The Rise of Takeaway and Delivery Services
Since the 1950s, as people began to enjoy a meal served for them in front of the television, restaurant takeaways have become a traditional part of our lives. Deliveries followed, and the standard menu of pizza after a long day at work, a kebab on the way home from a night out, and Chinese or Indian banquet treats at the weekend began to extend to a broader variety of choices. Since dropping in or calling ahead for a takeaway or delivery became popular, the industry was prepared to be transformed with the arrival of World Wide Waiter, the world’s first internet service, in the United States in the mid-1990s.
Acceleration of Service in 2020
In March 2020, a pandemic forced all non-essential shops to close, leaving hospitality operators with food and drink going to waste and no imminent promise of earnings. Many that still delivered click and collect or distribution tended to do so, but several other companies soon updated their business strategy to include this revenue stream as an alternative as the world shifted beyond recognition.
Takeaway and delivery became more established in the structure of society as the world moved out of and back into lockout, and it is expected to be a larger part of the dining repertoire on an ongoing basis. Several reports predict that the distribution industry will expand at a 10% annual rate and be worth £19 billion by 2023.
Managing Kitchen Space for Both In-Home Cooking and Delivery
Many restaurants are comfortable dedicating up to 10% of their revenue to distribution and fulfilling these orders alongside dining in orders in their own kitchen. Trading predictions based on past trading trends, on the other hand, are no longer helpful, and company owners must balance the time and money expended on each strand of their business.
Dark kitchens are also known as virtual, cloud, or ghost kitchens, or delivery-only restaurants, where orders are made online, food is cooked at a specific location, and it is shipped directly to the customer without the need for any additional front of house service.
Dark Kitchen Business Models
The two main choices are to work from a warehouse accommodating multiple food preparation businesses or sourcing facilities in existing catering spaces that are under-utilised but the variations on dark kitchen models include:
The original
One specialized brand establishing a premise exclusively to service app-ordered deliveries
Takeaway
An extension of the original dark kitchen but with the added benefit of allowing consumers to collect their food on-site.
Multi-brand
One company offers the kitchen for many brands to share, allowing them to attract customers from a larger geographic region while keeping costs down.
Partial
Food operators may provide preparatory services from a centralized provider and then add their own trademark touches and flair to make the dishes their own.
Dark Kitchens Are Here to Stay
With the hospitality industry damaged by the pandemic’s effects and the uncertainty of constantly changing regulations, adding delivery or takeaway revenue sources has become a lifeline for many pubs and restaurants. Rules have been relaxed to enable companies to provide a takeaway service without needing to submit a planning application until March 2021.
This has since been prolonged for another year, and it is being considered if these changes will be made permanent. With the remaining complexity and the need to stay flexible, it is not too late to open a dark kitchen, and it is not impossible to expect them to become a more regular addition to the running of a sensitive hospitality industry.
When the popularity of online ordering rises, so does the need for restaurant owners to find options that enable consumers to browse their menus, select items, and pay for carryout or delivery orders online. All the same, we live in a world that, more than ever, needs accessibility, which is usually brought on by technology.
Customers prefer faster and more efficient ways to order their food. Like other people, they are preoccupied with reading addresses, flipping between apps, messaging friends, and browsing websites. In other words, customers live and work online. There are numerous restaurant ordering systems that allow you to insert your menu details and create a simple ordering system that you can include on your own website or app.
Chefr is one of them. They believe that restaurants do well when they focus on the quality of their service and food. These activities, whether in the kitchen preparing food or welcoming guests at the front door, are what define a restaurant. To put it another way, restaurants succeed while they are open for business.
Chefr ordering services help restaurants with quickly and easily going online so that they can establish exclusive relationships with their clients. They will be there to help your restaurant clients keep up to date online as the world changes and emerging media platforms develop. Chefr cannot control the flavor of their food or the friendliness of their employees, however they can provide them with the tools they need to succeed in today’s tech-driven world.
Chefr’s Features
Website Ordering
70% of customers choose to order directly from the restaurant ordering system rather than from third-party portals. Allow your consumers to place orders directly from your website instead of redirecting them to a third-party website that lists you as a competitor (and takes a commission on all of your orders). Allow hungry consumers to place orders directly from your website, whether on desktop or mobile.
Receive Restaurant Online Orders Easily
Say goodbye to errors and prolonged shipping times. Begin using Chefr and say goodbye to taking phone orders.
You will now pick up your order in 2 seconds and see all of the info at once, due to the online ordering system.
Internet restaurant orders are usually 18% more important than phone orders.
Pickup, Curbside, & Delivery
Easily offer in-store pickup and curbside, and use our nationwide network of commission-free delivery partners.
Create Lasting Customer Connections
Turn occasional diners into repeat customers with valuable data, marketing expertise, and a large library of marketing tools.
Also published on Medium.