The popularity of ordering on delivery or pickup has significantly increased and this appears to be directly related to the Covid pandemic. The food delivery apps business has doubled with a $3 billion increase in sales. Forcing restaurants to quickly adapt to this new trend and seeks out means of improving their delivery and pick-up menus.

Strengthening pickup and delivery options will likely not be a temporary measure for most restaurants. It is predicted that diners will continue to opt for delivery and takeout even after the pandemic dies down, owing to its convenience and flexibility. Therefore, if by some miracle you go through the pandemic without an optimized menu, you may want to reconsider your decision cos this trend is here to stay.

Why can't you offer your on-premise menu to your pickup and delivery customers?

If you are now considering giving that extra push towards maximizing your pickup and delivery revenue, you may assume you can just offer your on-premise menu to off-premise customers. However, this may soon prove to hinder the quality of food service and customer satisfaction. Here are a few reasons why you may need to optimize your menu for pickup and delivery.

Transportability

Your restaurant is likely used to serving food that's straight out of the kitchen and onto the table. It is also likely that your chef conceptualized this food with the intent that it was to be consumed immediately. Therefore, the dishes listed on your existing menu may not have been incorporated with transportability in mind.

Think about it, your food now goes out of the kitchen and into plastic or styrofoam takeout boxes, which are then stacked into bags and transported to your customer - it's likely to go on a long and hard journey - over bumpy roads, in the blazing heat or biting cold, possibly taking up to an hour to arrive at its destination, these factors can all result in a subpar eating experience. The food could be soggy, messy, or cold, none of which are pleasing to the eye or stomach.

Here are a few items that won't travel well and that you should consider taking off your takeout menu;

• Temperature-sensitive foods such as ice cream

• Meals served with intricate garnishes

• Drinks that are easily perishable or made with ice

Presentation

In an on-premise setting, you have the utmost control over how a dish is served to your guest. What color plates you use, the refinement of the cutlery, added garnishes, and - all to ensure it looks as good as it tastes.

However, with pickup or delivery, you lose control over these factors the second the dish leaves your restaurant. Now imagine the food on your existing menu being served in a takeout format - would it look as great or would it be significantly less appealing? Also considers what it would look like after traveling for an hour in an enclosed takeout box an hour - will your guests look forward to the meal?

Order Support

When dining in at your restaurant, guests have the benefit of added support from your hosts or servers who can help them decide what to order. However, off-premise dining does not offer this extravagance.

Your existing menu likely does not have the information needed for an off-premise customer to make an informed decision on what to order. It may be missing photos of your dishes that can increase conversions by 25%, intriguing product descriptions that can trigger an increase in buying decisions by 45%, product variations, and add-on availabilities.

To create an effective takeout menu that drives higher check sizes and an enhanced user experience, you'll need to provide a completely self-service interface that allows customers to place orders quickly and decide on whether they prefer delivery, pickup, cash on delivery, or online payments.

Considering adding family-style options to your menu

A simple strategy to increase sales is to add value-added meals to your menu. An effective way to go about this is to introduce family-style meals to your takeout menu.

Allow customers to build their own meals, provide the base item, for example, steamed rice, and then allow guests to choose from a variety of add-one such as fried chicken, grilled fish, baked veggies, and more. This level of customization to a meal can deliver an enhanced customer journey and increase revisits.

Another option would be to conceptualize meal packages, for example, Meal A would consist of fried rice, sizzling chicken, a gravy bucket, and steamed beans, while Meal B would comprise Singapore noodles, baked fish, and potato wedges. This initiative can help you plan out our service and better prepare for orders - helping you reduce costs and wastage.

Give premium real estate on your menu to high-value items

Apply the principles of menu engineering

 to your delivery and pickup menu. Identify your top sellers that have a large profit margin - these do not have to be the costliest item, rather they should be the most profitable.

It is usually the first and second things on your menu list that are the most popular, therefore place your star menu items here and try to make them stand out - include pictures, place an asterisk, and box out the product descriptions.

Adapt your takeout menu with a contact-free dining experience

Provide guests with a contactless delivery and pickup experience with a user-friendly and interactive digital menu and QR code.

Share your digital menu and online ordering store across your social media pages and on your website so thousands of potential customers can easily browse your menu, place orders ahead, and pay for them via cash on delivery or online payment. Providing a mobile-optimized digital menu will prove to be more effective in comparison to a cumbersome PDF menu that will need to be downloaded and cannot support online ordering.

Applova's digital menu allows you to create, customize and update your digital menu in minutes. Customize your branding to reflect your restaurant tone and style, swap backgrounds, select color themes, and even upload your logo.

Entice your customers with a well-engineered QR Menu and Online Ordering Store to bolster sales turnover, increase customer engagement and go next-level digital!

Let in-dining and takeout customers place orders, select add-ons and pay for their meals with ease. Set up an online store for a low 5% service fee per customer order.

Check out a sample menu here and sign up now!