Published on October 9th, 2019 | by Vaishali Sonik

How Are Food Delivery Apps Revolutionizing The Restaurant Industry?

Food industry – the sector that has always witnessed tremendous growth. Starting from dining into the door to door food delivery, premium restaurants like Apricus Launceston experienced a shift in the business operations.

And what has altered the face of the food economy is digitization. On demand, the industry has penetrated deep across all business verticals. From clothing to fashion, groceries, and transport, the on-demand sector has its touch everywhere. In order to stay within the trajectory, the food sector has also taken a deep dive into the sea of digital disruption.

Why Digitize?

Definitely, this question has to arise and the one above all considerations, why should the food industry or the restaurant sector digitize their everyday tasks?

According to a report, Acosta – The Dine report, it is evident that the Millennial diners today, spend $513 on food on an average per month. Of these, around 40% of the food intake is from the food prepared outside the home. In accordance with this, we see the Gen X Diners spend equally similar amount, allocating around 32% of their $469 monthly grub budget on meals prepared outside the home.

Food ordering online has been rising, with 71% of millennials US diners ordering food online on a mobile ordering app in a span of three months.

Along with the above, the UBS forecasts state that the delivery sales have the propensity to rise at an average of 20% or more each year and cross the mark of $365 billion by the end of 2030 across the globe. This is surely compelling enough to lure restaurant owners to actively collaborate with third-party delivery personnel.

Benefits Of Online Food Delivery

Ok, so the figures are no doubt sufficient enough to voice the changing face of the restaurant industry but figures vary and not all go by the numbers, alone. Revamping the entire business structure mandates taking calculated risks and be sure prior to investing in the same.

Viewing the food industry within the digital lens, it is but obvious has food delivery draws its own benefits. It helps restaurants reach out to the wide audience base, for one and further, gives users the opportunity to move from the spectrum of dining to sitting back at home while the food reaches them at their doorstep. Further, online ordering is an excellent substitute for preparing food at home or step out to have one.

Also, on-line ordering allows users to have multiple dishes from different restaurants at the same time. Like, ordering sweets from one and meals from another, all at the same time. Customers are no longers subjected to have meals as available in the single restaurants.

The Change – What & how?

Pretty good to see that food delivery apps benefits the customers. Taking this discussion towards the advantages, we outline five of the most important changes in the restaurant industry after the inception of online delivery.

Higher Customer Satisfaction

One thing that drives the success of all business today is customer satisfaction. In order to get your business growing and growing fast, the restaurant industry also needs to focus on attaining a high level of customer satisfaction. And to have this, it is important to render the best in class customer service. While this was still a topic of debate earlier, working on the achievement of the same, the onset of online delivery has emerged to be a boon. Giving users the ease to place an order, pick the type of foods, schedule delivery and pay as they get, the restaurant industry has been successful in scaling up their customer’s satisfaction. Additionally, the users no longer need to wait in queues or step out to grab meals, online food delivery works wonders for them. Whether it is a sunny day or if it raining, a busy working day or a holiday, these delivery boys are always at your service.

Streamline The Delivery Process

Years ago, the only way to order online was to manually call the hotel, tell them your order and then either, be part of the pickup or wait for them to deliver the food. Now, this process suffered tremendous drawbacks. Often, the network would be worrisome, or you need to converse with multiple staff, repeat orders, get disturbed by noise. This at times, led to wrong orders being delivered to the customers and was a matter of grave concern for the restaurant industry. One that the customers do not like waiting and next, serving wrong items questioned the credibility of the restaurant’s image. On the contrary, the advent of on-demand food delivery apps offers a better platform to order foods. No more calling or repeating orders. All you need to do is tap the app, choose your food and one click, your order is placed. Since everything is digitized, the staff at the restaurant industry knows exactly what to serve, leaving no room for errors.

Eliminate The Need for Staff

Third-party integration involves having additional delivery personnel. Also, since the food is delivered and not serve at the table, the restaurant industry can cut off the extra staff saving cost overheads. The restaurant owner need not hire extra staff to address and adhere to the customer’s request. This in a way helps them focus and invest more in the food items and the quality, enhancing the overall efficiency of their industry.

Easy Reach To Users

One thing that has been the most beneficial after the induction of online ordering for restaurants is the fact that the newbies need not spend much on marketing or promotion. Connecting with third party delivery agents makes it easier for them to showcase their outlet or the restaurant, offers in-app deals and attract uses attention, leveraging their engagement.

Timeless Service

Imagine you had a rough day at work, you are back home at around 11 pm, of course, you wouldn’t want to cook and considering that you are in the 1990s, you won’t find a restaurant open, right?

Apparently, it is. But no more.

The face of the restaurant industry has changed and with the online delivery up in the market, you are served as and when needed. Some restaurants stay open late midnight offering your 24/7 services. This not only benefits the users but also help restaurants engage more and win over users, trust.

The Other Face

No doubt the industry is rising and seeing huge profits but not all restaurants are finding this beneficial. The fact that the restaurant industry needs to pay a huge amount to third party delivery partners, few restaurants find it hard to witness an increment in their total revenue. And if this money keeps on rising, it would not be wrong to state that the mid-sized hotels would have it hard to walk on the journey of digitization.

How your outlet works depends on the quality of foods and services offered, so try to remain true to these and emerge out to be the best of all.

Tags: food, food delivery, food delivery apps, food on demand, Online Food Delivery

About the Author

Vaishali Sonik is a passionate writer and explorer who has an interest in sharing the knowledge she has gathered over the years while working as the content strategist and writer at different companies. With the vision of bringing the change in the content industry, she jumped her career from M.Tech ECE Engineer to follow here passion. FYI, she portrays herself as a fun person who loves to explore all her hobbies & she has many. Follow my work here.