In a Post-COVID World is 3rd Party or Proprietary Delivery the Way Forward for Restaurants?
Published May 25, 2021
Excitingly, the demand for the off-premises, in-home consumption of restaurant food has continued to stay strong as states across the nation begin to relax their dining restrictions. For some segments of the industry delivery was a large portion of their business before the pandemic, but, for the larger majority of the industry, the need for survival dictated a necessary and expedited pivot into the delivery business during 2020.
With foods of all styles -from fast food to fine dining- having now been available to consumers through delivery everyone in the industry expects the demand for these services to continue post-pandemic. If a customer cannot get a meal delivered from their preferred location then there’s the chance they will take their business elsewhere. This opens up the opportunity for the permanent loss of business as these, previously loyal, customer fulfill their needs elsewhere and find new favorites that fulfill all their needs.
If you’re thinking of offering delivery the time is NOW! Before your customers go searching for someone else to drop the succulent meal they’re craving onto their doorstep for them.
In today’s heavily connected world there are two delivery service options available to restaurant operators: 3rd Party Delivery and Proprietary Delivery. Both have their pros and cons and deciding which method best suits a venue can be a challenge, but the final decision rests entirely upon the personal circumstances of each restaurant. We’ve delved into both 3rd party and proprietary delivery services to work out the pros and cons of both, and have laid these out to help restaurant operators better choose which option they may want to use to facilitate delivery from their location.
3rd Party Delivery
Many 3rd party delivery services rose to stardom during the pandemic, but not without criticism. Hiring a middleman to do your business for you, especially when you’re in a customer-service-centric industry, can be a roll of the dice. But that dice roll, just like on the craps table, has huge potential.
Positives
Negatives
Proprietary Delivery
Many 3rd party delivery services rapidly became household names during the pandemic, however, it is important to note that before the pandemic 74% of consumers said they would prefer to order food directly from a restaurant rather than an intermediary 3rd party. So, whilst the rise of delivery conglomerates may now fill the airwaves and seem like the only option, there’s a high chance that there are a large percentage of customers out there who still want to connect directly with restaurants.
Positives
Negatives
In Conclusion: Choosing a Delivery Service?
Some say that 3rd party services best suit chain restaurants and franchises, whilst proprietary delivery service are best suited to privately owned, often single unit, locations.
No one can tell a restaurant, be that an individual or a group, whether they should partner with a 3rd party service or source and provide their own delivery service, there’re too many factors affecting the final decision which only those closely connected to the business will have an intimate knowledge of.
The extra burden of managing a proprietary service may be enough to put off many an operator. On the flip side of the coin, the high commissions charged by these 3rd party delivery services is enough to turn away a large majority of proprietors.
In the end the choice is down to individual owners and operators, but a decision never has to be final and, whilst it may take a good amount of capital or sacrifice for either of these options, it is never too late to change over to the other side. What is for sure is that post-pandemic consumers are going to continue to demand that delivery options remain available to them.