RTN Off-Prem Playbook · As restaurants respond to rapidly-evolving guest demand, supply chain, and...
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| 1 | RTN OFF-PREM PLAYBOOK RTN Off-Prem Playbook Quick Hits, Tech Tips, Checklists & Practical Advice for Optimizing Off-Premises Dining
Transcript of RTN Off-Prem Playbook · As restaurants respond to rapidly-evolving guest demand, supply chain, and...
| 1 | RTN OFF-PREM PLAYBOOK
RTN Off-Prem PlaybookQuick Hits, Tech Tips, Checklists & Practical Advice
for Optimizing Off-Premises Dining
RESTAURANT TECHNOLOGY NETWORK | 2 |
Staff ABBY LORDENVP and Brand Director, HT Co-Founder, [email protected]
ANGELA DIFFLYCo-Founder, [email protected]
ROBERT FIRPO-CAPPIELLOEditor in Chief, [email protected]
ANNA WOLFESenior Editor, [email protected]
MICHAL CHRISTINE ESCOBARManaging Editor, [email protected]
KATHERINE WARESenior Account Executive, HT & [email protected]
NOELL DIMMIGAccount Executive, HT & [email protected]
LEAH SEGARRASenior Account Executive, HT & [email protected]
RTN Mission The Restaurant Technology Network (RTN) is a membership community solely dedicated to the restaurant technology industry. Through access to valuable benefits and powerful connections, our members shape industry standards and share technical guidance to help restaurateurs run successful businesses and better serve their customers.
PATRICK DUNPHYCIO, HTNG & [email protected]
IntroductionIn immediate response to the COVID-19 industry
crisis, the Restaurant Technology Network (RTN)
began executing weekly calls with 50+ restaurant
technology experts to collaboratively build an Off-
Premises Playbook to help restaurants tap revenue-
generating alternatives to dine-in business. While
many restaurants have pivoted to off-prem or
limited-seated dining, the Off-Premises Playbook
aggregates technology expertise from the most
talented voices in the industry, and provides a
quick-hit best practices guide for long-term off-
prem success.
As the restaurant industry moves towards cautious
reopening, it’s clear that off-premises dining will
continue to be a primary way to serve consumers.
The goal of this RTN Playbook is to help restaurants
stay open for business and adapt to changing
consumer needs during this crisis and beyond.
www.restauranttechnologynetwork.com
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Staff
ANGELA DIFFLYCo-Founder, [email protected]
Table of ContentsIntroduction ............................................................................................................................ 2
Cleanliness & Consumer Confidence ........................................................................... 4
Employee Training .............................................................................................................. 6
Contactless Technology .................................................................................................... 7
Menu Management, Optimization & Publishing ..................................................... 10
Marketing Checklist ........................................................................................................... 12
Online Ordering/App ........................................................................................................ 14
Curbside/Take-Out ............................................................................................................ 15
Delivery/Packaging ........................................................................................................... 18
Drive-Thru ............................................................................................................................ 20
Consumer Feedback ........................................................................................................ 22
Key Contributors
DAN DILLONVP of US Operations
ERIC SOLLCEO
RAKESH PATELExecutive Director,
Product Management
BRIAN WHITNEYVP Sales
MARK CLINESenior VP Sales
ROBERT PETERSON
VP Sales
ROBERT GIBSONCRO
CHRISTY TRINKLER
Sr. Director, Product
ALEX BELTRANICEO/Founder
RYAN PERSHADGlobal Operations
Manager
Copyright 2020 Restaurant Technology Network (RTN). All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or
by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording or information storage and retrieval systems, without express written permission
from the publisher. RTN is a wholly owned subsidiary of EnsembleIQ, with principal headquarters at 8550 W. Bryn Mawr Ave., Suite 200, Chicago, IL 60631.
RESTAURANT TECHNOLOGY NETWORK | 4 |
Cleanliness & Consumer ConfidenceThese tips can help you operationalize and verify cleanliness for the safety
of staff and guests, and communicate those efforts to build confidence.
NOTE: Health and safety requirements may vary due to rapidly evolving state
and local legislation - which you should consult for the latest guidance.
Practice Good Hygiene
• Identify and certify team members as “cleanliness champions.” These champions are responsible for addressing questions from team members and guests. This ensures accuracy and consistency in sharing information.
