Delivering the Bottom Line: Evaluating the Pros and Cons of DoorDash and Uber Eats for Your Restaurant

Your restaurant is booming, business is better than ever, and the food-delivery competition is heating up. If you’re looking for a way to decide whether to go with DoorDash or Uber Eats, this post may be what you’re looking for. We’ll review the doordash dataset and uber eats data extractor with some critical information about both services and let you decide which option makes more sense for your restaurant without completely breaking the bank.

Customer Demand for Meal Delivery Keeps Rising

There are a lot of reasons for that. A major one is the convenience factor. According to the National Restaurant Association (and by extension, Eater), 85 percent of consumers want to be able to order food online or over the phone and have it delivered in 30 minutes or less. That’s ahead of even fast-casual restaurants, where 72 percent desire that same service and only 29 percent on-premises delivery from an actual restaurant (meaning from a counter inside your establishment).

That level of demand has helped anchor DoorDash and Uber Eats in their respective positions as the market leaders in this space and given them significant scale pressures as they look to take on new users and accomplish more with less capital.

Advantages of Using DoorDash or Uber Eats for Your Restaurant:

Besides the convenience factor for customers, your restaurant’s primary benefit is the additional revenue stream. In a market where margins are slimmer and slimmer, it’s worth considering if you can offer delivery at all or expand your delivery hours beyond just lunch and dinner.

1. It’s a marketing boon

Both DoorDash and Uber Eats provide a way to get your brand in front of your target audience. Your customers love your food, but they also want it now. DoorDash and Uber Eats allow them to satisfy that demand without leaving their home or office and save time and money by ordering what can be delivered through an automated process. This post cites that these companies have built strong brand identities that grow as more consumers use their services.

For example: If you offer breakfast (a tricky meal for delivery), consider offering both yourself and DoorDash or Uber Eats as the delivery option on top of your standard menu offerings during the day. Getting delivery for breakfast has the potential to draw in new customers and encourage repeat visits.

2. They’ve Got Your Back

You’re going to be providing food for a lot of hungry mouths. The burden of producing, delivering, and clearing all that food can be difficult, especially when there’s so much competition from online marketplaces. DoorDash and Uber Eats understand the scale challenges of their respective markets, so they have both direct and indirect ways of helping you out. They ensure that your food is delivered when it’s supposed to be. They allow you to manage your orders and routes online. And they’ll even schedule deliveries on your behalf.

3. They’ll Boost Your Bottom Line.

Both DoorDash and Uber Eats offer pay-per-order and subscription options. You can provide your food at a standard price or increase it slightly to take advantage of the additional user traffic provided by online services. Suppose your service is listed as the primary option on your restaurant’s DoorDash or Uber Eats pages. That can be an effective strategy for getting more customers to order in the first place, but it also won’t prevent customers from collecting from you directly.

4. They Pay You Quickly

It pays off for DoorDash, and Uber Eats when you can profit from delivery orders. They both require a minimum order amount, and you don’t have to worry about customers ordering items repeatedly without paying. Either service will make sure that the orders you receive are cleared correctly.

5. They’ll Help You Grow Your Window of Opportunity for Branded Placement

DoorDash and Uber Eats have branded delivery options that can be easily incorporated into your marketing efforts. If they can get your food directly in front of consumers, they’re more likely to keep returning to your restaurant repeatedly, which will help you pick up new business. And, the more company that you do, the more doors you’ll be able to open for your branding efforts.

Strategies for Maximizing Benefits of Using DoorDash or Uber Eats

Uber Eats or DoorDash might be tempting when looking at ways to grow your customer base and increase profitability. But it’s important to remember that these companies can develop long-term partnerships with you. If they work out, they can move on to the next restaurant willing to offer its product or services online.

To maximize your benefits:

Be clear about exactly why you want a relationship with these companies and what you hope to accomplish by aligning with them. You know what they do, but there needs to be a guarantee that their delivery services will best fit your existing business model. They might change the way you operate, or they may leave you alone. You need to be sure that any benefits you hope to achieve from them will work, or else you might waste your time and money.

Be open and clear about the terms of service. What’s your policy on canceling services? What do both companies expect of their customers? When you mention these topics in initial meetings, you’ll better understand what they’re looking for and what they think is essential to do with your business.

Bring people in early to help build a relationship with both companies’ teams so that you can re-evaluate once things start working out for either party.

Be patient. These are new businesses, so changes are bound to happen over time. It’s likely to take a while before you see any direct benefits from working with either company. Still, you will only lose out if your relationship starts initially and then wanes later on as the companies figure out the best way to provide their services and adjust their offerings to your individual needs.

Plan content around customer needs unique to both companies and make it easy for customers to access during their order process to get what they want immediately and conveniently on their way home or work.

Are these platforms worth it for your Restaurant business?

How you leverage these platforms depends on a variety of factors. The main questions to ask are:

1. What are you getting when you sign up with DoorDash or Uber Eats?

Are they providing the majority of your business now? If they’re not, consider whether they’ll help share the profits with you or have a financial incentive to bring in new customers through your restaurant’s doors instead. Will working with them be worth it if you won’t be able to make ends meet by doing things the way you did before?

2. How much money do you stand to earn?

There’s a real opportunity to pick up new customers. But it will be challenging for you. Your time and resources are valuable, particularly if you have other obligations outside your restaurant. So, if DoorDash or Uber Eats costs more than they’re worth in the long run, you could lose money in the long term. Think about how much additional business you’ll need from these services to offset your actual expenses and whether those profits can justify a potential loss in brand loyalty or unhappy patrons who are willing to switch away from delivery services that don’t prove profitable for them over time.

3. What is your restaurant offering?

Are you in a position where your food is easily customizable? If not, then DoorDash or Uber Eats may not be an effective strategy for you. Consider getting into a partnership with a food-centric app with more limited options but can custom configure orders directly in front of customers. They’ll be able to deliver the items you need without paying as much of your current menu price as they will by using DoorDash or Uber Eats.

Conclusion

DoorDash and Uber Eats are valuable tools for restaurants looking to expand their customer base. If you’re trying to figure out whether these services will benefit your Restaurant business, carefully consider the costs and benefits for your business as a whole before partnering with one of these companies.

If you’re looking for an easy way to access new customers from the comfort of your Restaurant, you might want to partner with an existing food-centric app provider instead. They can help you customize orders directly from your menu so guests don’t have to make changes or wait for delivery during the order process.