It’s no question that the government regulations put in place to stop the spread of COVID-19 are, while necessary, putting negative pressure on the restaurant industry. Many U.S. states and counties have asked restaurant owners to shut down eat-in options.
This led to a decrease in the number of people dining in. Fortunately, many restaurants are combating this decrease in revenue by doubling down on deliveries.
Thankfully, putting together a delivery strategy for your restaurant isn’t as complicated as opening a new restaurant. In this guide, you’ll discover what to look for in a delivery aggregator, how to launch your new delivery service and how to promote it on social media.
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Let’s get started.
Step 1: Choose A Delivery Aggregator
In the past, the food delivery process started with a customer making an order by telephone. Now, with the advent of delivery aggregators like GrubHub, it’s possible for all restaurants to offer blazing fast delivery with minimal fuss.
Here’s a quick breakdown of the biggest ones to help you make a better decision for your restaurant.
UberEats
Uber puts a strong emphasis on helping restaurant owners grow their businesses with search and discovery features within its app. You can sign up to become an UberEats restaurant partner here. Normally, Uber charges 30% of a restaurant’s listed price to be a part of this service, but they’ve waived this fee during the COVID-19 pandemic.
GrubHub
One good feature of GrubHub is that it gets cheaper if you have your own drivers. Plus, with the GrubHub Portal, you have access to your order information and other valuable customer metrics. You can get your restaurant on GrubHub here. GrubHub’s fee for restaurants varies from 10%-30% depending on a number of factors. The service also is taking a number of steps to help restaurants during this crisis.
DoorDash
Like UberEats, DoorDash regularly features your restaurant in its app. This can lead to a spike in first-time customers. Additionally, with the DoorDash Merchant Portal, you can access valuable customer data. You can sign up as a DoorDash merchant here. DoorDash doesn’t disclose its rates openly, but it’s expected to range from 10%-25%. The company is offering forms of commission relief and marketing support for restaurants during the COVID-19 crisis.
Step 2: Promote deliveries On social media
If you’re new to offering delivery services, social media is one of the best ways to get this new offering in front of new and existing customers. Here are a few ways to do that.
Post for your followers to see
Create a post that lets everyone know you offer delivery. This is where you want to spend a bit of cash to make sure your assets are visually appealing. Consider making your most popular to-go item the star of the image. Finally, update your profiles so they include your new delivery instructions.
Share your online only menu
To cut your food costs during this time, you’re probably operating on a reduced menu. Create a delivery or online-only menu and share it with your followers.
Use Facebook ads
It can be tough to spend money right now, but if you have the budget, Facebook or Instagram ads work very well. If you have an email list of your current customers, run ads to them by uploading this list to Facebook’s ad manager, or expand your reach by creating a lookalike audience with this list. If you don’t have the cash, look into Facebook’s COVID-19 grant program.
Step 3: Show Consumers You Care
It’s more important than ever to show consumers you take their health seriously. It’s also crucial that you tell them about the steps you’ve taken. To do this, implement the following and post about it on social media:
Provide remote work options for managers
COVID-19 has an incubation period of four days in some people, meaning your managers can be infected and contagious before they show symptoms. Having them work from home reduces the risk of others becoming infected.
Hold virtual meetings
You can accomplish this by using Skype or webinar software.
Ask sick employees to stay at home
Employees are going to call in sick. When they do, take them at their word, and get to work yourself if you need to.
Require hourly hand washing
Provide a hand washing log sheet and require that employees wash their hands once per hour. Make sure they sign the logbook after washing their hands to prevent the spread of germs. You may also enforce the use of gloves, but hand washing should be in addition to any glove use. Employees should replace gloves each time they wash. Additionally, if an employee touches their face, hair or hat, they need to change their gloves.
Once you’ve implemented the above, tell your social media followers so they know you take their health, and the health of your employees, very seriously.
Hopefully, this guide will help your transition to a delivery model just a little bit easier. Stay safe!
Nicholas Rubright is a digital marketing specialist for Aptito, a POS system built for restaurants.
