The plunge into delivery can be daunting, as restaurant chains of all shapes and sizes are discovering in their quest to tap that huge new revenue stream. How can it be done profitably, without upending operations or missing the opportunity to turn a new customer into a loyal fan? How do restaurants even get to know those patrons when those customers are only dealing with the brand through a third-party service?
It’s familiar territory for PDQ POS, a one-stop technology shop that was helping chains capitalize on delivery long before there was a DoorDash, GrubHub or Uber Eats. With PDQ’s native driver dispatch and driver tracking platforms, restaurants can regain control of delivery and easily assign, track and measure each aspect of the process. The result: reduced delivery costs, enhanced customer satisfaction and measurable driver performance.
PDQ POS started as a supplier of POS systems to pizza chains some 30 years ago, when delivery was still new to those reigning kings of the channel. As delivery evolved, PDQ did, too, forging solutions for fast-casual and traditional quick-service chains whether they opted to self-deliver or work with a third party. Experience yielded answers to the questions that are stymying many of the newcomers to delivery, be they operators or suppliers.
Take the challenge of integrating third parties’ order-placement processes into the existing POS systems of delivery newcomers. It’s a function PDQ has provided customers for years.
Ditto for capturing information on delivery sales and customers. PDQ believes in the principle that the process can’t be managed unless it’s measured, and one of its signatures has been capturing the trove of information and insights that self or third-party delivery can generate.
Those decades of experience have shown the company that operators interested in capitalizing on delivery should insist on these capabilities in their POS system:
- Holistic labor cost monitoring: It should amass data-driven labor metrics and show it in data-informed ways that allow for real-time, spontaneous adjustments that are meaningful and measurable. How many delivery drivers a customer puts on the road in a particular shift may be subject to such adjustments, for example.
- Labor forecasting: Historical, comparative smart sales data reporting through on-demand, secure, cloud-based POS reporting can help with labor forecasting. Does one particular season require more delivery workers than another? A strong labor forecasting system can assist with this kind of decision making.
- Integration with top-tier scheduling providers: With POS as the hub, a system should coordinate and provide the necessary support. It would offer real-time, data-driven and data-informed metrics via a secure, cloud-based app.
- POS performance: Delivery is obviously predicated on speed and efficiency. But the foundation for success really lies within the performance of the POS. It needs to be fast—and it needs to be easy. Perhaps that’s why PDQ’s largest customer has kept its delivery service in-house!
Delivery can be an important profit leg for restaurants. Being able to calculate the costs of labor and other delivery expenses can be make or break for restaurants.
This post is sponsored by PDQ POS