TAKEAWAY & DELIVERY SELLING ONLINE

COVID 19 AND THE DELIVERY MARKET

The online food delivery market was steadily The past year has also changed consumer growing prior to the pandemic. attitudes towards dining out. With COVID-19 encouraging trends like working from home But COVID-19 has accelerated the growth and supermarket deliveries, the frequency of online food delivery by nearly three years, of in-restaurant dining is expected to return according to Morgan Stanley. Pre-pandemic, to lower levels compared to before the online food delivery was expected to reach pandemic. It’s clear that restaurants need to be 15% of eating out spending in the USA in 2025 prepared to cater to this shift away from dining – and it’s now expected to achieve 16% market out by strengthening their online food delivery penetration by 2022 instead. strategy.

Projected online delivery penetration as a share of total ad- Proportion of consumer spending on food, out of home dressable market versus in-home

Revised estimates

Estimate before covid

Food out of home

Food at home 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2010 2012 2014 2016 2018 2020 2022

Data from Morgan Stanley, 2020 Data from Morgan Stanley, 2020

24 DELIVERY SOFTWARE Prior to the pandemic, third-party delivery platforms like Deliveroo, Uber Eats, or Just Eat were the main enablers of online food delivery. But these platforms have often found themselves under fire for their steep commissions. 2020 fuelled the growth of cheaper alternatives in the form of online ordering systems (OOS), including StoreKit Takeaway. An OOS lets restaurants sell food online without the costs of a delivery platform, but without their marketing benefit. Today, many restaurants conduct a hybrid approach.

Look at the table below to see how the two systems handle things differently:

ONLINE ORDERING DELIVERY PLATFORM SYSTEM

One of the main benefits of Generally, you need to using a third-party delivery promote your StoreKit. platform is increased However, if yours are mostly EXPOSURE exposure. In 2018, Just Eat repeat customers, it’s probably alone processed 221.2m not a problem to get them orders in the UK. They do navigating directly. Google My expand the number of people Business & Facebook page who see your restaurant. links are the first step.

Delivery platforms generally StoreKit shows you who your run loyalty schemes for customers are and can show OFFERS & themselves. There are some you their favourites. It allows LOYALTY “repeat order” buttons, you to tailor loyalty and however. discount offers to different customers. The sky’s the limit!

It’s generally not possible A great OOS should have for restaurants to insert their enough flexibility to leave your imprint, and enough VISUAL own visual style. The delivery platform wants to own rigidity so that it always looks BRANDING the customer relationship, great. meaning they deliberately reduce your visual brand touchpoints.

The delivery platform will StoreKit integrates with a third- DRIVERS provide the drivers and hire party courier system which them. charges 10%. Alternatively, you can hire in-house.

25 If a customer complains to You’ll handle customer a delivery platform, they will communications yourself, handle it. This sometimes including delivery complaints. COMPLAINTS means reimbursements, That means you’ll know when but a reimbursement is no something went wrong, and longer guaranteed by these you’ll get to represent your platforms. own brand.

Delivery platforms have their StoreKit’s feedback function own internal system of review, is just for you when it’s 3 stars which users can sort by. or less. On the other hand, REVIEWS positive feedback will cue our system to invite the customer to leave a review on Google, and will send them the link to do so.

30% of anything processed StoreKit charges 2.9% + 20p is acceptable as a cost of professing fee on orders. acquiring a new customer (CAC). But it’s intended as a In addition, delivery is available COST tax on existing customers who on the StoreKit platform, keep coming back. It’s too and our third party couriers much, and generally requires usually charge around 10%. you should put up your prices. This is a much cheaper way of doing takeaway, and leads to a much healthier margin.

THE CASE FOR A HYBRID APPROACH

Third-party platforms are a crucial means of attracting new customers – and so for most restaurants, not using them at all isn’t a viable option. But the takeaway experience starts with a menu, and that menu should communicate your restaurant’s character and establish a connection with your customers. The homogeneous interface of a restaurant marketplace can struggle to achieve this.

