Food delivery and its growth

Be it a corporate job or your own business, we tend to get super busy during the weekdays and sometimes weekends and so it's no wonder why there is an extensive demand for food delivery services these days. It's a major trend that is being followed by each corner of the world and is being used by customers across all demographics. Thanks to COVID-19 that gave an opportunity to increase the employment rate as well as increasing the convenience of the customers. It was very important for restaurants especially to move to the digital world for survival purposes but it has changed the expectations in the future. According to Business of Apps, it is estimated that the food delivery industry is expected to reach an approximately $165 billion market size in the year 2029.

What is the thought process that involves choosing the restaurant for delivery?

Source: https://www.deliverect.com/en-us/blog/online-food-delivery/how-to-rank-high-on-online-food-delivery-platforms

Pedestrian traffic is no longer seen to be enough to generate sales and hence digital can be announced to be ruler of such industry. When it comes to increasing the customer base, most restaurants target online customers more as it is convenient and according to lightspeed, approximately 90% of the customers do online research before they finalise their decision in choosing a restaurant. A combination of search engine optimisation, online reviews made by the other customers as well as restaurant’s brand recognition and menu plays an important role before picking the right one. Social media such as Facebook and Instagram can also influence the decision making process as they can retrieve a lot of information on the basis of what kind of food is offered and how much are they being charged.

Restaurants are highly recommended to make use of search engine optimisation, social media platforms and food delivery services to boost their online exposure, to become the strong competitor in the industry and establish successfully. Restaurants must keep their websites and social media channels up to date with attractive and creative content that can grasp the attention of the customers. It is essential to have the contents posted day to day basis as it shows that your restaurants are actively online and that customers can easily contact you. 

Now the question arises, how do we satisfy our customers through on demand home delivery services?

Use the right technology

Source: https://www.searates.com/blog/post/unique-delivery-technology

By using the term right technology, nothing fits better than food delivery services to the restaurants. Food delivery services have become the need of the hour and that is why restaurants must consider to adapt themselves even if covid 19 is no longer existing. Sales system and on demand management system should be worked on that seamlessly manages the whole lot. By implementing the delivery system to your page you will be exposed to benefits such as inventory control management, simple setup of the menu, analysing and reporting customer data efficiently, the usage of credit card system, sales tracking and the application itself can act as user friendly. 

Be creative with the menu

Source: https://ksioks.com/print-templates/creative-restaurant-menu-template-psd-7712

If your restaurant is just new to the business, it is always good to post slowly and less then gradually increase the options that you have to offer to your customers. It is also recommended to start off by posting starters before dropping the main course. However, as an established restaurant, they must continue to work on how presentable their dish looks like. Customers are frequently checking up on new items that may be added to your menu and want to try new things out. The more the variety the more the sales increase.

Partner up with the delivery operations

Source: https://techsauce.co/pr-news/thai-food-delivery-insights-2021

Delivery men will help you reach more customers and can help you achieve success in the long term. Partner up with well recognised brands that have fewer theft records and late delivery records. Customers do not want to receive food in bad condition and so be considerate when it comes to packaging and also monitor the condition of the food delivered. Any unsatisfactory work done from the delivery may harm the reputation of your restaurant. 

Lastly provide omni-channel experience

Source: https://www.sender.net/blog/omnichannel-marketing/

Restaurants must set up their account in most of the places to reach out to a wider range of audience and must continuously update their post throughout all the places when done in one as it may help increase the interaction of customers. Since its online services, customers looks for rewards and discounts so make sure that rewards after purchases are provided to encourage them for further purchases. The messages put across in the chosen digital media must be put in polite messages with design that will help you reach your goals. Before allowing your customers to order, make sure that the location to your restaurant is put correctly to avoid any loss and disappoint customers. 

Be it just a starter or being long established, it's never too late to make changes to how you've been working and adapt to the digital world and see which one works out the best for you. Do make sure you have your food ordering app ready to start the process sooner. So if you are looking forward to putting your restaurants under food delivery services, this could be a great opportunity for you to contact them and watch your restaurants rise!