According to the 2018 Pizza Power Report from Pizza Magazine (PMQ), consumers want their pizza the way they want it and as fast as they can get it. In the U.S., delivery orders account for almost $9.8 billion of pizza sales every year and you want your share of that pie. Here’s how optimize your delivery operations, give customers the delivery experience they want and ensure your business gets a healthy slice of the pizza delivery market.
1. Customer Convenience and Customization
The delivery process begins when a customer places a pizza order. The more you can streamline this stage, the more profits your pizzeria will reap. It’s all about convenience: the less effort a customer has to make to place a pizza order and have it appear at their front door, the more likely they’ll reorder from you. Your online and mobile ordering platforms should have an intuitive and branded user interface that provides a seamless integration to your POS system to ensure that all orders are accurate and on time. This will directly affect customer satisfaction rates and increase your customer retention rate.
Additionally, customers want their pizza the way they want it, so your online and mobile ordering channels need to make order customization as effortless as possible. Customers should be able to edit items, add ingredients, and customize their pizza to order. Provide your customers with robust customization options and you’ll see your order size increase. (You might also be interested in reading our blog: Top Tips for Optimizing Your Online Pizza Ordering Experience for Customers.)
Digital orders also tend to be larger than those placed in-store— online ordering check averages are 15% higher than in-store check averages — especially when you select a system that includes suggestive selling prompts to increase average ticket size. So give customers the convenient and intuitive ordering methods they desire, the ability to customize easily, and get ready to watch your delivery revenue increase.
2. Driver Dispatch Support and On-Demand Logistics Service
Once you’ve received and prepared the pizza orders, you need to get the pies to their destinations as efficiently as possible. If your driver dispatch support isn’t organized, you risk not only disappointing your customers but also frustrating your drivers, who then have to deal with customer complaints. Not only invest in a pizza delivery system that eliminates order errors with reminders to ensure items aren’t forgotten, make sure it includes order detail auditing, and alerts to track kitchen and driver performance. Other key delivery support tools include an integrated mapping engine to get your drivers to the right place via the best and fastest route, and “time on the road” estimates to let you know when to expect them back for the next pickup.
Too many unexpected delivery orders than you have drivers? Partner with a pizza POS provider that has an integrated third-party logistics service such as DoorDash that has an on-demand delivery option. That way you can take advantage of those unexpected times when there is a surge in delivery orders, a driver that calls in sick, peak hours or even deliver to areas out of your standard service.
3. Speed of Service
The average wait time customers expect between order and delivery is typically 30-40 minutes. Anything more than that, and they start getting antsy — or hangry. If you don’t have the necessary pizza delivery tools in place, you won’t be able to provide the fast delivery service your customers demand. And delivery orders not only need to be fast, they also need to be accurate. Wrong pizza orders are tough to remedy because drivers are remote. Inefficient delivery service can be worse than not offering delivery at all as it can ruin your business reputation and end up costing you customers instead of keeping them. A pizza delivery system that can optimize all aspects of your delivery operation will increase customer satisfaction and ensure repeat business.
If you’re not providing fast, reliable pizza delivery as part of your customer experience, it’s a safe bet you’re losing money to competitors who are. Let HungerRush’s pizza POS experts show you how we can help grow your pizzeria.