The current pandemic has led many restaurants to turn to delivery, however food delivery is poised to continue to grow as a proliferation of platforms like UberEats and Grubhub rise. With the increase of online platforms for food delivery grows, so do restaurants that can control overhead. This has created a subsection of the food delivery market operating ghost, virtual, or cloud kitchens. This offers new restauranters the ability to enter the market without having a store front or the overall operational costs of traditional restaurants. Company’s like UberEats and Alphabet (google) are also entering the ghost kitchen market themselves, further driving the overall growth. Virtual delivery only kitchens will drive the future of food delivery.
Virtual Kitchens
Restauranteurs can avoid renting space for dinning areas, waitstaff, and signage by having a virtual kitchen. All that is needed is a kitchen space, and an online presence, on a platform, or direct to consumer. This business model has many advantages over traditional establishments. A traditional restaurant has higher operating costs and increased competition. While virtual kitchens are on equal footing with all other food delivery restaurants, being that they have equal opportunity to entice customers based on their menu offers. Also, for delivery only virtual restaurants can afford the associated fees associated with UberEats and Grubhub, unlike traditional restaurants that utilize them for delivery, without use of their own delivery staff.
Virtual kitchen’s can also exist as a food prep service that will allow chefs to prepackage meals to be delivered and prepared at home. Companies like blue apron that supplies ingredients and recipe meal kits also may benefit by use of virtual kitchens. Allowing companies to capitalize on the virtual kitchen model.
Food Delivery
It is important for both virtual restaurants and traditional restaurants to control costs. However, delivery costs can vary depending on the model you follow. Restaurants that entirely rely on delivery platforms like UberEats and Grubhub for delivery have increased costs verses having their own delivery staff. Virtual restaurants might be able to absorb these costs better than traditional restaurants. However, based on our analysis having your own drivers is a bit better in terms of control and profit.
Having your own delivery staff have several benefits, over sole reliance on third party delivery. One benefit is control over the service, relying on third party delivery services, you are relying on non-employees. You virtually have to bear the brunt of any customer satisfaction issues related to their performance. A bad delivery experience could result in a negative review of your restaurant. Costs of hiring your own delivery drivers can be offset by charging delivery fees, the same fees third-party platforms charge customers in most cases.
beepDelivery for Ghost, Virtual, and Traditional Restaurants
beepDelivery provides the flexibility to use both third-party platforms while using your own drivers. It offers the ability to track drivers in real-time, take phone and online orders, and effectively manage delivery drivers. Having your own delivery staff provides you with additional control over the quality of your service. When using gig drivers, you are left with relying on drivers that do not represent your company’s best interest or commitment to quality of service. You want your customers to have hot food that is quickly and reliably delivered. Our system is free to adopt and implement. The only cost is a mere $1 per order while using our system, and this cost can be offset by setting your own delivery fee to your orders, essentially making our system free. For a limited time, we are offering a free trial and zero upfront fees or costs to restaurants.