Rather than choosing one or the other, many restaurants will opt for a hybrid model, combining the wider reach of a third-party delivery platform and the more close-knit relationship with customers that an in-house solution makes possible.

26 Simple / Effective

StoreKit is mobile ordering software designed to be used in-store and from home.

That makes it the first point-of-call for online ordering software, and a great way to get your customers ordering from you without the fees charged by Deliveroo.

In fact, StoreKit charges just 2.9% +20p to accept an order, and delivery services via our integrated courier app come to around 10%. (Or you can always deliver yourself!) That means that you can cut your bill in half by using StoreKit.

To learn more about whether StoreKit is right for you, click on the button below to go to the StoreKit Takeaway landing page!

“Then StoreKit came along ... and hallelujah”

“Quite honestly, game changing”

“Ridiculously easy to use” CLICK HERE! “A cracking bit of software” 27 Deliverect is an “aggregator”, meaning it’s a software which sits between multiple different spoke softwares and collects the data together. That makes Deliverect its own kind of “hub”, where the point-of-sale is another hub – the difference being that Deliverect is oriented towards delivery. In the soup of different overlapping features and approach.

How has the pandemic affected the way people select their delivery software?

“The accelerated growth of the online so many restaurants took menus online, food delivery marketplace this year has interacted with customers through new made restaurants realise that being avenues, and opened up new channels online is the only way to survive at times to take orders and payments. In an when customers can’t physically dine in omnichannel restaurant, customers the restaurant. But more than that, many move between channels seamlessly, of our new customers in 2020, having not getting a consistent experience previously offered delivery, told us that whichever way they interact with the the results from delivery and takeaway restaurant. Data flows seamlessly orders were so good, they would continue through the system so it can be put to using online channels even as dining good use throughout the business, from rooms reopen. better personalisation and precisely targeted digital marketing, to improving Restaurants, if they didn’t realise it customer service in the restaurant. The already, have seen first-hand the need challenge is to implement the right to invest in technology or be left behind. systems for your restaurant and get them Tech is going to play a huge part in talking to each other. Deliverect has put in the restaurant industry recovery. It’s the hard work setting up key integrations important to implement tech to optimise with EPOS providers, delivery partners, restaurant operations, both in the front ordering platforms, and payment and back of house, and to have sales systems. This, combined with tailored data. Implementing inventory or staff features and a dashboard designed for management software is a good start, the modern omnichannel restaurant, but finally what’s key is having all your means it’s uniquely positioned to help delivery and online ordering channels you take advantage of the benefits of the integrated in your ePOS, so you can approach.” manage all aspects of online ordering, including menus, from one interface.

The pandemic also showed operators the importance of an omnichannel strategy as

Jerome Laredo Chief Revenue Officer Deliverect

28 ORDER & PAY

Why take online ordering in-store? Below, we’ll spell out some of the ways that order & pay systems can benefit a restaurant, and go through some of the concerns that restaurants have before signing up to one. Also, you can see our guide to ordering kiosks – about another form of digital ordering, kiosks, at storekit.com/advice/ordering-kiosk/.

1. BOOST SALES

BASKET UPSELLING PICTURES BUILDING

“Get a larger glass of wine for In the West, pictures in paper Customer behaviour is £1.50?” “Add fries for £2.99?” A menus are often considered fundamentally different when waiter offering upsell options tacky. But they work in digital they’re building a basket over and over again can feel menus – in fact, in the age than asking a waiter. Basket stilted and awkward, but a of “Instagrammable” cheese building takes the pressure digital menu achieves this pulls and rainbow bagels, off, puts the customer in very naturally. you could even argue that control, and generally leads they require images. Grubhub to bigger orders. An Order & Pay can increase claims pictures in menus basket size by 30%. boost sales by up to 30%. 2. HAPPY CUSTOMERS

NO PRESSURE DO APPS RUIN THE EXPERIENCE?

