Home meal delivery has seen unprecedented growth in a context of confinement and restaurant closures: 350 million meals were delivered in France in 2020 versus 250 million in 2019, according to figures reported by Gira Conseil .
In 2022, 60% of French people have now associated it with their consumption habits, compared to only 40% on the eve of the pandemic. Uber Eats and Deliveroo stand out: among meal orders placed online, seven out of ten orders go through these platforms.
These online sales channels have thus become close partners for restaurant owners in maintaining their business and diversifying their sources of income.
Uber Eats and Deliveroo not only allow them to be visible to a large clientele but also offer them a considerable time saving: time they would have had to spend creating and optimizing their website, communicating with customers or even hiring delivery drivers.
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However, the number of restaurants on these platforms is growing day by day. To take advantage of these new sales channels, it therefore becomes essential to adopt the right strategy and especially to distinguish yourself from your competitors to thus gain visibility.
But how do you do it? We explain it all to you π
πβπ¨ 5 essential criteria for a good referencing
With home delivery becoming a real trend, it is essential for restaurant owners to have all the keys in hand to stand out on meal delivery platforms.
Although the ranking algorithms are not precisely known and evolve regularly, here is a non-exhaustive list of the main criteria taken into account and some of our tips for appearing on the front row. π€
Acceptance, preparation and delivery time β±
- Acceptance time β
The faster you accept the order, the less likely the customer is to change their mind and cancel their order. This also builds customer loyalty and associates your restaurant with the principles of speed and flexibility. Platforms favor restaurants that accept orders quickly!
π‘ On Uber Eats and Deliveroo, restaurant owners have the option to enable automatic order acceptance.
- Preparation time β³
It is fundamental that the delivery is done as soon as possible, the user will be satisfied on this point and therefore likely to order again in your restaurant via the platform. If you can't control the logistic part of the delivery, you can reduce the time between the moment you receive the order and the moment the delivery man takes it.
How to optimize your prep time, boost your order acceptance time and reduce your delivery time π΄
Picking, labeling and sorting each order, maintaining a clear pick-up area for delivery, or assigning the role of delivery order manager to a staff member are simple actions that will reduce your preparation time.
A good stock management is a factor not to be neglected. Indeed, it will allow you to save time on a daily basis and to avoid any potential stock shortage in the middle of a service. Tools such as Inpulse or Yokitup can help you in this regard.
Also, consider optimizing the overall layout of your restaurant, starting with the kitchen. If you have several distribution modes (on site, take away, delivery), think about adapting and structuring your space to prepare and package the food in an optimal way. For example, you can dedicate an area for order pick-up, a packaging area for delivery, an area for "on the spot" or "take-out", etc.
As mentioned above, some meal delivery platforms have an automatic order acceptance option. According to a study conducted by Deliveroo, partner restaurants that use this option see an increase in orders and a decrease in order rejection by over 11%.
Customer review and rating βοΈ
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Your rating on the platforms is calculated thanks to the average of the customer reviews. This is the way for the platforms to guarantee the quality of your kitchen. Knowing that your rating is visible in the foreground on the homepage, it is perhaps the most important criterion of all.
π‘ Also remember to take care of your restaurant's record on Google, many customers perform a parallel search on the internet to validate their choice.
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How to get good grades π
Although the quality of your food is the first criterion taken into account, there are small tricks that will allow you to optimize your notes:
- You can include a personalized note or a surprise in the order.
Your customers will be touched and remember you. In addition to making them happy, it is also a good way to build loyalty. For example, add a small product at low cost without warning (a small cake, candy or the surprise of your choice!).
- Remember to ask your customers for feedback by email after delivery.
You can encourage each customer to rate you on Uber Eats or Deliveroo by scheduling an automatic email after each order. If something went wrong, give your email address and invite the customer to write you directly, it will be more personal and will reduce your chances to have a negative review.
- One golden rule: respond to all customer reviews.
And of course, even if some of them are not as positive as you expected, answering everyone will allow you to stay close to your customers and make them feel important. Of course, this takes time, so you might want to write out a dozen responses in advance that you can take and adapt to different scenarios.
A bad experience is significantly mitigated when the customer feels heard and understood. By apologizing and inviting them to repeat the experience, you will most often be able to resolve the situation.
π‘ To put all the chances on your side, offer a discount on the next order. This will allow you to mitigate any dissatisfaction and also create a habit of consumption among the user.
Conversion rate π
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It is simply the number of people who have placed an order after visiting your Uber Eats or Deliveroo page. The best way to optimize your conversion rate is to create desire in the consumer who is on your listing. Here are some of our tips.
Put together your menu with the utmost care and design the perfect menu π§π³
- Limit the choices: don't exceed 20-25 choices. This will help the customer get into your DNA and speed up the sales process.
