Why Restaurants Should Add A Food Delivery Service to the Menu

ipad with food delivery menu app on top of a white plate on a white wooden table with knife and fork on either side

Is starting a food delivery service a good idea for your restaurant? 

If you want to expand your business and serve more customers, then yes. 

Adding food delivery service to the menu is a great idea for any business. It’s a comparably inexpensive option for growing your customer base, and effective to boot! Even huge chains like Subway and McDonald’s have increased their customer count by delivering! 

Read on to learn all the exciting benefits of your future restaurant food delivery service.

The Whole City Is Your Dining Room

How big is your dining room? Because we’re guessing it’s not as big as an entire city.

Even on your busiest day of the year, when your dining room is filled to capacity—well that’s the problem right there. Your dining area has limited space.

Once it’s full with a 1-hour wait, you’re straight up turning customers away. You’re basically telling arriving guests, “No thanks. We don’t need any more business today.”

So, uh, why are you doing that? Wouldn’t it make more sense to find a way to serve more customers more easily? With food delivery, you can. 

By advertising your delivery service, you can reach guests anywhere in the city. And you can do so before they drive all the way out to your store just to be disappointed. They’ll simply call you from home and have dinner delivered.

It’s Cheaper to Run Than a Building

Sure, there’s always the other option. If your dining room is getting crowded, you could open up a new location. 

But you’ll have to scout around for the perfect location. Then you’ll have to actually obtain that location. Then you pay for construction, water, electricity, enough staff to run an entire restaurant, and more.

Or you can buy a couple of delivery vehicles, pay a few people to drive them, and pay a little to keep them well-maintained. Food delivery is the cheaper choice for expanding your business.

Take Your Business to Them

With a delivery vehicle, you don’t have to wait for customers to arrive. You can bring your business to them. 

In fact, you don’t even have to wait for them to order! Find out where the customers are and bring the food to them.

Search for local events in your area. Then, call them up and offer to cater. You can bring your food to fairs, concerts, even free shows in the park.

Now, you can be proactive with your food service.

Unveil Your Express Menu

If you find that your food delivery services are taking off, you could even open a food truck eventually. This second location could be an “express menu” version of your restaurant to service specific areas around town. It will be like a brick-and-mortar location, only cheaper to run.

You’ll need a truck with a large enough kitchen to make an abridged version of your full menu. A good idea for this is to do your appetizers and beverages, a few entree options, plus one or two desserts.

Then, get the word out! Advertise at your local college that you’ll be available in their area during lunchtime. Get your food truck a spot at local festivals and events. Not only does this allow you to service more customers in your area, but it may also entice foot-traffic to visit your full-service location. 

Your Competition Is Already Doing It

Here’s something you may want to know. Restaurant delivery traffic, aside from pizza, has increased at least 33% since 2012.

That means, if your local competition isn’t already delivering, they soon will be. You really don’t want to be the only restaurant in town that doesn’t deliver, do you?

Add a Food Delivery Service to Your Menu

There is no restaurant that wouldn’t benefit from starting a food delivery service. So, the bottom line is, if you don’t have one, start one.

Or, get outsold by the competition. The choice is yours (but, also, really obvious).

Check out our delivery solutions now to get started.