• Designate team member(s) to clean dining rooms throughout the day.
• Ensure all employees wear proper personal protective equipment (PPE), such as masks and gloves, at all times. Train staff on and require effective handwashing.
• While not fail-safe, the use of temperature monitoring for employees and guests can demonstrate that a brand is doing all they can to ensure safety and instill staff and consumer confidence.
• Minimize the amount of doors and surfaces a customer or delivery driver needs to touch in order to pick-up an order.
• Set up an order staging table with clear marking so customers and delivery drivers can pick up orders at safe distance.
• If you do not offer
contactless payment, evaluate your payment process and minimize the touchpoints wherever possible. For example, don’t hand a receipt to the guest. Ask first if it’s required.
• Consider what is being put into the order package. For example, don’t include condiments on top of the order packages; ask the customer if they want condiments, and place them in a separate container or bag.
• Utilize labels and QR codes wherever they can help to fortify cleanliness and consumer confidence (tamper-proof seals, contactless/digital menus, etc.).
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Communicate with consumers about what you’re doing around safety and post these messages online and in-store.
• Post a consumer-facing hygiene and cleanliness statement.
• Provide proof of this statement, such as a list of the tasks being completed around sanitization, cleanliness, and the use of proper PPE. This instills consumer confidence and may result in a quicker return to normal versus restaurants that are not proactive in providing proof.
• Post pictures and videos online of actions you’re taking to ensure safety and invite questions directly from consumers.
• Use existing digital displays to update consumers on safety protocols. Add dashboards on drive-thru and at POS to provide consumer confidence that guidelines are being followed.
• Relay information to consumers that it is safe to get food delivered (FDA Advisories).
• Post your safe distancing and best practice options on your website/social media/order confirmation/front door or window, so customers and delivery drivers can read them before entering the restaurant.
• Consider phone etiquette. Prepare guidance or a script for phone orders, to let customers know the safe distancing options for takeout and delivery.
Be Transparent
Actively encourage and incentivize feedback on interactions with your restaurant, from both customers and delivery services. It’s vital to constantly gather feedback to identify gaps in safe service execution. Ideas include:
• Real-time consumer feedback technologies
• Email follow ups after an order
• A chatbot or “contact us” on your home page
• Feedback cards pointing to website survey inserted in every order, etc.
Solicit Feedback
CLEANYOUR HARDWARE WITH THESE TIPS
CLICK LINKS BELOW TO EXPLORE
Cleaning Methods for Elo Touchscreens (COVID-19)
HP Business PC & Print Devices Cleaning Guidance: Helping Businesses Address Coronavirus
NCR POS Cleaning Guide
PARTech: Tips for Cleaning POS Terminals, Drive-Thru Headsets and Fingerprint Readers
Kiosk Manufacturer Association (KMA Guidelines)
RESTAURANT TECHNOLOGY NETWORK | 6 |
Front of House Employee TrainingMost table service restaurants have had to layoff or furlough FOH staff and may be
rebuilding largely from scratch, with commensurate training costs. Safe service training
for FOH/HOH involves behavior change, and will have to move from a one-time event to
an ongoing process. Best practice behaviors will have to be consistently reinforced via
training and coaching, often over time.
Start with identifying the behaviors, knowledge/skills, and information required to execute
consistently, and most profitably, and establish processes and procedures accordingly.
As your staff is trained on best
practices, set a goal of 100%
employee compliance with safety
practices. This will help improve
and/or protect brand reputation.
You’ll need to manage, monitor,
coach and reinforce these practices
every day to drive long term
behavior changes.
Consider tapping into new eLearning
employee training tools. Well-developed
eLearning uses cognitive science and
gamification to deliver engagement and
ultimately sustained behavior change.
Identify and train around opportunities
to reduce expenses, for example,
how to improve order accuracy and
reduce refunds.
Reinforce upselling with your staff,
particularly if your menu has been re-
engineered with high-margin products
or includes new suggestions for pairing
sides, alcohol, groceries, meal kits.
Develop and deliver ongoing training
and supportive tools, such as checklists
and templates, and reinforcement
methods to develop and modify
employee behaviors as needed.
SPECIAL SUPPORT FOR TAKEOUT & DELIVERY TEAMS
There are many moving parts and potential points of failure related to takeout and delivery. To optimize, operators may benefit by designating a job role for this purpose, and training multiple employees for this role.