Ordering on a personal device With customers ordering and paying on their own devices, staff removes pressure from the are no longer required to perform these more administrative process. It gives customers tasks. They can be freed up to focus on being hospitable, and time to peruse side dishes making sure customers are ok, which many restaurants prefer. and add-ons that are usually forgotten under the time This might mean they make dish recommendations or check pressure that face-to-face in on whether customers are enjoying their meals, for instance. ordering creates. It lets them And for quick-service restaurants, staff can concentrate on customise their meals in line preparing orders, creating higher throughput and shorter with their preferences and waiting times. create the dining experience they truly want. It also means that you can serve a larger number of tables with the same staff, and takes the pressure off staff recruitment in a high staff turnover industry.

3. IMPROVE EFFICIENCY

MISTAKES QUEUES EXPAND

Traditionally, customers tell Ironically enough, if you’re This summer (2021), outdoor waiters their orders, who a quick-service restaurant, eating will be more important might then pass them onto the thing that often stands than ever to hosptiality; it will other staff. It’s a system rife between you and your be the route to the industry’s with the risk of error. Mistaken customers is... your other recovery after the pandemic. orders add up to lots of customers. Qminder’s Expand your venue with the wasted time and money, as research shows that 25% of same number of wait staff, well as unhappy customers in Brits will leave a queue after and have confidence your wait the long-term. Digital ordering 2 minutes, with this escalating staff are covering hard-to-get lets customers input their up to 73% at 5 minutes. places and not missing the own orders directly, which are Queues also inflict long-term needs of customers around routed straight to your point- damage – 70% of shoppers corners and outside. of-sale or receipt printer. won’t return to a store with a long queue, according to Box Technologies. FEATURES

DOWNLOAD CUSTOMISABLE PRICING NATIVE FEEL

Requiring app Your digital menu is a Payment processors, Choosing a downloads can be off- part of the experience like StoreKit, are likely progressive web putting for customers for customers – and so to be the cheapest application [PWA] is who have only entered it should reflect your providers because one way to ensure that your store once. Do business’ personality. StoreKit only charges an ordering system they really want to Adding descriptions you for payment which doesn’t require download your app?, and images help processing – the download works to StoreKit’s software customers to software itself is free. the same standard as is a progressive web understand your Some online ordering a native app. Native app. It retains the best offerings and increase platforms will charge apps generally have qualities of an app spending – so choose a recurrent software better speeds and fit and a web page – like a menu that supports fee, but they won’t cite to the device in a way push notifications, fast both. You might also the separate payment which feels clean and load speeds, and no want to look out for processing fee you’ll intuitive. A PWA retains downloads. menus that offer have to pay. those benefits. So adjustable colour for mobile browsing, schemes or ‘nighttime’ choose a PWA. themes.

THE MARKET

STOREKIT DELIVERECT KURVE LIGHTSPEED StoreKit is your In a “hub and KIOSKS Point-of-sale first port of call spoke” system, Kiosk software systems still for an online sometimes is one way act as the orering system. aggregators to do digital hub for your It’s a clean work as hubs ordering in QSR software stack visual interface – distinct from environments – in most cases. and there’s no a POS. These without mobile. Big players set up costs integrate with Check out like iZettle or whatsoever. a POS, too, our guide to Lightspeed can creating a two- ordering kiosks usually integrate hub “hub and to learn more. where it counts. spoke” system.

31 TABLE RESERVATION SOFTWARE BOOKINGS MADE SIMPLE

THE PROBLEM IT SOLVES

77% of customers say being able to book a table special events, get booked. online is important to the guest experience, according to a survey by one POS company. On the other hand, 20% of bookings are no- In a world where interacting with businesses shows. So if you can fill your venue with people digitally is increasingly becoming the norm, turning up on the night, that’s 20% better than the days of calling for a takeaway has been filling up your venue with guests who have replaced by online ordering, restaurants need booked ahead. Very busy areas like Soho to offer customers the option to book online. are filled with restaurants which don’t accept As a YouGov survey indicates, 55% of people bookings for this reason. in the UK prefer texting over calling. Taking reservations over the phone also means a There’s ways to ensure bookings get treated higher risk of missed booking requests due to seriously and cancelled ahead of time – that missed calls. can be automated, too. Texts at preset intervals before the date of the booking will remind your The argument for digitisation is like patron that you’re expecting them, and if they everything else: doing this manually requires need to cancel, might prompt them into doing administration which is prone to mistakes. so. Booking software can keep all reservations in one place, automatically avoiding issues like double-bookings.

