Offering delivery is a great way for restaurants to increase sales. However, without a good delivery point of sale solution, it’s impossible to reap the full benefits of providing such a service. What’s more, there are some features a delivery point of sale solution must include if it’s to fulfill its potential for upping the sales ante, including:
1. Comprehensive customer management database.
It’s no secret that cultivating repeat business is the best way for foodservice operators to up their sales ante. A comprehensive customer management database component of a delivery point of sale solution goes far towards ensuring that customers keep coming back to your establishment(s) again and again. How? For starters, maintaining customers’ contact information in the delivery point of sale software makes the ordering process more convenient for customers; they need only give an employee their name or telephone number in order for that person to access their address. Confirming the address takes just a second—and it’s more accurate than forcing staff to record a delivery address each time a customer calls in an order.
With a comprehensive customer database feature as part of your delivery point of sale solution, you can also store notes about individual customers—including their preferences (e.g., “send extra plastic forks” or “cut pizza into 10 slices, not eight”) and dislikes (e.g., particular drivers). Acting on this information demonstrates that you care about your customers, increasing the likelihood that they’ll order from your restaurant(s) often. Similarly, you can run many types of reports to access actionable information that can then be used to formulate initiatives aimed at upping the sales ante. For example, a look at the customer management database lets you determine which customers ordered which items and with what frequency. Once you have this information in hand, you’ll be able to devise more targeted promotions and rewards offers, such as free or discounted food for placing a certain number of orders.
Additionally, the ability to track customers in your delivery point of sale solution means you can allow patrons to maintain accounts with your restaurant(s) and make payments on a monthly basis. This is a great way to attract a lucrative base of business customers.
2. Delivery mapping and driving directions.
No matter how high the quality of your restaurant’s fare, customers won’t order again unless their food is delivered promptly. A delivery mapping feature hastens orders’ path to patrons’ doors by assigning deliveries to individual drivers in specific geographic areas. A delivery point of sale component that allows employees to effortlessly obtain detailed delivery instructions and directions to order destinations also enhances service efficiencies and in turn, customer satisfaction.
3. Ability to flag overdue deliveries and late drivers.
As stated above, customers will be far less inclined to patronize your establishment(s) if they must wait longer than promised to receive their orders. Your delivery point of sale solution should minimize these occurrences by automatically flagging overdue deliveries and late drivers so you can address the problem immediately rather than wasting precious minutes before doing so. Using this solution, you’ll also be able to more accurately assess drivers’ performance in preparation for performance reviews.
4. Seamless integration with other restaurant solutions.
Your delivery point of sale solution should be configured to allow seamless integration with your in-house point of sale system, so as to give you a unified view of—and more control over—your establishment. Seamless integration with other systems, such as online ordering and inventory management, is also essential to maintain tight control over every facet of your operation.