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Contactless TechnologyFor restaurants, the role of technology is shifting
from silent facilitator to meaningful, but largely
contactless, touchpoints flowing throughout the
guest experience. How restaurants adapt to change,
how they evolve their service proposition, and how
they engage customers will determine success.
Digital adoption and self-service will become
the norm in foodservice, aligning with evolving
consumer requirements. Consumer safety, new
store design and functional pay benefits will create
continued demand for contactless technologies,
like mobile devices and voice, while the use and
acceptance of cash will decrease.
Much of the focus around contactless
is focused on the last mile at the
pickup, but considerations around the
entire customer process can deliver
innovative ways to promote
a contactless solution.
Market may change monthly, or even weekly in the near-term, requiring strong consideration for investments and nimble insights on how each restaurant or brand is responding to conditions.
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CONTACTLESS PAYMENTSPay-ahead technology and contactless payment options include online, virtual kiosks, mobile, tap-to-pay (NFC). Some governments are requiring tap/NFC payment as a condition of re-opening.
DIGITAL MENUSDigital menus yield significant cost efficiencies including printing, shipping, proofing, pricing, and versioning.
DIGITAL ORDERINGDigital ordering helps solve the ongoing issue of increasing front-of-house (FOH) labor costs amidst talent scarcity by enabling more coverage per server. The market can expect to change monthly and even weekly in the near-term, making real-time digital insights critical for knowing how each restaurant is meeting the conditions and how each market is performing as the country gradually re-opens.
MOBILE ORDERINGMobile ordering technology can unlock benefits and revenue drivers, over and above health, financial, and regulatory implications of COVID-19. Mobile ordering provides a foundation for innovation and connectivity to improve guest experience, insights, and operational adjustments, in ways that were long overdue.
VIRTUAL KIOSKS/BYODConsumers can use their own mobile devices as virtual kiosks, placing orders either in advance or on-site. Successful implementations of virtual kiosks enable guests to scan a QR code, bringing customers directly to the restaurant’s ordering page. Customers can place orders and process payment, directly from their phones, bypassing the need for physical interaction with staff.
TABLETOP ORDERINGSome POS systems can support location-based ordering systems, so that each table or bar location has a unique QR code enabling guests to be seated, scan the QR code, place an order and have their order and the table location sent to the kitchen, enabling a quick delivery with a minimum of interaction with staff.
PICK-UP LOCATIONS/PICK-UP LOCKERSPick-up locations can be specifi-cally designed for orders placed via virtual kiosks. Pick-up locations should include designated areas, well-signed for easy identification. Reimagined designated pick-up areas can be further enhanced with secure Pick-up Lockers in-tegrated with your order-ahead platforms. This technology en-sures consumers or third-party delivery drivers only touch the orders meant for them, reducing unnecessary extra touches and increasing consumer confidence and reinforcing your brands’ com-mitment to health and safety.
MOBILE ORDERING HIGHLY-
CUSTOMIZED EXPERIENCES INCLUDE:
• Varying versions of digital menus, during varying times of the day
• Express menus, with easiest-to-prepare items• Premium items, only available to certain seating
areas/individual tables• Guest feedback collection, in real time, down to
the individual menu item level
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5 Ways Technology Improves the Contactless Experience
ENSURES CONTACTLESS PAYMENT OPTIONS Minimizes health and safety risks for your consumers and your employees and increase confidence and trust in your brand.
OPTIMIZES ORDER THROUGHPUT Predictive arrival technology allows employees to prep orders and ensure they are ready on-time. Understanding the size of orders and when customers will arrive can increase order throughput, allowing restaurants to become proactive instead of reactive in determining how to best prepare, or stage orders ahead of time.
LOWERS WAIT TIMESAdopting contactless technology throughout the entire customer journey impacts wait times
downstream. For instance, prepayments and reprioritizing your order queue minimizes wait times, improving overall customer experiences.
DRIVES MORE OFF-PREM SALES Promote on social platforms, such as Facebook, Nextdoor or Instagram, to communicate technologies available for faster, easier, more convenient curbside pickup increases adoption.
MEASURES GUEST SATISFACTION & OPERATIONAL PERFORMANCEContinuous feedback helps restaurants identify under- and over-performing operational areas, both from a guest satisfaction perspective as well as operational performance insights (measure new procedure successes and failures across teams, e.g. location-level, franchise-level, brand-level).
