More and more big names are entering the restaurant delivery market. Here’s how your RDS can stay ahead of them.
Amazon has found its way into yet another segment of our lives: Restaurant delivery. The e-commerce giant recently announced a new partnership with GrubHub, one of the biggest names in the RDS world. One key benefit of the deal: Free restaurant delivery for Amazon Prime members.
Given the extent of Amazon’s reach—over 76 million American households have Prime memberships—this can be daunting for smaller RDS owners. But this new partnership is not necessarily a threat to your RDS. With a little strategy and some preemptive moves, you can stay ahead of Amazon and stay in business.
Here are three tactics to consider:
Secure exclusive partnerships with local restaurants.
The best defense is a good offense. You may get ahead of Amazon and GrubHub by setting up exclusivity agreements with your restaurant clients.
Talk to your clients and ask them what they’d need from you in order to agree to an exclusive partnership. Sometimes, their requests may not be workable. But some may be happy to shake hands on an exclusive deal on just a few reasonable conditions.
Make a list of exclusivity benefits you can offer, such as:
- A small discount on commission.
- Extra marketing support via your newsletter, website, and social media platforms.
- Preferential treatment for your customers.
If you can lock in exclusive partnerships, it’ll be much harder for the big guys to poach your clients.
Can Your RDS Compete with Amazon? Treat your workers well.
Amazon has fallen under intense media scrutiny for poor working conditions and poor treatment of employees. And while GrubHub has a better reputation than some of its competitors, their reputation as an employer is not pristine.
More and more, people are paying attention to how companies treat their workers—and adjusting their patronage accordingly. This is a tough pill to swallow for businesses that rely on paying rock-bottom wages to remain profitable.
There are two enormous benefits to treating your workers well:
- It’s great for your reputation. If given the choice, many people will opt for the business that takes good care of its employees.
- It’s great for hiring and retaining employees. If you can offer better pay and benefits, no one will hesitate to choose you over the competition.
We published an article last year about how to hire great workers—even during a labor shortage.
Offer excellent service consistently.
This may seem like a straightforward decision. Why wouldn’t a service-based business put all their energy into offering excellent service? After all, 96% of people say that poor customer service will drive them away from a business.
But excellent customer service can be tough to come by. Even a giant like Amazon struggles with delivering a consistently positive customer experience. The company saw a massive spike in negative reviews and customer complaints in recent years.
So, the best strategy for your RDS is to prioritize excellent service. That means on-time deliveries, easy communication with drivers and restaurants, and correct orders. People will learn quickly that they can trust you to do your job well and meet their needs every time.
Of course, that level of perfection can seem daunting to achieve. And to get there you need a top-tier software system designed specifically for restaurant delivery.
DataDreamers is outfitted with all the features you need to keep your customers happy and stay ahead of the competition. From our industry-leading communications dashboard to easy customization tools for restaurants, we’ve thought of everything.
Can Your RDS Compete with Amazon? Talk to a member of our team and schedule a demo >