Healthy delivery, healthy restaurant: A delivery checkup for your QSR

In medicine, the philosophy of “an ounce of prevention” has helped people live longer, healthier lives because they understand that regular checkups and following the data can help us avoid health issues down the road.

As the restaurant delivery business has matured, it got me thinking that we should be applying a similar philosophy to the delivery aspect of restaurants. At Delaget, we’ve long been a data evangelist and solution provider for restaurant operators, helping owners dig into their data to improve the bottom line. Now I believe the delivery portion of the business is due for a checkup.

For most restaurant operators, delivery is a newer channel. For many it was a product of necessity, adopted during the Covid pandemic to keep business flowing, and processes were invented on the fly – a contrast to the well-known, carefully followed playbooks used for decades pre-delivery. Now delivery has become a crucial channel, driving a significant and growing percentage of sales.

As the delivery channel has matured, we’ve gotten better tools and ironed out a lot of the kinks – but when I talk to owners, many still say they have no idea how better operationalize and optimize it. In some cases, persistent problems seem to be accepted as “just how things go” and owners believe canceled orders, lost revenue, and customer complaints are just part of the package.

Giving Your Restaurant a “Delivery Checkup”

With a thorough delivery checkup, however, I think restaurants can take more “preventative health” measures that will reduce some common errors, save time, improve the bottom line, and better integrate delivery into the business.
These are just a few very high-level steps to consider:

• Diagnosing Downtime: The average QSR has 3.5 hours of delivery downtime per month, and each hour results in $24 of lost sales. The poorest-performing locations lost an average of 58 hours per month. Hone in on those stores and see who is instigating the downtime so you can find the root cause:
  • Delivery Service Provider: Complaints and issues may lead DSPs to shut off a problem store, putting it in a “penalty box.”
  • Driver issues: If they report the store is closed, it will be turned off.
  • Store employees: Workers may turn off delivery if they are feeling overwhelmed or for other reasons.
  • Point-of-sale integration: If the software integration has an issue, the DSP won’t get the signal the store is open for business.

• Finding Root Causes of Errors: Pure data can sometimes obscure useful insights. Knowing that a percentage of orders have errors is one thing, but getting down to the granular level and knowing what those errors are and where the happen in the process can go a long way towards correcting them. Here’s what we have found are the most common causes:
  • Missing drinks: Drinks are high-margin but easy to miss. Forgetting them is a double whammy as customers are unsatisfied and high-margin items refunded.
  • Missing customizations: Mistakes happen, but sometimes this can be a result of how special requests are presented in a delivery order.
  • Out-of-season seasonal items: An out-of-date menu can lead to disappointed customers.
  • Mis-timed prep: Too early and food may be delivered cold; too late and drivers must wait

• Building Healthy Habits: If you find an issue, you can implement a remedy. Or you can reduce future issues by being proactive with “preventative health” moves that bolster your operational soundness like these:
  • Set store hours with a buffer: Decide how late you can accept orders and still have them ready before closing time, allowing drivers reasonable time to get to you.
  • Menu maintenance: Regularly check what menu DSPs have displayed. Remove out-of-season or out-of-stock items and confirm pricing.
  • Signage and flow: Make it easy for drivers to pick up your food without excessive waiting. Consider dedicated delivery lanes or areas.
  • Integration tests: Some operators are shocked at how much they are offline. Make sure your POS and the DSP system are talking. If you’re not sure how, ask the DSP.
  • Formalize processes: Write down delivery rules and processes. Can just any employee turn off delivery? Who needs to approve it? And under what circumstances?

This is by no means a comprehensive list of best practices, but it should give owners a starting point for promoting healthy delivery. With the right tools and data, and the collective insights of your fellow owners, a healthier delivery channel could help your restaurant grow and thrive.

Learn more about the latest tool from Delaget, Delaget Delivery.