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Prep Your Menu for Off-Premises DiningAs restaurants respond to rapidly-evolving guest demand, supply chain, and staffing
situations, menu content will be in constant flux. Restaurants must plan for greater menu
variation as well as differences by location, and manage them quickly and efficiently.
Menu design and presentation will likely evolve as brands respond to long-term changes in
health and safety perceptions. Brands can take this opportunity to prune menu offerings to
improve profitability, operational execution and refocus their strategic positioning.
Solutions will vary in terms of how in-restaurant menus are accessed, used and/or
cleaned. Beyond the menu itself, changes will extend to ordering solutions and contactless
payments, so think about the entire transaction as you explore new menu options.
Men
u O
ptio
ns PAPER MENUS $$ Will still be a part of daily operations, but we
expect they’ll be single-use and printed in-house.
ANTIMICROBIAL COATINGS $$ Will be used on edge-sealed laminated menus.
VOICE-ENABLED $$ Menus and ordering platforms are emerging.
Ask your current technology vendor when they expect to deliver this functionality. The more requests they get, the more likely they are to prioritize these features.
QR MENUS $$ Can push information to the guest’s own device
both inside the restaurant and curbside.
DIGITAL MENUS $$ Can let guests place an order pre-visit
and be seated upon arrival.
Consider using menu boards, both digital and physical, and/or kiosks and tablets with antimicrobial screens.
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How to Evaluate Your Menu For Consolidation Shrinking the menu helps drive higher margins, and can avoid line abandonment in online
channels. Using menu satisfaction data balanced with sales and margin, aim to reduce
your menu size to a minimum over the near term — aim for 25% of its original size —
with an eye to add more as necessary and as markets rebound. Here are some tips:
Consolidation Longer TermConsolidation will be key both now, and looking ahead.
Fewer items mean fewer SKUs to bring back, and we
expect some suppliers to exit the business. Weakened
manufacturing infrastructure, product availability and
distribution stability could cause product outages
that will require more frequent menu updates now
and moving ahead. Fewer sales results in pack-life
and shelf-life issues, which will exacerbate waste and
increase cost. However, fewer items also mean fewer
recipes to train when rebuilding the workforce. Use
this as an opportunity to consolidate stations.
• Eliminate unique SKUs and menu items which have been on the chopping block but faced consumer resistance. The consumer will be more forgiving as the industry rebounds so use that good will to your benefit.
• Reduce items with long prep and cook times, so that you can reallocate that time to cleaning tables and chairs between guests.
• Include best sellers and high-margin items only.
• Focus on family/bulk meals that feed 4-6 people, and eliminate small sizes.
• “Comfort food” side dishes are often high-margin, travel well, and stay well for days in the refrigerator.
• Practice ingredient synergies to simplify food production and reduce cost.
• Enable flexible ordering — modifiers, etc. — to the extent your kitchen can support them.
• Don’t forget dietary guidelines (calories, gluten/dairy/nuts/etc.)
• Model all changes to ensure margin, FC and PPA.
• Menu innovation will continue to drive new product categories, including family meals, alcohol kits, pantry items, and at-home meal kits.
• Expect a slow return to catering with individual meals instead of buffet-style catering.
REOPENING TIP When you’re ready to reopen, use your table management and reservation systems to decrease availability to allow for longer table turns with deeper cleaning.
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Marketing Really Matters: Customers Need to Know You’re OpenCustomers need to know what you’re doing and have easy, actionable ways to connect.
Use these ideas to communicate about the status of menus, promotions, service options
and operating hours. Think about channels inside and outside the restaurant, including the
brand website, social media and third-party channels.
• Ensure a feedback mechanism pre- and post-order
• Collect info via QR codes on boxes, menus, during delivery, etc.
• Measure guests’ receptivity of evolving menus, service, and safety standards to discover what’s working and what needs improvement.
• Try integrating live data feeds of in-moment guest feedback for integration into CRM, BI, and staff communication tools.
Collect Real-Time Guest DataEach channel should enable action, where
action is making an order.
Pair technology with marketing, showing consumers the way.
Add clear links to the order channel.
Add clear location information, with map and directions.
Leverage your solution provider’s marketing capabilities and/or partner with companies to identify complementary marketing opportunities.
