of mouth.
