Peak vs. off-peak orders. Average check. Product mix. Order frequency.
These are all restaurant metrics that can be driven by a growing function of the business: delivery.
The game is changing, and delivery is no longer just for pizza restaurants or residents of big cities.
According to NPD’s study, Future of Foodservice Snapshot: Restaurant Delivery, there has been a 20 percent increase in delivery sales and a 10 percent gain in delivery foodservice visits over the last five years. These increases were supported in large part by the growth of digital ordering, which now represents over half of all delivery visits.
This trend is expected to continue. Investment bank UBS forecasted that delivery sales could rise an average of more than 20 percent a year, increasing to $365 billion worldwide by 2030 from $35 billion.
Younger generations, who are heavier users of delivery, are driving this trend. In fact, consumers under 35 are four times as likely to use third-party delivery services compared to those ages 35+, according to Technomic’s Foodservice Industry Update, Forecast and Outlook (May 2018).
With delivery continuing to be an important factor in the foodservice industry, restaurants need to consider how it will impact their operations.
To go ordering and delivery services have the potential to disrupt a kitchen in several ways. This new/different mode of customer care brings in more business, necessitating higher volumes of food preparation. The delivery service can also involve kitchen dynamics the staff are unaccustomed to, meaning an adjustment of the food preparation or holding methods to incorporate the staging step in the process.
Other key considerations include staffing during peak online ordering hours, prioritization for online or app-based ordering, and equipment that’s prepared and flexible enough to meet the increased or varied volume of ordering.
Kitchen equipment needs to adapt accordingly with changes in staffing, equipment, preparation and menus. Foodservice equipment can best support the delivery service concept by being capable of performing reliably at high speeds/volumes. It should be as easy and intuitive to operate, clean and maintain as possible to ensure that labor is spent focusing on managing and getting orders out the door on time.
Antunes products offer less labor needed to operate, greater reliability and speed, lower energy usage, and implementation of easy-to-use touchscreens ― all features designed to create a greater return on investment so operators have more resources (time and money) to focus on this developing mode of customer service.
Want to learn more about how Antunes helps customers address another trend, individual food preparation? Check out this article.
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