Use templates and marketing frameworks to build content at a macro level that can be adjusted at a micro level.
Use SEO and consider advertising for things like grocery options, delivery time and price. For example, market to consumers looking for grocery delivery who may be experiencing a considerable shortage of delivery windows.
Promote bundled meals and/or repeat delivery programs.
Leverage your email database and solicit opt-ins from all new customers.
Update CRM with COVID-19 communications, orders, preferences. Build a customer database for post-COVID-19 promotions.
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Social Media Tips• Post live videos, covering
safety measures, specials, behind the scenes, kitchen, how easy it is to order curbside, delivery, from the app, etc.
• Post daily.
• Don’t count likes. Typically 1-5% of customers actually see your posts.
• Use the 80/20 rule: 80% should be about your community, employee recognition, etc., and 20% should be your sales and specials.
• Stay on top of incoming messages on all social media platforms. (Facebook Messenger, Instagram DM).
• Make sure to not overlay too much text on your images especially if you’re using them in ads.
• Use Facebook Creator Studio
• Don’t use auto-posting as you can use Facebook free program
• Follow the 25% text rule
BE A PART OF THE COMMUNITY
Have and tell a philanthropy story. Consider a “pay it forward” strategy, allowing customers to buy a meal for hospital workers or first responders. Look for other ways to participate in your community to strengthen bonds and help during difficult times.
“Real-time feedback has
never been more important than in this ill-defined, ever-changing
post-Covid landscape.”
DAN DILLON
VP, US OperationsYumpingo
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Online Ordering & Mobile AppsIn this “new normal” it is critical to offer consumers choices. An omnichannel approach to
ordering, delivery, and feedback is no longer a nice-to-have; it’s now expected. Omnichannel
doesn’t have to mean significant ongoing expense. Use tools you already have. Regardless of
your methodology, there is a low, medium, and high input to enable your brand to discover
and meet the ever-changing needs of consumers.
• You can use any white label platform that allows you to create a website or app that will plug into your POS for tracking and data collection.
• Ensure your online orders fit in with your phone orders, aggregators, etc. Understand your channels, and look at workflows for each. For example, Grubhub and UberEats orders are different from your direct-to-consumer orders.
• Look for integrations when possible to allow for a simpler setup. When you begin to understand how different channels work and integrate, you can start to build out a more robust interface.
• Encourage mobile ordering via apps, not just websites. Apps can offer geolocation insight, for example distance to your drive-thru, allowing you to better manage arrival timing, car sequencing and kitchen tickets.
Getting Started
with Online Ordering
• Missing an online order is not an option, so plan for backups for broadband connectivity. Use automatic cellular failover to the server receiving online orders and to POS devices.
• Network traffic steering can shape bandwidth priorities so that, in case of intermediate bandwidth struggles from the ISP (as opposed to total loss), the most critical applications like those involved in receiving and processing an online order are less likely to encounter disruption.
• Remove all technology roadblocks by considering a non-integrated, non-Internet required solution to facilitate nearly overnight deployment. Orders received via email can be sent to an email distribution list on every team member’s mobile phone.
Networking Tips
Marketing Your Online
Ordering Channels to Consumers
Turning it on isn’t enough. You’ll need to nourish direct lines to your customers. Have a conversation that is unique to you and your brand. Share offers and promos, company news, and goodwill to enhance loyalty.
• Deploy text-to-order or online ordering through Facebook Messenger.• Offer a discount for first-time users to encourage adoption.• Utilize chat marketing/messenger marketing.• Focus on hyper-local strategies using all social media platforms.• Include a coupon or message with every third-party delivery order to drive
traffic to your own channels (eg., business card and QR codes).• Build a database and remarket to your customers.
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Curbside Service: People, Process & Technology
“Pick-up orders have historically represented a smaller portion of a restaurant’s off-prem business, around 5%. During the pandemic, we have seen this increase fourfold. The rise in pick-up orders is a trend we hope continues, as it’s typically one of the more profitable off-prem channels for a restaurant.”
STERLING DOUGLASS, Co-Founder & CEO, Chowly, Inc.
PEOPLE• Train and communicate clearly with everyone
who will be a part of the transaction: customers, staff and partners.
• Provide dedicated training for employees on curbside pick-up best practices.
