This week we want to talk about the benefits of in-housing delivery and online orders
What do in-housing delivery and online orders mean?
In-housing delivery and online orders mean that restaurants receive their orders from their customers directly through their online platform and take care of their delivery with their vehicles. As a result, restaurants have full control over their delivery and the ordering process. Restaurateurs can simply create their menu online, receive orders, and use their vehicles to transport the items.
Restaurants can increase revenue, customer satisfaction, avoid commission fees, and target their regular customers if they implement in-house order & delivery services.
According to Zagat x TechTable Summit 2020, “restaurants implementing in-house delivery and ordering experience more than 200% increase in their revenue.” This increase mainly comes from avoiding high commissions and offering a better and memorable delivery experience. Like working with 3rd party delivery services, In-house delivery also comes with pros and cons.
Now let’s explore the advantages of implementing in-house delivery.
In-house order & delivery menus are commission-free
Insourcing delivery comes with a benefit; avoiding high commissions charged by the 3rd party platforms. This means that restaurants can keep up to 30% of the revenue for themselves.
The industry already works with thin margins due to the rising cost of labor, raw materials, and a decrease in dine-in services. Added the time closed due to COVID-19 restrictions, remaining on the business can be challenging. So it is important to avoid commission fees. Having full control over delivery and the ordering system will increase profits in the long run.
Restaurants can build stronger relationships with their customers when they control their online ordering and delivery
Building strong relationships with customers is one of the most important factors to create brand loyalty and improve customer satisfaction.
Restaurants can form deeper relationships with their clients when they own and control data coming from their online orders. By leveraging data, restaurants can offer customized discounts, promotions, and bundling opportunities to their clients.
Interactions like these and offering data-based promotions build customer loyalty. Loyal customers tend to repeat their purchases, and are likely to spend more. As a result, restaurants become more profitable.
Restaurants can offer a better delivery experience when they control their online ordering and delivery
Sometimes there are problems during the delivery process such as; underestimating the delivery time, decreased quality in products due to delivery, or other communications problems.
When restaurants implement in-house delivery and ordering systems, they can communicate directly with their clients and can quickly address & fix the issue easily. Therefore, communicating directly with customers allows restaurants to offer a better delivery experience.
Restaurants can make smarter business decisions when they own and control their sales & consumer data
Data is king! Data is cash! When restaurants take care of the delivery and order process in-house, they can receive and control customer data. This data could be used for analysis and creating business plans for the growth of the restaurant business.
Additionally, this data could be used to re-target restaurants’ existing clients, find potential customers and improve operational efficiency. Some restaurants even use artificial intelligence and this allows restaurants to make smarter business decisions.
Customers prefer to order directly from their favorite restaurants
According to research done by National Restaurant Associations, in the USA “78% of US delivery orders are placed through the restaurant itself, while only 22% of orders are made through third-party delivery services.” This data shows that customers prefer to order directly from their favorite restaurants.
So, if restaurateurs use in-house delivery and order operations, they can reach a wider clientele looking to order directly from restaurants’ websites. This will also increase restaurants’ profits as they no longer pay for high commissions.