Online food delivery has been around for a while, but the COVID-19 pandemic quickly accelerated the trend of ordering food online. If you run a restaurant or food-related business, you may be wondering how to promote your restaurant food delivery in the current climate. Continue reading for more food delivery tips and tricks that may help your business thrive and stand out from competitors online and offline.
Tips for Improving a Restaurant’s Food Delivery
Food delivery customers typically want fast, reliable, and high-quality meals when they order online. Here are tips any Canadian business may follow, including inside advice from Anat Davidzon, Managing Director – Canada at Chipotle Mexican Grill.
Provide fast and reliable delivery
One of the most important strategies for keeping customers happy is getting them exactly what they want as quickly as possible. If someone can’t trust that they’ll get what they ordered promptly, they may order elsewhere.
This may seem obvious, but a quick look at online restaurant ratings shows that many food delivery businesses regularly miss the mark. Speed, quality, and accuracy for every order should be a minimum benchmark for any online restaurant service.
Offer tracking options
In an era with same-day shipping and instant access to information, providing tracking options keeps your customers engaged and informed as their meal is prepared and delivered to their home, office, or anywhere else.
While tracking doesn’t dramatically change the order and delivery process, modern customers crave instant access to information and want to know exactly where their order is and when to expect it. Most people want to know minute-by-minute details on every package headed to their home, food delivery included.
Understand customer behaviour
To give your customers what they want, you should meet them where they are today and give them what they want most. That likely means active profiles on major social media websites in addition to your own.
Davidzon shared that Chipotle is “in the early stages of growing our presence in Canada.” That involves Canada-specific marketing strategies, including promotions centered around a favorite Canadian pastime: professional hockey.
Create a mobile app
These days, smartphones are the first place hungry diners look when deciding where to order. Having a dedicated mobile app may give your business an edge in landing a sale, as having an ordering method just one click away, makes the user journey easy for your audience.
“Increasing access for Canadians is a key pillar of our ongoing digital strategy,” says Davidzon. “In June, we officially launched the Chipotle app in Canada. Now guests in Canada may order their favourite Chipotle meals via Chipotle.ca or the Chipotle app, as well as through DoorDash and Uber Eats.” For Q2 2020, Chipotle’s digital sales grew 216.3% year-over-year and accounted for 60.7% of sales across all Chipotle restaurants.
Deliver Your Best
Every customer interaction provides an opportunity to win over a customer or lose one forever. As online ordering becomes more important across the restaurant industry, delivering a perfect customer experience is just as important as offering one in your dining room.
The potential cost savings of running a food business online has drawn in new competitors, but offering a consistent, high-quality experience may help you stand out from the crowd. Making the ordering experience quick and easy and showing up with exactly what they ordered in a timely fashion are essential. If you go above and beyond in any way, you may find your business on track for record success.
This article is intended for general informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice or an opinion on any issue. It should not be regarded as comprehensive or a substitute for professional advice.