• As you move to contactless transactions, give employees a “Safe Credit Card Handling” refresher to maintain PCI DSS compliance in situations which may be new to them.
• Customer behavior is a critical part of a safe and efficient pick-up or drive-thru process. They expect orders to be ready when they arrive so they don’t have to wait in long lines and increase their exposure. Provide clear instructions for their pick-up process both online, and at the physical location.
• Third-party delivery providers need clear instruction, too.
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• Order for pick-up information displayed on an app enables easy check-in.
• Tap location technologies for approaching alerts and auto check-in upon arrival. Predictive arrival technology allows stores to be ready before customers arrive.
• Curbside pickup ideally includes curbside payment options, meaning wireless POS device and extended and securely segmented Wi-Fi to maintain payment security.
• Similarly, drive-thru line-busting also requires extended properly-segmented Wi-Fi coverage.
• Broadband connectivity interruptions compound problems. Automatic cellular failover assigned to POS devices can avoid issues.
• Network traffic steering can shape bandwidth priorities, so that in case of temporary bandwidth struggles from the ISP (as opposed to total loss), the most critical applications are less likely to encounter disruption.
• Integrate mobile order for pick up into store POS for seamless operations.
• Encourage mobile ordering via apps, not just websites. Apps provide the ability for brands to understand location and distance for curbside, helping to better manage arrival timing, car sequencing and kitchen tickets.
• Process for pick up should be very clear, with appropriate signage as well as directions in the mobile app.
• Use QR codes and automation to simplify the process.
• Designate dedicated curbside pick-up windows.
• Allow customers to call if there are any issues with the curbside experience.
• Execute contactless transactions via touchless credit card handling. Encourage NFC taps, ApplePay, Google Pay or Samsung Pay for payment options.
6FT 6FT
TECHNOLOGYPROCESS
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VEHICLECURBSIDE DELIVERY
CURBSIDE MARKETING TIPSProvide incentives to customers using curbside. Encourage loyalty by rewarding multiple visits (frequency).
Be concise in your messaging about how to place and pick-up your order.
Answer and respond to customer inquiries as quickly as possible to avoid losing loyal customers over a bad review or order errors.
Now is the time to solicit and respond to all reviews.
Run contests posts (win a gift card, free pizza/wings for life).
Solicit guest experience photos, tap user-generated content.
Emphasize customer safety with order for pick-up curbside.
Make restoring consumer confidence a key message point.
CHECK OUT THESE VIDEOS FOR MORE TIPS!
SETTING UP OUTDOOR WI-FI FOR LINE BUSTING, CURBSIDE SERVICE AND PAYMENT CAPTURE
PARKING LOT CONVERSION
“Based on our data, restaurants saw nearly a 4x increase in YOY off-
premises transactions on Mother’s Day. This is
impressive, given there was a 25% overall decrease in
kitchen transaction volume, and a 93% decrease in dining room guests.”
JOSHUA NORDVP, Software Development
QSR Automations
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DELIVERY: Third-Party and Native Delivery Considerations
Take Orders via Multiple ChannelsEnsure that all orders run through the POS to track revenues properly and receive payments.
Send Directly
to KitchenAutomated or manual ticket
process.
Prep & PackingUse the empty dining room to layout orders efficiently. Separate self deliver orders from aggregator orders.
Delivery ManagementTrack assets (human and physical capital) in real
time. This allows you to communicate with customers in an automated fashion so they know when orders
are coming, allowing you to stop fielding calls about order location and focus on bringing in orders.
STEP 1
STEP 1
STEP 2STEP 2
STEP 3
STEP 3
STEP 4
STEP 4
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Marketing Your Delivery Service• If you are promoting
third-party delivery companies, you are relinquishing the customer, and paying hefty commissions on your own customer.
• If you have your own channels, like a website or app, market them. Use signage to promote your owned channels when dine-in returns, and encourage word of mouth employee and customer referrals to your owned channels. If you have the budget, explore digital marketing for additional exposure.
• Emphasize the cost savings, build a loyalty program that rewards consumers for ordering multiple times.
• Create signage, promote on social and customer channels, and strive for word-of-mouth referrals.
• If someone calls, tell them about your digital products.
• Interact directly with your customers, and create a database you can market to.
• Reorders = compound growth, even if it is a small percentage month-over-month.
