Offering free delivery at your restaurant is a great way to get ahead of your competitors, win more customers, and boost sales. But to achieve those results, you need to take some factors into account and build an effective strategy.
In this article, you'll understand the advantages of offering free delivery in your delivery operation and check out five essential tips for success. Follow along!
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Is it worth offering free delivery at your restaurant?
Offering free delivery can be a double-edged sword for restaurants. On one hand, it can attract more customers and increase sales. On the other hand, the associated costs can reduce profitability or even cause losses.
Even so, when implemented strategically, free delivery has the potential to generate a positive return on investment. Among the advantages, we can mention:
attract more customers
The delivery fee has a big influence on the purchase decision. After all, everyone wants to save money and loves feeling like they're getting a deal when ordering a meal for delivery.
That's why offering free delivery is the best way to attract new customers to your restaurant.
increase your average ticket
By saving on delivery, customers become more likely to add more items to the order and, that way, the restaurant raises its average ticket and revenue.
There are also some strategies you can use to encourage customers to add extra items, like setting a minimum order value to qualify for free delivery or making cross-sell and up sell suggestions.
Promote loyalty
Customers tend to value convenience and savings, and free delivery offers both. When that experience is positive, they're more likely to come back to the restaurant for future orders.
On top of that, loyalty programs that offer benefits like free delivery after a certain number of orders encourage customers to keep buying from the restaurant over the long term.
Gain competitiveness
Free delivery makes the restaurant more competitive. That's because, in delivery, customers have a variety of options, and free delivery can be the deciding factor that leads them to choose one restaurant over another.
What's more, by implementing a free delivery strategy effectively, restaurants can drive growth, increase customer loyalty, and strengthen their competitive position in the delivery market.
Keep reading to check out our tips and get these advantages at your restaurant!
Also check out: iFood registration: a step-by-step guide for restaurants
What are the free delivery options?
To start planning your free delivery strategy, it's worth getting to know the different options. Learn more below and choose the one that makes the most sense for your business.
On the purchase of a specific product
Free delivery is only available for the purchase of one or more selected items. It's recommended if your goal is to boost sales of a product or clear out the inventory of a supply.
With no minimum order value required
In this option, the restaurant offers free delivery on all orders, regardless of value. It's the best choice for anyone who wants to increase sales and attract new customers.
With a minimum order value
Here, customers get free delivery only if their order value reaches a certain predefined threshold. This is a good strategy for increasing the average ticket.
On slow days or times
Some restaurants choose to offer free delivery on specific days or times. It works to boost sales during slower periods.
loyalty programs
Restaurants can offer free delivery as part of a loyalty program, where customers accumulate points or receive exclusive benefits after a certain number of orders.
Leia também: Restaurant Promotions: The Complete Guide to Boosting Profits
So, choosing the best free delivery strategy depends a lot on your restaurant's goal at the moment. Below, see some tips to plan and execute it in the best way and get excellent results.
5 tips for succeeding with free delivery
To build a good free delivery strategy for restaurants, you need to pay attention to some important aspects, such as the costs involved, menu pricing, and product selection. Learn more by checking out our tips below.
1 – List your costs
A very common mistake at restaurants starting out in delivery is not considering all the extra costs involved: packaging, delivery drivers, fuel, and more.
Running the numbers on these expenses is essential to understand whether free delivery is really viable. On top of that, listing all your costs is the first step to setting your menu prices for delivery.
2 – Choose the best products
At the beginning, it can be a good idea to offer free delivery only on the menu items that are most profitable. This can help boost sales and build room to expand the offer in the future.
Carefully select the products with the highest profit margins and that travel well, with no risk of leaking or getting messy in the packaging. That way, you guarantee a quality experience for the customer and a good return for your business.
3 – Price correctly
The prices on your dine-in menu can't be the same as your delivery prices. You need to set pricing specific to delivery, taking into account the delivery costs and, where applicable, the fees and commissions of the platform you use.
Consider dynamic pricing strategies to adjust prices based on demand and variable costs.
4 – Diversify the options
We saw earlier that there are several ways to offer free delivery, and that choosing the best strategy depends on your business goal at the moment. So a good practice is to vary these formats and diversify your offers.
By doing this, you can work on several fronts of the business to reach different goals, such as increasing sales, average ticket and customer loyalty.
On top of that, you'll be gathering information that helps you understand which offers are most attractive to your customers and which ones bring a better return.
5 – Make continuous improvements
It's by tracking and analyzing in detail that you find the opportunities for your restaurant to succeed.
So monitor the performance of free delivery regularly and ask customers for feedback to identify areas for improvement. That way, you can adjust your strategy as needed to optimize results.
Get to know EPOC and boost your delivery results
Free delivery isn't just a convenience for customers, it's also a smart business strategy that can drive your restaurant's growth. That's why it's essential to have a tool that helps you plan your actions and analyze your results.
EPOC is a restaurant platform that lets you not only deliver excellent service, but also simplify management.
With it you get reliable data and easy analysis, and it becomes much simpler to price your menu, track the sales performance of each product, understand your customers' consumption behavior and visualize your results.
talk to our specialists and find out how we can help your restaurant grow!