But booking is complicated – there’s reasons you might not accept bookings. On the one hand, a booking mitigates risk because it suggests you’ll get at least one person through the door. It makes it more convenient for customers, and bookings tend to accomodate larger parties. Booked evenings also spend more per head – birthdays, weddings, and

32 WHAT TO LOOK FOR

FEATURES

RESERVATION COMMUNICATION PHONE BOOKINGS FRICTIONLESS REMINDERS EXPERIENCE Reservation Keeping lines of Restaurants should The most important management communication offer customers thing is that booking softwares make with customers online bookings, can take place in a booking beforehand open is important but less tech-savvy few clicks, and that easier – but up to for fostering loyalty. customers may still it’s clear how to do 20% of UK restaurant Customers may have prefer to call. Some it. This is customer- bookings end up concerns surrounding booking systems facing software, so it being no-shows, restaurants’ health let customers make needs to be beautiful, according to and safety measures, reservations on an and easy. No ifs, no ResDiary. A system that a system automated phone buts. that sends booking offering two-way call – which means reminders to guests communication can phone bookings can minimise alleviate. So, can they won’t be missed in these loss-creating text back? busy or closed hours. occurrences.

THE MARKET

PLATFORMS DIRECT HOTEL-FIRST OpenTable is a two- A direct, customer- Some booking sided marketplace. facing booking systems are designed On the one hand, that management primarily for the hotel means they can bring platform which industry. For booking, new traffic who might integrates with your Hotels are a bigger not otherwise come point-of-sale is our and more lucrative to your restaurant. But recommendation industry so you might like delivery software, for how you should find that you end up this is in exchange for handle bookings. borrowing booking significantly higher fees. software designed for accomodation.

33 BOOKING IN PERSPECTIVE

What should someone look for in booking software, they first have to analyse software? their needs, then compare the different vendors’ offerings and understand the “To be effective and useful, a reservation long-term games vendors play with system needs to be versatile, affordable pricing; so don’t be tempted to go with and easy to use. With systems like the vendors with the best short-term Hostme, restaurant owners can capture discount. Restaurants are entering in a reservations from their website, Google long-term relationship with that vendor and their social media profiles and never and need to be able to trust and work miss a reservation again. Some restaurants with that system in the long run.” will also benefit from a system that combines waitlist, table management and Mary Fabro reservation in one place allowing them Chief Marketing Officer to optimize their restaurant occupancy. Hostme With COVID-19 restrictions, such systems have become essential for restaurants to survive. However, restaurants still have to be critical when selecting a reservation

34 MARKETING SOFTWARE THE FINAL SOFTWARE FRONTIER

THE PROBLEM IT SOLVES

33% of restauranteurs consider “attracting and struggle to dedicate a large amount of time and retaining customers” as one of their greatest resources to their digital marketing. Marketing challenges, according to a 2019 study by software, like SMS post scheduling tools or Toast. And both the importance and difficulty email list organisers, can help you complete of maintaining and developing customers these tasks quickly and efficiently. relationships have grown with COVID-19, with diminished opportunities for in-premise dining. StoreKit can also help you with your marketing. It’s equipped with a marketing tool that lets In an increasingly digitalised era, your you can see traffic and sales volumes to your customers’ online encounters with your business digital menu split out by sources like Facebook, is an important stage of their dining experience. Instagram, or your website. This makes it easier With the hashtag #food alone appearing in 250 for you to understand which online platforms and million Instagram posts per month, customers strategies successfully attract customers to your eat with their eyes as much as they do with their business, letting you focus on the most effective stomachs -- and it’s imperative that restaurants ones for your business. StoreKit is integrated take advantage of this. with the Facebook Pixel and Google Tag Manager, meaning you can track and measure The average user spent 2 hours 24 minutes customer behaviour within your digital menu in daily on social media in 2020 -- adding up to the Facebook Ads Manager and Google Ads a lot of opportunities to interact with potential interface. customers. One survey points to the customer- generating capabilities of online marketing for restaurants -- 45% of US diners claimed that a restaurant’s social media post prompted them to try a restaurant for the first time, and 22% that they encouraged them to return to a restaurant. But restaurants, especially smaller ones, often

