The food delivery category is now worth more than $150 billion globally, and the US food delivery market more than doubled over the past couple of years, according to a recent McKinsey study.
With the holidays approaching, so too is one of the busiest delivery seasons for restaurants. Football games, Halloween, the day before Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year’s, Valentine’s Day, and more. The last thing you want to worry about during a busy delivery rush is gaps in your food delivery system.
The restaurant delivery software you use will impact your customers, restaurant operations, kitchen, and delivery drivers. Having the right tech in place before the busy season hits will help you predict sales, handle delivery teams and tracking, run winning promos, and leverage your online ordering platforms.
Instead of worrying about potential food delivery management nightmares, focus on the following five ways you can take advantage of the busy season’s potential profits so that your most demanding time is also your most profitable.
1. Review Your Previous Years’ Sales to Predict Demand
Your POS (Point of Sale) data, especially sales and labor, is critical to peak season success. Although Q4 with holidays and specialty months is the most active for many restaurants, your data could show differently. That means you need to understand what types of promos to run, how your best off-premises delivery operations perform, what kind of revenue to expect, and where you need to lock in more efficient processes.
Whether you’re delivering more during National Pizza Month (October), holidays like Thanksgiving or Christmas, or New Year’s Eve parties, locking in the right food delivery system now can help you capitalize on your previous years’ data.
2. Prepare In-House Drivers and Third-Party Delivery Teams
Have a hunch that your deliveries could be more efficient? Did you have an opportunity to review your POS stats and food delivery records and actually see that you’ve been operating inefficiently? In order to take advantage of this year’s busy season, you need to optimize your delivery teams by implementing solutions like restaurant delivery software that preps them on what to expect with strong Standard Operating Procedures (SOP).
Without proper food delivery management in place, problems could arise such as accepting delivery orders without having enough staff to manage them, employees calling out with the seasonal flu, a general delivery driver shortage, or a rise in customer complaints.
Investing now to ensure you have third-party overflow options for busy times allows your restaurant to stay flexible. Now you can deliver premium customer experiences while increasing sales and eliminating rejected orders during peak times.
3. Run a Special Promo for National Pizza Month
If you want to keep your restaurant top-of-mind, consider leveraging special months, like October’s National Pizza Month, to increase delivery orders. These pizza promos capture customer attention and retain and reinvigorate repeat customers.
Did you know: there’s no extra advertising cost to run customer promotions alongside a tracking link with VROMO?
4. Use Powerful, Reliable Delivery Software Alongside Your Online Ordering Platforms
Because your restaurant’s delivery operation ebbs and flows, even during busy seasons, it’s important to have robust and trustworthy food delivery software that adapts with you. This includes working with restaurant delivery software teams that understand and champion this ever-changing ecosystem mindset by continually adding useful operational integrations.
Whether it’s connecting front and back-of-house, delivery drivers to customers, or delivery management to third-party overflow drivers, adding the right tech now helps your busy season order efficiency grow, helps you connect with other platforms well, and eliminates worry over missed orders, lost revenue, or customer complaints.
5. Create Memorable Meals with Better Delivery Experiences
Making the most of this critical time and creating positive memories comes with food delivery software that offers delivery driver tracking, reliable ETA’s for customers, and exclusive offers for future orders. These compel returning customers to become regulars, and new guests to quickly convert to returning guests.
Thinking about how to double-down during your busy season and find success with your food delivery system? Book a demo with the VROMO team today!
