Effective Tips to Turn your Dine-in Restaurants Into a Delivery & Takeout Business

Have your dine-in restaurant sales declined amid the Covid pandemic? Are you tired of trying out all the marketing strategies but failed to drive more customers? Is your restaurant business suffering?

Turning to delivery and takeaway may help.

No, we don’t say this! The numbers reveal the situation clearly.

Take a look.

59% of restaurant orders from millennials are takeout or delivery.

63% of customers agree that getting food delivered is more convenient than dining out with a family.

Americans who haven’t used a third-party food delivery service say faster delivery (31%), low order minimums (27%), and restaurant selection (28%) would motivate them to try it.

Working with a third-party delivery service has been found to increase restaurant sales by 10 to 20%.

Thus, both demand and supply aspects of the restaurant industry vote for delivery and takeaway services.

Here’s the checklist on how to go in for food delivery and takeaway business.

Pen down.

• Be Prepared for the Orders Rolling in

The focus should be on organizing the incoming orders as they start arriving. Think about how you going to cater to them. Consider the following questions:

1. Channels for incoming orders
2. Mode of communication with the customers about their orders.
3. Keeping a track of the orders and sales.

Please keep in mind that there would be no table number in the case of takeaways and delivery orders. Instead, the orders could be recorded by the customer name and pick-up time. So, be extra cautious while taking the order details. Modern POS Softwares are gaining widespread popularity among restaurant owners to manage their orders and sales. Find out the best one for your business as well.

Also, it’d be great to contact one of the many third-party food delivery services to get your food delivered to your customers’ place. And if you do this, give a call to your insurance agent.

• Create a Custom Menu for the new services

Keeping the dine-in and food delivery menu the same could be difficult to manage. Instead, curate a custom menu based on the following considerations:

1. Will you make available ready-to-eat dishes or ready-to-heat?
2. Which easy-to-pack and transport dishes will you choose for the takeaway menu?
3. Do you need to increase your staff to accommodate delivery and takeaway traffic?
4. Choose dishes that are low cost and high in demand

You are sure to lose your customers in the early stage itself if they find a mess when they open the food box. To avoid this, have the proper packaging ready for each menu item. Do not forget salads and sauces. Decide which type of packaging material will best suit your menu items. You could choose from cardboard, plastic, styrofoam, and sustainable packing.

Safety Protocols is the success key

While the critical phase has passed, the world is still undergoing the second wave of Covid. Hence, you must take all the measures to ensure the safe delivery of food to your customers. Show your customers, both delivery and takeaway that you aren’t taking any chances and hence implementing the rigorous delivery and takeaway protocol. Also, do not overlook the safety in the kitchen while the food is being prepared. Clean the surfaces, utensils recurrently. Ask your chefs and cooks to put on their masks, and keep sanitizing their hands. A recurrent temperature check of the staff is also a must.

Spread the Word

Let everybody know that you’ve upgraded your services and now open for delivery and takeaway. Leverage the power of social media as much as you can. Besides, send a personal SMS and direct email to your regular customers. Tell them what and why you are doing this and that the meals are prepared and delivered with utmost safety.

Do not forget to change the landing page on your website as well. Make sure your customers and even the new ones find the information they need right away on the site.

The Takeaway

To conclude, the dine-in restaurants in dire need to switch to delivery or takeaway place should follow the above-given tips for a seamless transformation.