Meeting customer expectations is crucial to every restaurant’s success. However, the increasing popularity of off-premises services is yielding new challenges for operators who strive to provide a satisfying dining experience to their valued patrons. Since delivery and takeout programs offer immense growing potential to restaurant businesses, it’s critical for operators to align their strategies with the unwavering expectations of consumers.
Whether you want to launch or strengthen your off-premises program, the following essentials can help you develop a refined approach that’s poised to elevate satisfaction, loyalty and profitability.
Optimize Your Off-Premises Menu
From third-party delivery apps to social media and restaurant websites, there are multiple platforms through which consumers can explore your off-premises menu. But how you show up in these spaces can significantly impact the ordering experience, which may dictate whether a consumer chooses to dine with you or a local competitor.
Here are three easy ways to enhance your virtual menu:
- Include hi-res images for all menu items.
- Clearly label healthier menu options.
- Vividly describe each menu item using easy-to-read text.
Leveraging these components can appeal to diner preferences and increase your chances of securing their business.
Prioritize Delivery Speed
Consumers want their food, and they want it fast. In fact, Datassential reports that 79% of consumers consider delivery speed an important purchase driver for delivery. If you’re unable to get food into the hands of off-premises consumers in a reasonable time frame (<30 minutes for delivery; <15 minutes for takeout), you may want to reassess your service area. Alternatively, dedicating more space and staff to off-premises order prep can enable your teams to efficiently fulfill the relentless need for speed.
Provide Value
According to Datassential, 45% of consumers are cutting back on restaurant meals and dining out due to budgetary concerns. Fortunately, research insights from the National Restaurant Association have indicated a few tactics that may help draw them back in:
- 85% of adults say they would likely take advantage of discounts for dining on slower days of the week.
- 75% of consumers say they would opt for smaller portions at a lower price.
Other value-oriented offerings that appeal to off-premises consumers include buy-one-get-one promotions, meal deals, frequent-buyer deals, coupons, free delivery, and discounts for students and/or seniors. As consumers continue to grapple with increasing food prices, a little bit of compromise can help you attract them successfully.
Commit to Quality
Perhaps the most significant issue hampering the satisfaction of off-premises consumers is quality control. Consumers expect their takeout and delivery experience to be consistent with in-house dining, but steam-filled delivery bags can quickly turn fan-favorite menu items from hot and ready to cold and soggy.
Take french fries for example. Despite being the top-ordered food item on DoorDash in 2023, these back-of-house stalwarts are offered by only 43% of in-house delivery services and 68% of third-party delivery platforms, according to Technomic. Similarly, quality control issues have contributed to off-premises diners ordering fries half as much as they do when dining in. This indicates a significant opportunity for restaurants to deliver quality where local competitors may be falling short.
Investing in top-tier packaging can help maintain the temperature and crispiness of delivery orders, but many food products, including conventional fries, simply aren’t designed to survive the delivery journey. That’s why McCain Foods makes McCain® SureCrisp® fries with a special batter that offers extended hold times. Investing in these dependable fry solutions and other food products designed specifically for off-premises dining can help your restaurant deliver in-house quality that keeps customers satisfied and coming back for more.
Cool. What Else?
These tips and insights are a great place to start when assessing optimizations that can help you elevate the satisfaction of off-premises consumers. Other questions to consider include:
- Which ordering methods do delivery and takeout consumers prefer?
- What steps do diners take before deciding where and what to eat?
- When do diners place off-premises orders the most?
- What other food items are the most popular for delivery?
- How else can I improve my business’s reputation?
Rest assured, you can find the answers to these questions and more by downloading the following resource from McCain Foodservice Solutions: How to Win the Off-Premises Loyalty Race.
