Challenges Of Online Food Delivery

According to the Eat2Go Study: The food delivery/take war business in Spain, ¹ there are 5 challenges:

1. Quest for success and profitability in structural and logistical transformations
2. The business model transformation between technology and hospitality
3. Sectorial evolution leading all technological and global companies
4. Regularisation of the market
5. Making the client the epicentre of business strategy 

As this new normality settles, together with social distancing, habitual consumption behaviour and lack of proper time shall coexist. With time becoming more valuable and cooking taking a backseat, food delivery is the only source of gastronomic experiences. 

The best way to cater to an increasing number of customers is to streamline your delivery food delivery. 

Top 7 Tips

#1: Give Your Customers The Ease Of Ordering Food From Anywhere, At Anytime

The key aspect of the food delivery approach is to make the online service available to potential customers quickly and easily. For instance, mobile devices and smartphones generated over 50% of the website traffic worldwide in 2020.² People use phones to browse social media, watch videos, and order food.

Your website ought to be optimised for mobiles and load on any device. You have to make it responsive to stay relevant so that your customers immediately look for the ORDER button. 

The crux is, to make the process of ordering food so intuitive and easy that it increases website traffic to the restaurant. Do not hide the menu in the footer and don’t deliberate extra unnecessary clicks.

Customers also use social media to order food. So, it is now pertinent to have a social media strategy for food delivery services. Enable customers to place their order from Facebook straightway with a CTA button like “START ORDER.”

You can make the process more responsive by building a mobile app with your logo and promotions. You could also add options to schedule delivery or pre-order. 

#2: Use Data & Regulate The Radius of Schedule & Delivery

Restaurant analytics can be vital for constant operation improvement. Gather and analyse data of the existing customers to optimise delivery services. 

Analyse the busiest time to do this. Adjust schedule and distribution workforce. For instance, if people order more during the day, or just before the closing time, consider staying open for a little longer. Likewise, people tend to order more during holidays; adjust your business hours accordingly. 

Analytics are useful to figure out the most profitable delivery areas. It would help you determine the volume of the delivery radius too. If delivery is taking longer than usual, choose nearby locations only. 

#3: Introduce More Payment Options

Customers prefer to pay and have a contactless delivery. You can improve service by providing them with what they seek. So, launch brand new offers and features to keep your customers safe. Allow them to pay in a click via PayPal, card, and more options so that there is no need to exchange unhygienic paper bills. 

For order fulfilment, give your foodies the options such as contactless delivery. In this case, the delivery person shall leave the order at the door, ring the bell, and leave. This ensures minimum exposure and maximum happiness, making your customers feel a little safer. 

#4: Streamline Order Acceptance

Restaurant owners often face a backlash because of logistics. Still, the process of accepting an order to timely delivery should be carefully optimised to keep your customers happy and ensure a steady flow of orders. 

To do that, you would require an app to take orders, which ensures ease of use, and permits your restaurant to accept orders in a few steps. In addition, you should have the feature of sharing an estimated time of delivery with customers in the app. 

Here, if possible, dedicate a team to prepare and package delivery orders, and don’t involve your dine-in team. 

Finally, make sure your delivery persona is on stand-by. Retrieve your order bag without compromising with your dine-in customers. 

#5: Introduce New Marketing Strategies & Promotional Offers

To increase orders for delivery, a surefire way is to promote the delivery service exhaustively. From the website to stickers and flyers, everything works here. Let your customers know that they can order food online from you. 

Promotion is the best marketing strategy to use. It is not only exclusive to a platform but also speaks volumes about your brand. Have a promo active that rewards your customers for ordering food online from the restaurant. The promotional offers should be noticeable on the website, on the menu, and ensure nobody misses them. 

#6: Pay Attention To Food Packaging

An online marketing strategy for food delivery should revolve around the taste of food because it is important. However, other factors such as presentation and packaging are extremely important too. These minute details can make a significant difference. 

For instance, do add safety stickers to seal every bag. It guarantees the freshness of food and your integrity. Add freebies such as napkins or wet tissues personalised with the logo and brand name. Give them a social media code to connect with you for a discount. 

Personalised notes to thank your customers are also a great way of showing appreciation for their patronage. 

#7: Optimise The Menu For Delivery

Finally, optimising food delivery is the key. Not all items listed in the menu might travel well. It is always better not to add them to the delivery list instead of presenting your customers with a mess. Remove the items that do not go well and replace them with ones that are more appropriate. 

Packaging is also an essential factor for a positive experience in online delivery. Use robust and quality packaging to keep food hot and safe. Ensure food looks presentable too. For brownies, add the branding on the packaging. 

Final Word

To streamline your food delivery, you have to work on the technological front as well as the existing face. Fortunately, greater digital marketing practices for restaurants are now necessary. As trends in food delivery are gaining more ground in this industry, gear up to face challenges and fine-tune the process. Remember, it’s imperative to have a reliable system for online food ordering and prioritise customer satisfaction in this industry.