Delivery has become a core component of most restaurants' business models, garnering a steady stream of revenue on top of dine-in and takeout sales and allowing them to reach a wider array of customers.
Whether you're a brand new venture or a longstanding local favorite, incorporating delivery service into your operations is a great way to grow sales, reach, and profitability — bringing value to your guests, your brand, and your bottom line.
The top benefits of online ordering for restaurants
Using online food delivery can unlock numerous advantages for restaurants, helping businesses save money, reduce operational hurdles, and generate revenue.
1. Increase top-line sales to improve profitability
Frankie DiCarlantonio, director of Scaffidi Restaurant Group, discovered firsthand the power of delivery in driving incremental sales when his business partnered with DoorDash. "It's not replacing your sales, it's truly adding more sales to your operations," he says.
Restaurant operators can use their existing operations to fulfill delivery orders, so costs like rent, labor, and ingredients are already fixed.That's why partnering with a third-party delivery service can help drive top-line sales. In the case of DoorDash, there are also built-in features to boost ticket sizes on online orders, such as add-on recommendations for sides, desserts, and beverages at checkout.
"Without a doubt there is absolutely more revenue. Without DoorDash we wouldn't have those additional orders. We make money on DoorDash. Not as much as dine-in, but we wouldn't do delivery if it wasn't working."
2. Expand your online presence to attract more customers
When you partner with a third-party food delivery partner like DoorDash, your business is showcased to local customers searching for restaurants near them. They can discover your restaurant, browse your menu, and place orders all from the DoorDash app. By partnering with DoorDash, the advantages of an online food ordering system include boosting online visibility and SEO, while retaining control over your branding, menu, and imagery on the delivery app.
3. Streamline delivery operations for efficiency and accuracy
Customers expect their e-commerce shopping to be an easy and efficient experience, and they have the same expectations for restaurant food delivery. Food delivery apps take care of all of the online ordering and logistics so you can continue doing what you do best — making quality food that people will continue to order again and again.
"We can't focus on making the best pizza if we're worrying about how to get it to someone's house."
4. Boost customer loyalty with promotions and special offers
When you add online delivery to your restaurant, it opens new opportunities to entice customers with discounts or promotions. This can be a huge differentiator. According to the 2024 Restaurant Online Ordering Trends report, 42% of consumers say promotions or discounts influence them to try a new restaurant for delivery or takeout.
On DoorDash, promotions can be deployed in a number of ways. Offers such as "First Order, $0 Delivery Fee" can incentivize first-time customers, while discounts can drive repeat orders. You also have the option of activating DashPass, which is an online subscription for DoorDash users, to get access to high-value customers who tend to order more frequently.
To increase order value, Steuben's launched a DoorDash promotion to offer customers a discount once they hit a minimum spend. The campaign increased average order value by 13%, grew new customers by 6%, generated a 32% reorder rate, and reported a 9X return on ad spend (ROAS).
5. Enable menu optimization with real-time data and insights
Turn on an online ordering platform and you gain all the benefits of running a digital business — complete with analytics and sales data to parse customer trends and preferences. With these insights, you can adjust your menu and business strategy accordingly.
For this purpose, delivery menu analysis can help your restaurant identify top-performing menu items, and then tailor your offerings to your customer base. The DoorDash Merchant Portal also provides a suite of backend tools to help you track business performance and get valuable customer analytics.
"DoorDash is like having a whole team on-demand. Between customer support, the Merchant Portal, drivers, and other tools, it's like adding ten people to your staff for just the price of commission."
6. Control costs and simplify delivery logistics
Khan Nguyen, founder and CEO of Zalat Pizza, has seen huge success with his pickup- and delivery-only pizzeria. Initially, Nguyen managed deliveries in-house — but found that hiring his own fleet of drivers was detracting from his profits. "Paying for 10 drivers was like paying for a whole kitchen staff," he says. "Then, if all 10 drivers were out making deliveries, when more orders came in, either someone from the staff had to go out in their own car or we had to remake the pizza."
