DELIVERY: What’s the Best Third-Party Delivery Service for Restaurants?
The third-party restaurant delivery wars are here. With more consumers turning to the convenience of ordering their meals online and via mobile apps, services that provide delivery for non-traditional takeout outlets are thriving. With online delivery expected to grow to more than $24 billion by 2023, getting your restaurant into the game is paramount to future success.
But which one would best fit your restaurant’s business? The good news is that restaurants have some options when choosing a third-party delivery service. We break down the top five delivery services as well as in-house delivery, so you can make the best choice for your restaurant.
DID YOU KNOWS…
Boston Beer and Dogfish Head Merge
Boston Beer and Dogfish Head Craft Brewery announced last week that their two companies will merge, a deal valued at about $300 million. The merger will have the company operating under Boston Beer and led under Boston Beer’s CEO Dave Burwick. Dogfish, however, will be able to keep its indie craft brewery status.
Chef Flex
Is restaurant merch the new band tee? While anyone can slap their logo on a t-shirt or hat and call it a day, some adventurous owners and chefs have elevated the playing field by partnering with sneaker companies. Manhattan ice cream shop Mikey Likes It has teamed up with Ewing Athletics on two sneakers ($150). Limited-edition Koio sneakers will honor Dominique Ansel with a shiny croissant clasps on the laces. Called “croissneakers” they’re going for $348 a pair. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg.
FuboTV Explores Ad-Supported OC
FuboTV, the OTT streaming service, is looking to move into the world of original, ad-supported content. They currently offer a variety of networks to subscribers for $54.99/month and hold the English language rights to Liga MX soccer. This new content would be its own channel on FuboTV and not a separate platform service. Learn more about OTT sports streaming.
HOW DO YOU SAY THAT IN SPANISH?
Why it matters to you: In many restaurants, language is a barrier; it’s time to address it.
Full disclosure, I speak fluent Spanish and it’s 100% because I have worked in restaurants since I was 14 years old (for 40 years, if you are counting). That’s why this blog on Toast POS is so perfectly on point. Almost 26% of staff in the restaurant industry are native Spanish speakers. While that can be a challenge for you to communicate with them, it’s on the tip of the iceberg that can hit your restaurant if staff can’t smoothly engage each other while working. For my part, I implemented English lessons weekly for any of my Spanish speaking staff. The results were fantastic, because everyone benefited.
The post lists multiple efforts you can engage to ensure everyone on your team has the tools they need to efficiently interact at work. It includes 75 words/phrases that you can post, so that your English-speaking staff can more quickly exchange with your Spanish-speaking team members. Additionally, it includes ideas like posting all signage in both languages and even including bilingualism in your training. This way your new Spanish-speaking staff better prepared to work with your English-speaking personnel and, as a result, operations smooth smoother and safer. Let’s be real, with unemployment at historical lows, we can’t afford to lose or preclude anyone from working in our restaurants. Addressing language barriers is logical step in managing this specific issue. IMHO.
[Source: Toast POS]
PLACE YOUR AD HERE!
Why it matters to you: Your menu may be your next great new source of revenue.
There appears to be a new culture controversy in our industry -- direct advertising on restaurant menus. You’re probably thinking, “That’s not particularly new, so what’s the big deal?” Well, sure TGIFriday’s has their Jack Daniel’s inspired BBQ sauce menu, but that’s not exactly what we are discussing. This is more about real promotion of products on your menu. This happened recently at celebrity chef Danny Bowien’s Mission Chinese Food with the inclusion of Arizona Iced Tea marks on his dinner menu. The question posed is whether this is a bad or good idea. With so many social influencers getting paid to post on behalf of companies, why shouldn’t restaurant operators use their own influence to create additional revenue?
Let’s do some calculations. How many covers do you serve a month? If your restaurant does $100k in monthly sales with a check average of $30 then you are seeing approximately 3300 visits per month. Since everyone one of those visits includes a menu presentation, you can literally guarantee specific level of interaction. We have long described why you should work with national brands to build your own reputation; this is just the most logical next step in that enterprise. Let someone else pay for your menus to be printed and make a few bucks on the side at the same time. Our suggestion is to take revenue wherever it presents itself and make like just a little bit easier at the end of the month reconciliation.
[Source: Grub Street]
