The concept of dining is changing rapidly and we are a stage which forces us to think about where the industry is headed next.

Being in this position can’t be described as smooth sailing, because technology and hospitality don’t always go hand in hand- you must first weigh out the attributes of your business and then decide. Sure, dining in your own home can exceed comfort levels- knowing that you have a well cooked meal being delivered to your door in a matter of moments is much less hassle and fairly satisfying. However, we have added a list of pros and cons to see whether your business should take the plunge or not into delivery service.

Pros

Utilize Marketing: Effective marketing can go leaps and bounds within any business- by hitting the right demographic with the correct tools, your venue could be raising profit day by day. A delivery service however could in fact integrate within your marketing plan, by creating an online presence that includes the active promotion of your menu and services at a continuous rate. By doing this effectively, with the right visuals and the most eye catching content, internet based marketing can reach a larger amount of people and hit those consumers that prefer ordering online. Maybe your venue has hit its limit for the night, there seems to be no more free space for walk ins, however with the use of ordering online, customers that know about this service will immediately see what’s happening on your social media pages and order up with the appropriate app installed for your business. This allows you to grab more orders on a busy night, leaving the delivery system to be the perfect alternative to a hectic weekend- provided that you have separate staff to cater to this service!

Create that Database: The benefits seem pretty good when considering the useful information a delivery platform can offer. The act of receiving information such as emails and food preferences will be stored within your businesses database to accumulate a more accurate representation of your customer’s preferred choices. This database will become a valuable asset with your company, allowing a plan to be made from the stored information, in regards to creating alternative dishes, which meals to advertise online and also to further your emailing campaign. When going through the online ordering process, customers will be asked how they want their meal prepared, whether it be spicy or they have certain allergies, their preferences will be stored- this kind of custom research will also allow you to send special offers and inspire your chefs to create different kind of dishes.

Offering Choices: Based on the weather and the individual preferences and feelings of each customer, offering an online ordering service may open up a wider group of customers than expected. People love to roam around the internet, jumping form page to page, hitting on hashtags that reference food dishes or local cuisines within their area- which in turn gives them entrance to your new platform of delivery. It could be the weather that forces people to tune into home delivery venues, which could be a great benefit during those harsh winter months. If the outdoor area of your venue seems to be a selling point, maybe a delivery option could open up in certain months. These benefits can certainty take off, as long as all the right points have been executed within your chef’s team, so that the kitchen doesn’t get disrupted by online orders- there must be a system.

CONS

Separate Staff: In terms of the product/food itself, your kitchen staff need to be on board with the whole idea. A separate delivery service means that the same kitchen will need to produce both meals in house and those to send off, so there will of course be some kind of set back within service if there is no system in place or extra staff. You must think about the potential disruptions and problems that may occur if orders increase at random moments- because the Chef will definitely need to focus on in-house customers. To overcome something like this, a separate team will need to be reached in order to create a smoother flow within delivery execution- because none of us need a slower kitchen. Also in terms of space, for an extra set of staff to prepare meals and prep without distraction, an area will need to be established for them. Not all meals can be on the delivery menu, however, by prepping certain dishes ahead of time, it will take a lot of time out of service setbacks. Make sure the space taken isn’t going to affect the overall dining area of the venue, because losing tables will be a stretch for a delivery service.

Costs: If all these factors are established and integrated within your business, then you will notice the costs of labor heavily increase. Until an online ordering system has been fully used and known to the public, hitting profit numbers may not come through until later. By adding additional staff, supervision, extra stock and delivery transportation, a direct cost evaluation will need to take place. First, make sure that those numbers are possible within your business at that time, as well as the amount of time that will be needed for staff to prepare meals, process orders, package deliveries and travel within service time.

Credibility: Another direct setback may be in the form of ‘selling out’ and not following the traditional route of hospitality- a delivery option may appear to some customers as a ‘money hungry’ move. This may be reaching the truth a little, but it is a factor to take into consideration, as most consumers know that delivered dishes do not taste the same as if you were to sit in a restaurant. Most believe that working in the hospitality industry, especially in the kitchen, means that producing fantastic dishes for consumers is their main goal- whereas taking a delivery route may trickle into the ‘fast food category’- which could hurt a businesses reputation if something were to go wrong. If the system has not been put in place within the kitchen, or the food tastes very different from that served within the restaurant, then negative reviews are sure to arise- so be switched on and aware.

Before taking on any new acts of service, remember to start off small and offer deliveries through your social media pages in a small way- until you know if the market is open for that type of service within your audience.