With third-party delivery through DoorDash, he was able to solve this problem. "The advantages of third-party delivery are obvious," says Nguyen. "We avoid headaches and can have capacity for lots of drivers depending on the volume of orders." The platform now accounts for 21% of Zalat's overall sales, and their DoorDash sales nearly doubled from 2022 to 2023.
7. Reach new customers beyond your neighborhood
Online delivery can enable your business to serve new customers well beyond your local area. By leveraging delivery platforms, you can broaden your customer base and access markets that extend far past the limits of local foot traffic.
"DoorDash is very unique in that it has its own marketing and ability to reach customers that quite frankly we wouldn't have been able to reach. So DoorDash has given us the ability to expand and have customers really experience us where we wouldn't have been able to before."
Why food delivery service is important
From these advantages, it's obvious why using online food delivery is a smart financial and operational move for your restaurant. But it's just as important to remember the difference it makes for the customers who support your business.
Offer convenience to customers who prefer online ordering
When it comes to convenience, the benefits of food delivery stand out — 51% of respondents cited third-party delivery apps as their go-to ordering method in the 2024 Restaurant Online Ordering Trends report. They also said that ease of use and convenience were their main reasons for choosing third-party delivery apps in the first place.
Capture a wider market and appeal to younger consumers
More people are choosing online food delivery than ever before, but this trend is especially prevalent among younger generations. Millennials and Gen Z are the most likely groups to be using third-party delivery apps, according to the same report.
Exceed customer expectations with a seamless experience
Consumers today are looking for personalized experiences. With DoorDash, you can add customization options to your menu so that customers can adjust their orders online. Simple modification options such as "no sauce" or "add chicken," enable customers to order their meal just the way they want it, making it more likely that they'll order it again. DoorDash also allows them to track their delivery order in real time so they know exactly when their meal will arrive.
The competitive advantages of DoorDash
While third-party delivery apps are a valuable addition to any restaurant business, DoorDash stands out. As the #1 leader in category share for US food delivery, DoorDash has over 32 million monthly active consumers — more than any other platform — and reaches an estimated 94% of the US population (based on adult populations for zip codes where a delivery was made). 87% of DoorDash merchant partners recommend it as a way to increase sales volume or revenue.
For Santini's, DoorDash accounts for 32% of overall sales and helps improve their profitability. "The volume has to go up to offset the cost of delivery — and that's been happening," says its president, Bob Lesando. "Our DoorDash sales have been growing 5-10% each year."
Growing profits is a top priority for restaurants, and that's what DoorDash achieves by helping to increase incremental revenue. That's why Sven Vogtland, co-founder of Coyo Taco, sees DoorDash as a key part of his business strategy. "I think that delivery is the future, and streamlining it is going to be beneficial for stores," he says.
"It increases our top-line revenue. It brings in new and repeat customers who don't want to travel to our locations. In some stores DoorDash is 35-40% of our total revenue for that store. That means we have 40% more sales in some stores because of DoorDash."
After activating your DoorDash account, you'll be able to easily manage your third-party delivery with the Merchant Portal, an online tool that helps DoorDash partners analyze business performance and track payments, as well as update important business details. With an Insights Hub featuring three primary pillars — Operations Quality, Menu Performance, and Customer Feedback — you can evaluate order accuracy and customer ratings, adjust your menu for optimization, and manage and respond to customer reviews.
Another DoorDash advantage? You can integrate DoorDash with your point of sale system, so that you can automatically send orders from DoorDash directly to your register or kitchen.
"The big advantage of DoorDash is they're reliable, they're fast, there's always a driver available, and the drivers are very considerate of my team which is extremely important. And if we have an issue, we have access to someone at DoorDash who can take care of the problem for us."
There are many more advantages to partnering with DoorDash, from 24/7 phone and chat support to order management tools that allow you to easily adjust menu offerings. See how listing your restaurant on DoorDash can help create new opportunities for your business.
