Click & Collect or delivery – which service is best for your restaurant?
Click & Collect or delivery (self-managed or through a platform)? Sometimes it's difficult to make up your mind and to know which channel you should prioritise when you don't have the resources to launch both at once.
Takeaway, Click & Collect, delivery: the differences.
Takeaway: the customer orders and pays at the restaurant, and leaves with their food.
Click & Collect: the customer orders and pays online, and picks up their order at the restaurant.
Delivery: the customer orders and pays online, and their order is delivered to them.
What are the advantages and disadvantages of these solutions? Should you choose delivery or Click & Collect? How do you set them up for your restaurant?
In this article, we explain the difference between home delivery and Click & Collect, and analyse the advantages and disadvantages of each option.
1. Click & Collect – a way of staying in touch with local customers.
Why choose Click & Collect?
Click & Collect is an essential alternative for staying in touch with your customers while digitalising your customer base.
The advantages of Click & Collect:
Create a customer database
Increase the average receipt*
Saves time for the restaurant owner (simplify payments and orders)
Better customer experience (no waiting in front of the restaurant)
Customer loyalty
Savings for the restaurant owner (no commission charged with most solutions)
No delivery fee for the customer (they come to you)
Fast, secure transactions
Possibility of highlighting promotional offers
The challenges of Click & Collect:
Limited to your location: while a customer will accept a longer delivery time if they are waiting at home or in the office, they are less likely to travel to your restaurant if it's too far away.
The restaurant owner will need to communicate widely to make people aware of their Click & Collect service.
*According to a study by the NPD group, online orders are 23% larger than those made in restaurants.
2. Home delivery: the solution for extending your customer base.
Why choose delivery?
Starting a delivery service improves your range by letting you reach customers who live far away from your restaurant.
The advantages of delivery via a platform (Uber Eats, Deliveroo, Glovo):
Reach new customers
Increased sales volume (and, therefore, turnover)
All the logistics, operational management and customer acquisition (and a lot more) is taken care of by the platform – all you need to do is prepare the food.
The disadvantages of delivery via a platform (Uber Eats, Deliveroo, Glovo):
In addition to activation fees, platforms take a considerable commission (20%-40%)
You don't have access to customer files
A lot of competition due to the popularity of food delivery platforms (Uber Eats, Deliveroo, Glovo etc.)
The advantages of delivery using your own service:
Reach new customers
Increased sales volume (and, therefore, turnover)
You're free to choose delivery times, delivery area and promotions. You manage relations with delivery drivers/couriers yourself.
Challenges of delivering orders yourself
Setting up a delivery service requires a sizeable budget (couriers, vehicles, training, communication on the new service etc.)
Operational management is likely to take up time: will your payment system be integrated to your restaurant's website? Do you have a tracking platform so the customer can track the courier's location?
Without using a popular delivery platform, it's often difficult to find a reliable delivery provider who can provide good, punctual service.
3. Should I choose Click & Collect or home delivery when starting to sell online?
It all depends on what you're looking for. Increasing sales as fast as possible? Having access to your own customer database?
A lot of restaurants envisage using delivery platforms and Click & Collect simultaneously:
Firstly, delivery as a way of acquiring new customers by significantly increasing customer reach.
And then pulling these new customers in to Click & Collect (by putting flyers in delivery bags), giving them control of the customer database.
It's clear that neither service is better than the other, they can even be complementary. It's up to you to choose the option that best corresponds to your business.
