Food delivery and take-out services are two of the fastest-growing segments of the restaurant industry. According to Forbes, the online food delivery business will soon be a 200 Billion dollar industry.
Food delivery services are in high demand—they give restaurants access to a whole new set of customer orders. Of course, each multi-restaurant chain will have its own unique needs to take into account, which is why there is no one-size-fits-all software solution. Instead, look for a flexible software platform that can grow and change with the demands of your market. Here are some tips on how to find the right solution for your business.
Benefits of an In-house Solution
Are you part of a multiple-location restaurant chain looking to branch out into delivery? If so, you might wonder about the viability of a third-party delivery option. There are a few reasons why third-party delivery can be a poor long-term option for multiple-location restaurants: These services, such as Grubhub and Uber Eats, take a large cut of the sales you're making from delivery, and they control your menu and pricing.
If you can make the investment, and if it's right for your business, hiring drivers and bringing your delivery service in-house is the best option. The upfront cost will be higher, but the returns, later on, will also be higher.
Although many businesses want to bring their delivery in-house, they may not have the time or resources to create a software solution from scratch. OnTime 360 is an ideal solution for these multi-restaurant chains, as it gives them more control without the added complexities of a custom solution. Using OnTime as a platform, you can create your own version of Grubhub, DoorDash, or Uber Eats.
Without further ado, let’s consider: What are the most important features for a multi-restaurant delivery software? And how can you adapt OnTime for your food delivery service?
1. Software Integration
It’s vital that you have a delivery software platform that can integrate with other software. The OnTime API is a versatile tool built to connect the OnTime software with other platforms, such as websites or mobile apps.
The API can be a great solution for food delivery services using an in-house or third-party food ordering software that want to submit delivery info directly into OnTime when an order is completed.
With the OnTime API, you can connect with a wide range of industry-specific software and point-of-sale (POS) systems. For example, many food delivery services already have their own mobile app for customers. With the API, it’s possible to connect an app to your OnTime account and transmit order information from the app to create orders in OnTime. With our API, there are countless possibilities to create custom solutions for your specific needs.
2. Dispatching and Order Entry
Restaurants often have a lot of information to include in their orders. Fortunately, OnTime has a high level of flexibility when it comes to order entry. In OnTime 360, several data fields are available for use, such as collection location and cost of delivery. On top of that, you can use our User Defined Fields feature to add additional items to the order, such as instructions for the kitchen staff.
Our software is ideal for food delivery services working out of multiple locations. The option to set pickup location makes it easy for services with several locations, as everyone is connected with the same delivery system.
You likely deliver to a variety of different areas both near and far. With zone-based pricing, it’s possible to generate prices by simply filling in a postal code. Or use full addresses to calculate pricing based on exact distances.
Does your food delivery service have a high-volume of orders and requests? OnTime allows for different departments and contacts to place orders whenever needed, making it much easier to oversee.
3. Driver Management
One of the unique challenges that multiple-location restaurants face is driver management. There is so much to manage! You'll have to monitor vehicle maintenance, route optimization, and tracking, just to name a few.
The OnTime 360 Mobile App for delivery drivers comes with GPS tracking, barcode scanning, and options for collecting signatures. You can also track driver fees, tips, amounts owed for orders, and delivery times.
Route optimization is one of those details that can significantly improve the efficiency of a delivery service. With OnTime's route optimization, you can optimize hundreds of stops within a few seconds. There's no extra software needed, and it's always up-to-date.
If you’re considering OnTime as an option for your restaurant, then it’s likely that you have a lot of questions about features and support. Over the years, we've helped many food delivery companies successfully adapt OnTime. (In this post, we've barely scratched the surface of all the OnTime features available). Contact us if you'd like to learn how we can adapt our software to your business.