Having your own online food ordering system gives you full control of your business and save thousands in commission fees for 3rd party delivery services.
Why online food ordering is essential?
Today’s diners tend to prefer Online reservations, online take out, and online pick up over picking up the phone. When diners can order food from their favorite restaurant faster and easier,, they tend to come back again and again. Restaurants who lag behind the online ordering trend will be left behind in favor of restaurants who have stepped up.
If you need some hard numbers to back up this statement, check this out.
- 63 percent of young adults use third party delivery services
- 31 percent will order at least twice a week
- more than 30 percent of all orders are prepaid online
- On average, 34 percent of customers spend at least $50 per order when ordering food online
- restaurants that offered online ordering had seen an 11% to 20% increase in sales on average
- UberEats expects to deliver $10 billion worth of food this year, up from $6 billion in 2018
- Grubhub reported $5.1 billion in food sales in 2018, a 34 percent increase from 2017
- In the last five years, online food ordering has grown over 20% and keep growing
- Online food delivery is estimated to grow to $220 billion by 2025, which equals 40% of total restaurant sales
This tells us that most diners, when they have the option to order and pay through an online ordering system or mobile app, will do so. We could surmise that, if this is their preference, they will tend to choose restaurants that offer this option. In today’s crowded restaurant space, there is no margin for error. You must meet the needs of your clientele.
As a restaurant owner, it is essential to meet the new trend if you want to remain competitive. Online food ordering is here to stay whether there is Covid-19 pandemics or not. The decision that restaurant owners have to make is which business model to adopt — in-house vs third-party food delivery.
What are third-party delivery services?
These are services that connect businesses with independent delivery drivers, usually for restaurants.
Some of the most common are Grubhub, Seamless, DoorDash, Postmates, Uber Eats, Deliveroo, and Caviar.
Cons of third party delivery services
High commission fees
The commissions can be as high as 35% on every sale plus credit card processing charges of around 3%.
The more sales you make, the more you will pay. In addition, some food delivery services charge one-time setup fees of a few hundred dollars.
Vulnerable to Competition
While being listed with a delivery app like DoorDash increases your visibility, it does so for your competitors too. That means your restaurant may display next to your competitors, giving customers a choice to order from your competitors.
Lack of Control
Outsourcing delivery to third parties means that you have no control over your customer experience with delivery because you are not directly managing the delivery driver. Once your food leaves your restaurant, it is out of your hands.
Unable to build your customer database
Listen up! This is extremely critical!
When using a third party delivery, you do not have access to your customer data. It means that you have no way to contact them. They are just fly-by customers. You cannot remarket to them and turn them into repeat customers.
What is In-house online ordering and delivery?
Choosing in-house online ordering and delivery means building your own dedicated delivery staffs and insulated bags for storing the food. Developing your own delivery service requires considering things such as insurance, vehicle maintenance, and parking spaces.
When you consider paying someone else up to 35% of every sale plus credit card processing fees, which is often higher than if you were handling them yourself, many restaurants still think that the cost of in-house delivery may still much cheaper than using 3rd party services. Pizza Hut is one of those companies that handles in-house delivery successfully.
It is no doubt that online ordering is here to stay. If you own or operate a restaurant that offers take-out or delivery, you should consider an online ordering system. The biggest advantages are having full control and no need to pay expensive commission fees.
Study says that 70 percent of diners who order online would prefer to place their order with the restaurant directly, as opposed to through a third-party menu service. It makes sense to set up your own online ordering system. So, why not keep the revenue in-house and make your diners happy at the same time?
We offer online food ordering integration service. You can have:
- online ordering capabilities directly from your website
- the option to have your own branded mobile app
- absolutely no commission fees
Contact Us
If you want to have your own online food ordering website without paying expensive commissions to 3rd party delivery services, contact us via our contact form or email us at daniel@excellonmarketing.com