35 CHANNELS

PAID SOCIAL ORGANIC SOCIAL REVIEW SITES & SOCIAL PROOF Whilst major social Organic social is great media platforms for reminding customers 93% of consumers read have the potential to who already know how restaurant reviews, increase your business’ delicious your food according to a survey visibility on a wide is. The most common by BrightLocal, so it’s scale, local restaurants organic social channel important to make sure can also benefit from for restaurants to use they highlight your the localised social is Instagram, in which business’ strengths. networking services like really appetising Make sure to create a Nextdoor. A Nextdoor photos of your food pay profile for your business survey shows that 88% dividends as it reminds in the top review sites of users make local customers what’s so like Yelp or Tripadvisor purchases every week great about it. It also so that your business is and 77% are willing to shows customers at the represented accurately spend more at a local evaluation stage of a – and encourage your restaurant over a chain purchase decision what customers, especially restaurant. they can expect from your loyal ones, to you. review your restaurant.

EMAIL MARKETING LOCAL SEO PHYSICAL MARKETING

Email marketing targets an Local SEO such as a Google Physical marketing such as audience that has actively Business Listing is important flyers and posters can be signed up for updates for people exploring the local tough to do well. But there’s about your business, so area who might not be aware plenty of services which help it’s an effective means of of your restaurant. If you build you start from a high base. Try maintaining relationships a website with StoreKit, we’ve out canva, which is one way with your loyal customers. embedded SEO principles to build professional looking Email list segmentation also into the design of the menu, materials very quickly and for makes it easier to deliver so it should be naturally very free. tailored messages and offers, visible in the search results. increasing the likelihood of returning.

36 MARKETING IN PERSPECTIVE

How can you ensure you are getting a on growing their business by increasing return on marketing spend? loyalty and repeat customer visits. With email marketing (among other tools) this “Marketing software is all about growth and is the most effective way to get a positive measurement. When choosing software return on marketing investment.” for your restaurant, make sure it can report on exactly the level of success different channels are bringing in.

Attributing online marketing activity and Patrick Clover spend to offline sales and conversions CEO in a brick-and-mortar business, like a Stampede restaurant, is difficult. It’s understandable why many are hesitant to put time and money into online marketing when they can’t attribute it to the output in-store.

Luckily, there are marketing tools that allow hospitality businesses to create a single customer view. These tools combine offline and online interactions with your customers in one place with intelligent data capture tools.

If you send an email to customers, you ought to be able to see which of them came back to your venues and spent money.

At Stampede, we encourage clients to focus

37 SUPPLIERS Whereas channels are places you can find your customers, suppliers are software products which help you manage them.

Stampede provides Hootsuite lets you Zonka Feedback is a hospitality businesses plan, schedule, and multi-channel feedback with the digital tools publish social media system and survey they need to grow, like posts -- meaning you app for customers compliant data capture can create multiple and employees. Its and gift cards. Email and pieces of content in Restaurant Customer SMS marketing are also one sitting, rather than Feedback Software lets a part of their offering, having to constantly you gather feedback for including easy customer juggle your marketing both on-site and off- segmentation, pre-made tasks with your other site dining, and offers email templates, and responsibilities. real-time reporting and email building tools. actionable insights.

