How to start home delivery delivery of own or third party delivery

No matter what you call it: Delivery or home delivery, the important thing is to know that it is one of the great allies of your restaurant in the current situation.

At the beginning of the pandemic that has been raging since 2020, delivery has been a life jacket for many gastronomic businesses.

For this reason, home delivery has established itself as a trend among restaurants, of all types and for varying lengths of time.

Would you like to incorporate a delivery service in your restaurant? Would you like to have your own home delivery service? Would you like to try your luck with an outsourced service?

Read on, we offer you the details you need to know so that you can include delivery in your restaurant and offer a quality service, like the one your customer deserves.

Steps to offer your own delivery service

This is the steepest way to the top.

However, it is the path where you will have full control of the process.

Before making a decision, we advise you to analyse each of the options and choose the one that offers you the most benefits.

For home delivery, with your own service, you will need at least one vehicle and a driver.

In addition, to be able to carry out home delivery, you will need:

• Take-away containers: This is the most important element after the vehicle, for obvious reasons. Select take away packaging to ensure that your food arrives intact at the destination.
• Website or app: Your customers will want to see what you have to offer, they won’t want to order the same thing every time. The best option is to use social media, a website and a mobile app. This is basic.
• Online payment: There is a world of options for your customers to pay for their orders online. Select the platforms that best suit your target customer and you will have no obstacle for them to complete their purchase.
• Closed container: To ensure that the food arrives intact and hot at its destination, you need a closed container where the food is moved from your restaurant to the delivery address.
• Protection: It is your responsibility to ensure that you provide all biosecurity measures for your workers and customers. Hydroalcoholic gel, gloves, masks and hats are some of the products you need to consider.

Home delivery with outsourced service

In our country, you have many options to outsource your delivery service.

Home delivery service companies have some advantages that you can use to your advantage. It is a wind at your back that you can use to move faster during the first steps of your home delivery.

For example, they have social media accounts with advanced marketing campaigns, a well-positioned website, a mobile app with many downloads, in short, a digital ecosystem that will benefit you just by having a presence.

How does this work?

People log into the company’s mobile app or website, from there they order and pay for their order. You will receive a notification for the preparation of the order.

According to the time indicated by you, a delivery driver from the company will come to your restaurant, pick up the order and deliver it to your home.

To join any of these platforms, you only need to register your restaurant on the platform that offers you the best benefits. If applicable, the company will charge you a set-up fee.

In addition to the set-up fee charged by some delivery companies, you should also take into account the commissions you will be charged for the use of their services.

In the following table, you will find the most relevant data of the companies with the largest presence in the country:

	Entry fee	Commission	Payment on platform	Secure delivery
Just Eat	N/A	30% + VAT	x	x
Uber Eats	N/A	30% + VAT + 0,2€ 0,2	x	x
Deliveroo	324 + VAT	35% + VAT	x	x
Glovo	150 € + VAT	40% + VAT	x	x

These costs are for reference only.

If you are interested more about the Uber Eats Spain commission, how much Glovo charges to restaurants or any other company, you should know that the payment scheme will depend on the negotiation you make with the selected company.

How to register my restaurant on an app?

Although the steps for each company may have slight changes, in general, the steps for registering a restaurant in a delivery app are as follows:

Initial communication

The first step is to communicate with the application and let them know you intend to join their service.

In a short time, you will receive the information you need to successfully start and complete the process.

This first meeting can be done in person, at the company’s offices, or through the e-mails indicated on the corresponding web page.

Evaluation of your proposal

Once you have completed the first step, you will have to register on the platform.

Your proposal will be analysed by the admission officers and, depending on the time indicated by the company, they will respond to your application for membership.

Please note that at this point it is very likely that they will ask for additional information about your restaurant. It is important that you have all documentation in order.

Provide information

After the registration is received, it is time to upload the information to the application.

This is the moment you’ve been waiting for. Upload the menu you are going to sell through the application.

It’s important that you provide as much information as possible, so you can make sure your diners know what they’ll be getting in their order.

How is the commission distributed?

Does the commission seem higher than you thought?

We explain how the commission is distributed, so that you understand where the money you will be charged by the home delivery companies is going.

Firstly, part of the commission is spent on the maintenance of the app. This ensures that they offer a high availability service and minimise failures.

Continuing at the application level, a percentage is also allocated to the positioning of the app in the market. This includes advertising in the physical and digital media that the company deems necessary.

Another large part of the commission goes to pay the salaries of the delivery staff. This includes personnel management costs. Something that – as you well know – must be taken care of as much as possible.

It is important to know that the commission does not include payments for promotions, offers or special discounts that you publish in the app.

All these costs will be on your account.

However, don’t forget that you will be in the same app as your competition. So, you must have a well-defined strategy to win the preference of the diners.

Secure delivery Is it necessary in delivery?

In the midst of the so-called new reality, it is necessary to have a secure delivery protocol, which is part of the responsibility you have to your employees and customers.

The first thing you need to take into account is that orders must be double-packed on the outside.

The first bag will be in contact with your workers, the delivery person and the environment. On arrival at your customer’s home, the worker removes that wrapping and leaves a bag that will only be in contact with your customer.

Want a step-by-step of this new system? I’ll tell you all about it:

• Upon arrival at the delivery address, the delivery person calls your customer by telephone or contact.
• He places the order in a special space and leaves at a safe distance.
• In case of on-site payment, everything will be ready for the user to make their payment. It is suggested to set up the point of sale in contacless.
• The customer pays for the order, picks up the food and goes home.
• After closing the door, the delivery person removes the leftover bag and returns to your operation.

In-house or outsourced, what are the advantages and disadvantages?

Undoubtedly, each of the modalities offer you specific benefits. You will just have to sit down, analyse each proposal and select the one that best suits your business.

Here is a comparative table of the main benefits of each model.

Outsourced delivery	In-house delivery
Captive audience, mass demand generated	No customer database
Have delivery vehicle	You require a delivery vehicle
Decrease your revenue per order	Full profit
Personnel management is your responsibility	People management is your responsibility
You have a platform and payment system	You require platform and payment system
Total lack of control of the service	You decide everything about the delivery
Reputation of the app impacts your business	Reputation depends 100% on your service

Packaging for safe food delivery

The safety of your food and employees is fundamental to offering a home delivery service in times of Covid-19.

We invite you to visit Monouso, a site specialising in the sale of products for businesses linked to gastronomy: hotels, restaurants and catering.

In one place, you will find the packaging for your food, home delivery bags, glasses, cutlery, napkins and any other product to consume your food without any inconvenience.

But we focus only on your customer service, we also have the products you need for your work team.

Chef’s hats, aprons, gloves, masks, aprons and any other safety and hygiene equipment you need in your business.

Go to the shop and discover everything we have to make running your business easier.