- Be synthetic: go straight to the point, describe your dishes in a simple and efficient way. Take into account that your customers' time is often limited. You can also play with colors or emojis to guide the customer's choice: green for example for a fresh food, red for a sense of urgency or to attract attention...
- Use the categories adapted to your restaurant: choose a type of category that really corresponds to your restaurant and your map will make sense to the customer. You can choose several categories if they correspond to your restaurant, this will boost your visibility even more. On the other hand, avoid putting a category that does not correspond to your restaurant: this can create frustration among customers and ultimately harm your brand image.
π‘ Using recyclable packaging allows you to appear in the "Recycling" or "Zero Waste" category on Deliveroo and display the "Sustainable Packaging" tag on Uber Eats.
Dazzle with your restaurant's brand image π
- The photo you choose to put forward on the platforms must be chosen with the utmost care: the Internet user will make his or her first assessment at this first glance. You can call on a professional or do it in-house: plan the shooting, take the best angles, think of the right format, the luminosity... Your photos should represent the universe of the brand and give the desire.
π‘ According to a study conducted by Deliveroo, the click-through rate on a menu increases by an average of 6.5% if photos of individual dishes are offered!
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Order volume π
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The more volume you have generated in the past, the more likely you are to generate volume in the future. Uber Eats and Deliveroo naturally highlight restaurants with a consistent history of orders placed on their platform.
One difficulty is that when a new restaurant signs up, it is very difficult to be visible quickly. That's why adopting a smart strategy of promotional offers and sponsored ads will allow you to strongly gain visibility while optimizing your margins. We tell you more at the end of this article.
The direct search π²
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Direct search means that a customer types your restaurant name directly into the Uber Eats and/or Deliveroo search bar. This demonstrates that your restaurant is known and recognized, allowing the platforms to attract new customers.
In this regard, one of the best ways to generate direct search is to stay in the minds of consumers to create a consumption reflex at the time of ordering. To do this, there is nothing like being active on social networks. We know that Millennials (under 35 years old) represent half of the customers of meal delivery platforms. Take advantage of this information and adapt to this clientele.
π‘ The video format is the most effective on the networks: 73% of Internet users prefer to read a video rather than a text or image, according to a study by Weidert Group.
π€« The 2 essentials to get off the ground on Uber Eats and Deliveroo
If the previous tips are fundamental to improve your SEO in the medium term, there are two tips that, with the right strategy, will allow you to immediately boost your visibility on platforms while maximizing your profitability.
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Set up promotional offers π
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In restaurants, as anywhere else, people like to do business. Customers are fond of promotional offers and, with the same criteria, will tend to choose restaurants that offer them. Well aware of this, the platforms logically favor restaurants displaying offers by giving them a visibility boost.
There are different types of promotions possible: percentage discount on the order, percentage discount on a product, product offered from a certain amount, one bought = one offered, discount on the first order ... You have the choice.
Naturally, the implementation of promotional offers represents at first sight a decrease in margin on each order, that is why it is important to set up a smart strategy allowing you to find the best offer at each moment. If used properly, they can make you up to 30% more profitable.
Be at the forefront with sponsored ads π£
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Sponsored ads on Uber Eats and Deliveroo are also a great way to increase your order volume, attract new customers and boost your visibility.
Indeed, just like Google does with Google Ads, the platforms allow you to access favorable locations at the top of visibility on inserts reserved exclusively for restaurants wishing to be highlighted.
How does it work?
β Start by establishing the budget you want to allocate to it.
The budget corresponds to the spending ceiling that a restaurant owner does not want to exceed for the highlighting of his or her outlet over a given period.
β Determine the stake corresponding to the maximum price you are willing to pay for a click on your menu.
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At each user login, the platforms have a certain number of inserts reserved for the "advertising" highlighting of their restaurant partners. For each of these inserts, the algorithm will automatically search for the restaurant that is willing to pay the highest price per click to have it appear. Since there are thousands of connections, this process repeats itself continuously, leaving a multitude of chances for restaurant owners to be featured.
To make it simple, it is therefore in the form of auctions that the promotion of your restaurant is done. The visibility of the restaurant will evolve according to your stake and budget in comparison with those of the competitors in the vicinity.
For example, if a restaurant makes a bid of 0.50β¬ for a budget of 10β¬ and if each click costs 0.50β¬, it will be regularly promoted until it reaches 20 clicks (0.50β¬ x 20 =10β¬).
Of course, easier said than done! A solution like Flynt will help you set up a personalized strategy of promotional offers and sponsored ads allowing you to maximize your visibility on platforms while being profitable. Let's talk about it?