Bringing delivery in-house via “owned” or “native” delivery has benefits and challenges. Here are several key considerations as you evaluate owned delivery for your brand.
LIABILITY: Restaurants can accept liability and find the right provider to help, or provide a waiver and pass liability to staff as a condition of accepting the position.
SAFETY: To minimize your exposure as a business, ensure your facilities are pepped to handle sanitary requirements and provide PPE to all your employees per federal and state guidelines.
TRANSPORTATION: Restaurants will either need to provide a vehicle, which will factor into your overall cost, or more commonly employees will use their own.
STAFFING: Try to understand your volumes during various times of day. Ensure you have enough drivers available during peak times. This assessment should also factor in fulfillment staff who act as in-betweens kitchen and drivers.
PACKAGING: Look at packaging as a way to market your brand and create a positive user experience. Look into custom-branded packaging and driver uniforms. Make sure that your food travels well. Experiment to see if you need special packaging to fit your dishes. Look for a way to expand your in-restaurant experience to your customer’s front door.
ECONOMICS: An assessment is recommended to ensure your owned delivery channel is profitable. Create a minimum for orders, if necessary. With high volumes, delivery fees can be waived to add to the customer experience.
Owned Delivery Primer
If you’re considering using delivery providers, here are several key considerations.
TECHNOLOGY: Requires integration via API for custom solutions or native integration with online ordering providers integrated with logistical delivery providers.
PACKAGING: Look at packaging as a way to market your brand and create a positive user experience. What will this experience be like for the consumer?
ECONOMIC IMPACT: For consumers, delivery fees will be higher than marketplace orders. How do restaurants subsidize fees to make it appealing? Tips collected for online order and delivery are generally attributed to the driver with contract language stating minimums.
Third-Party Delivery
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Drive-ThruFirst and foremost, don’t over-complicate getting customers their food. Even season drive-
thru brands will need to re-evaluate processes for sanitation and consumer confidence.
“It’s not about how people order, it’s about how they feel.”
ZACK OATES, Founder/CEO, Ovation
• Develop processes that do not require employees to touch physical credit cards. Contactless payment at drive-thru minimizes contact and reduces risk. Encourage NFC taps, Apple Pay, Google Pay or Samsung Pay for payment options.
• Reuse/repurpose parking lots for additional customer space, and consider trunk delivery.
• Wipe down the drive-thru window for each customer upon approach.
• QR-code links to guest-driven ordering placed in queue or parking areas can enable a direct link to order management and increase volume.
• Drive-thru line-busting requires extended and securely segmented Wi-Fi to maintain payment security.
• Broadband connectivity interruptions compound problems. Automatic cellular failover assigned to POS devices is a recommended way to avoid trouble.
• Network traffic steering can shape bandwidth priorities so that the most critical applications are less likely to encounter disruption in case of intermediate bandwidth struggles from the ISP, as opposed to total loss.
• Line-Busting Tablets: Lightweight, reusable solutions (tablets, phones) are better than proprietary or single-use devices, as they will carry some residual value if the solution doesn’t work. (LTE/4G Tablets give “anywhere” access and minimize PCI risk).
A FEW DON’TS
• Don’t expect quick-turn solutions to solve ALL guest needs on day one.
• Don’t be afraid to layer in technology as software partners release it.
• Don’t be afraid to shift tactics or platforms to meet guests’ needs.
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“Now that I’ve made all these operational and contactless changes to align with guest preferences, how is the satisfaction
of these changes perceived through the eyes of my guests?”
ALEX BELTRANI, CEO/Founder, Tattle
Good, Better, Best Scenarios for the Customer Journey
The Pick-Up JourneyBETTER
ORDER: Customer orders online via your white-label ordering system.
PICK-UP: Customers can scan QR codes when they arrive in the parking lot, or text tool associated with a platform or a device in the store.
FEEDBACK: Customers use an automated text survey to provide feedback.
BEST
ORDER: Customers use the restaurant’s own app to place an order.
PICK-UP: Restaurant is geofenced to receive automatic notifications when the customer arrives.
FEEDBACK: Customers respond to automated surveys to provide feedback.
GOOD
ORDER: Customer calls restaurant to order.
PICK-UP: Customer calls restaurant when they’ve reached the parking lot. Post signage with instructions, letting customers know how to notify you of arrival. Ask for full name (or other order identifier) and car make/color in order to quickly locate the customer.
