Your restaurant app, your orders, your money: Recovering first-party delivery disputes

As hungry customers have turned to delivery for more of their QSR orders, the traditional relationship between restaurant and customer has been disrupted. With orders placed through delivery service provider apps like DoorDash or Uber Eats, restaurants and brands have lost the ability to connect directly with people as they order their meals.

More recently, QSR brands have started to reclaim that relationship (and the customer relationship and data that comes with it) thanks to first-party delivery available from their branded app. Letting people order directly from their site or app, then having a DSP fulfill delivery of the order, seems to be the best of both worlds. Convenience and connection for the customer.

As early adopters learned, however, there are still wrinkles to iron out. The order fulfillment process is not the same as that used for third-party delivery, since data needs to flow in the opposite direction – instead of food orders and payments coming from the DSP to the restaurant, delivery instructions and fees need to flow from the restaurant to the DSP. This nuance escapes the notice of consumers but create more complexity and possible delivery issues for restaurants. One of the most important considers, reconciling disputed orders and recovering funds from delivery partners has been a challenge at best, can be next to impossible…until now.

First-Party vs Third-Party, what’s the difference?

The difference between these two channels may appear small, but the audiences and processes supporting each channel are quite different. Here’s a quick explanation:

• First-party restaurant delivery. The restaurant has more control over the buying experience as the customer places a mobile order using the restaurant’s app, the order is readied by the restaurant, and then it is picked up and delivered by the DSP. Popular restaurant apps include those from Burger King, Chick-fil-A, Domino’s Pizza, Jimmy John’s, McDonalds, Popeyes, Sonic, Steak ‘n Shake, Taco Bell, and Wendy’s.
• Third-party restaurant delivery. The customer orders from the DSP app, choosing from among many restaurant choices, and the DSP sends the order to the restaurant. The courier is deployed from the DSP’s network to pickup and delivery the order. The customer has no direct interaction with the restaurant. DoorDash, Uber Eats, and Grubhub are the most common third-party delivery apps in the United States.

Delaget adds First-Party Delivery Recovery,  recoup up to 2-10% more

Delaget is helping brands get the most out of their first-party delivery by introducing First-Party Delivery Recovery to its Delaget Recovery solution. With this new capability, QSRs can recover funds for disputed orders from their first-party delivery partners, similar to how they do for third-party orders that come from the DSP’s proprietary ordering system.

This is not a trivial amount: Restaurant operators can boost recovered revenue from disputed deliveries by an additional 2-10 percent versus using third-party recovery alone.

One of the very first tools to help QSRs with third-party recovery, Delaget Recovery can now fill in one of the missing pieces that has been missing from the already tight profits restaurants earn. With the reassurance that delivery disputes won’t undercut the profits from orders placed on a brand’s own platform, restaurant brands can push forward more confidently with plans to drive more orders through their own apps and websites.

Additional tips to boost first-party delivery profits

As brands and operators move towards more first-party delivery, it is important to ensure a positive, seamless experience for customers. Here are a few tips to keep in mind:

• Keep all platforms up to date: Even as a brand’s own ordering platform increases in importance, they mustn’t neglect third party. There are still many people using those apps, and they are often a completely different set of customers. Having outdated hours, menus or pricing on third-party apps can cause confusion and make new customers wary of ordering from you. Maintain all channels for a consistent experience.
• Show the value of direct ordering: If you build it – they may not come. Even though research shows 71% of people prefer to order from a brand’s own website or app, QSRs need to show value and promote the use of their system and give people a reason to order directly rather than through a third-party app. Special offers, lower prices, loyalty programs – all of these can draw people to a brand’s app or website for orders.
• Have the food ready: A restaurant can’t play favorites with orders, but it’s extra important to make sure first-party orders are hot and ready on time. If a driver experiences any delays, it will reflect poorly on the brand the customer ordered from, and they may not feel the special first-party offer or experience was worth it.

All of this is common sense for a today’s savvy QSRs, but still worth repeating. Delivery has been a fast-growing channel for the past several years. Launching and growing a customer-facing app to maximize the value of this growth is a major undertaking for brands, so Delaget is here to help make sure the delivery and any related disputes are done right – so you get the revenue you deserve.