How should restaurants change their for customers to keep their confidence in communication strategy in response to the the business. Lastly, to become and stay a pandemic? customer-centric organization where along with achieving operational excellence, every “The pandemic affected all businesses decision becomes customer-focused.” globally. And it became clearer than ever that Customer Loyalty is the key to surviving all disruption. As a business, this means Sonika Mehta ensuring three things — communication, Co-founder & Product Director adaptability and customer-centricity. Zonka Feedback Through constant communication, it is possible to keep your customers in the loop and let them know the steps you’re taking to sail through this pandemic together with them. Company’s social media websites, mailing lists, and blogs become important channels for communication. Being able to adapt to new situations and providing innovative solutions becomes reassuring

38 THE FUTURE OF RESTAURANT SOFTWARE WHATS NEXT IN RESTAURANT SOFTWARE

AFTER THE PANDEMIC

The pandemic has exposed critical weaknesses buy software help you save money? But if your for most businesses – and many restaurants software could help you cut your food waste turned to digital solutions as they came to or boost the value of customer orders by 5%, recognise how the right technology could help or to eliminate mistakes in shift assignments, them to overcome these challenges. that could easily add up to thousands of extra pounds for your business. Some changes that have occurred as a result of COVID-19 – like rigorous temperature checks and Another worry is digitalisation coming at the social distancing measures – won’t necessarily expense of the human aspect of the hospitality last post-pandemic. But some will endure – like business. An argument against mobile ordering, the need to drive cost-cutting measures and for instance, is that it risks making the dining digitalise the dining experience through online experience too impersonal by removing table-booking and mobile ordering, and getting interactions between customers and staff. But the right software in place is key to overcoming mobile ordering only takes the administrative these challenges. aspects of restaurant dining – ordering and paying – online. If anything, it can open up staff But the lessons of COVID-19 are about more capacity to focus on the “hospitality” element than just what has changed. The pandemic of their role instead, by moving conversations has shown us how business requirements can from “how would you like to pay?” to the more change dramatically overnight, and how tech meaningful “what was your favourite dish today?” infrastructure can help restaurants adapt their And mobile ordering means unpressured and operations to new requirements quickly and accurate ordering. It elevates the customer completely. Some of the pandemic-fuelled experience – and isn’t that the goal of all changes might not last, but restaurants still need hospitality businesses? to prepared for the risks that lie ahead. Finding technological solutions that can help to optimise The main barrier, then, is newness. What we’re operations and prepare for potential challenges not used to, we tend to be uncomfortable with. is a business priority – and it’s key to avoid Of course, not all technologies are beneficial. treating tech as a mere quick-fix to weather the Some will be gimmicky – technology for pandemic. technology’s sake. But what makes sense will become commonplace, and a lot of digital But there will be continued resistance to solutions that feel new now will become the norm. digitalisation as well. A common concern Better to adopt early, and gain the competitive surrounding software is the cost of advantages implied, than to risk being out- implementation. How could spending money to competed. 39 Cuboh replaces all your online We asked renowned POS provider tablets with a single device, sending Lightspeed what the future of POS orders to your POS system systems would be like

“Online food ordering has been “Cloud-based ePOS software will growing steadily for a few years, but likely become as commonplace as Covid proved just how important the restaurants as dumbwaiters or ticket service truly is. Restaurants around machines: without one you’re just the world are becoming dependent on creating a whole lot of extra work for online orders to keep up their revenue yourself. just to stay afloat, driving the need for better software. Going forward, we’ll likely see further integration with online platforms Despite the crisis, we’ve seen Virtual as restaurants seek out additional kitchens take advantage of this revenue streams in a tougher economy. space by relying solely on food Restaurants will have to ramp up delivery services to provide for their their online presence, such as local customers. At Cuboh, our attention has search rankings, to stand out among refocused to creating an online order customers. Moreover, we’ll likely see management and analytics software more restaurants selling meal kits and targeted to ghost kitchens, yet still merchandise via webshops. accessible to dine-in style. As the cloud kitchen market expands, it has Both these things are facilitated by become obvious that online ordering modern EPOS systems, so they’re is here for the long run.” likely to become ubiquitous within the hospitality industry.“ Sydney Munk Marketing Specialist Lee Saunderson Cuboh UK Sales Manager Lightspeed

40 Writing; Mayu Noda

Editing: Adam Stead

Design: Amy Bruning

With thanks to contributers across the StoreKit software ecosystem

Property of StoreKit 2021