FEEDBACK: Customers use a free survey tool like Google forms to provide feedback.
THIRD-PARTY DELIVERY
Restaurant signs up with a single delivery platform.
Restaurant has multi-delivery, aggregating to single platform, with separate entrance/pick-up for curriers.
Third-party delivery with
direct integration to the POS.
OWNED/NATIVE DELIVERY
Restaurant staff members use their own vehicles.
Restaurant leverages delivery networks while maintaining its own online ordering.
Restaurant utilizes its own fleet.
GOOD BETTER BEST
The Delivery Journey
RESTAURANT TECHNOLOGY NETWORK | 22 |
Ask, Ask, and Ask Again: Tips for Guest FeedbackAs your operations move to off-prem and your customers begin to have unique
experiences with your brand, it’s more important than ever to understand customer
sentiment around the services you’re providing. You need to ask the right questions at the
right time, and respect the time customers are dedicating to share responses with you.
Without asking customers, you’ll find out about the mishaps on
If you have a door, a phone line, and a poster, you have the minimum for what it takes to
process off-site/curbside orders. Add these ideas to capture meaningful feedback.
“UBERIZE” YOUR POST-TRANSACTION
SURVEYS: On-demand guest experiences
require an instant survey after the transaction
in order to ensure the highest response
rate, much like Uber fires off after your ride.
Integrate with all transaction channels to
send surveys directly to guests’ smartphones.
CAPTURE FEEDBACK FOR EACH CHANNEL:
Drive-Thru, Delivery, Curbside, and Take-
out are now the bulk of your restaurant’s
revenue, you must create a different survey
for each experience in order to ensure proper
benchmarking, i.e. which channels are over or
under-performing in the eyes of guests?
EXPAND YOUR COLLECTION METHODS:
While text is the most-used method of
communication (95% of texts are read within
3 minutes), email, Facebook Messenger, and
other tools can be effective to meet the
customer where they are.
EMPOWER STAFF WITH ONGOING
ACCOUNTABILITY: Set monthly goals, i.e.
improving meal packaging from 76% to 85%
satisfaction, and communicate these goals
to all GMs and DMs. This helps teams stay
aligned and mobilized. Monthly kick-off, mid-
month progress, and end-of-month results
are effective ways to encourage progress.
Guests experience a 4X higher rate of incidents with off-prem orders compared to dine-in. It is essential to know which channel is most responsible for a higher-volume of guest dissatisfaction for more deliberate improvement. (source: Tattle)
| 23 | RTN OFF-PREM PLAYBOOK
A Few Tips for Replying to Guests• Thank You: For every guest that
provides feedback, it is not only an opportunity to respond via email with appreciation, but to also highlight sanitary measures the team has employed to deliver their meal, i.e. masks, gloves, distancing, cleanings, etc.
• Apology: Since guest incidents are three times higher via off-prem, it is imperative to apologize wholeheartedly to guests, as well as send an Oops! card or digital reward for the next order.
• Be Prompt and Personal: 91% of people are satisfied with a response if it is prompt (within an hour, ideally five minutes) and personal (includes a name and addresses their issue).
79% of the time, overall guest satisfaction can be improved by boosting satisfaction in one high-impact area. You do not need to focus on everything with a short staff. Focus solely the areas guests care about most. (source: Tattle)
Guests care about certain operational areas more than others and, with a reduced staff, you should focus on areas with a high correlation to overall satisfaction scores.
• Ordering process
• Hospitality
• Speed of Service
• Accuracy
Topics to Cover In Your Survey
• Meal Packaging
• Food Quality
• Cleanliness
• Sanitation
Did you know?The most negative factor within the accuracy operational category among pizza providers is uneven topping distribution.
RESTAURANT TECHNOLOGY NETWORK | 24 |
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RTN Vision In an industry built on service and entrepreneurial spirit, purpose-built technology fuels success. The Restaurant Technology Network aspires to help restaurant professionals and solution providers work together to solve problems large and small and inspire bold ideas for the future.
Join Us If you have a vested interest in the restaurant technology industry, join us. Collectively, our members shape the industry by creating and disseminating technology standards and technical guidance to benefit members. Through our cornerstone virtual think-tank workgroup meetings, our members solve industry challenges and prosper inside a unique, collaborative environment.
