Guide to No-Contact Restaurant Pickup and Delivery

COVID-19 has made us all more familiar with the term “no-contact”. But what exactly does no-contact pickup and delivery mean for restaurants?

In a nutshell, no-contact or contactless delivery means a driver drops off a food order with no customer contact (usually by leaving the order on the customer’s doorstep to avoid exchanging the food order directly). The customer is then notified by phone or text that their order has arrived. For takeout, no contact typically means customers prepay for their food and pick up the food order from a designated spot at the restaurant.

In this guide to no-contact restaurant pickup and delivery services, we explain (i) why your restaurant should offer no-contact delivery and takeout and (ii) tips for implementing contactless services. If you’re looking for new ways to drum up business through delivery and takeout, this guide is for you!

Why Offer No-Contact Delivery?

The rise of the COVID-19 has made no-contact food services more important than ever. Certain illnesses spread primarily through person-to-person transmission. Going contactless helps restaurants and its customers remain safe. Recent polls indicate that 58% of Americans are still uncomfortable going out to eat, which means restaurants need to offer some sort of contactless service to retain their customers.

In response to the pandemic, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends certain considerations for restaurants and bars. The CDC’s recommendations include social distancing of at least 6 feet to protect diners and staff. Expanding safe takeout options also allows restaurants to serve a higher number of people while maintaining proper social distancing practices with dine-in customers. Restaurants around the world have implemented no-contact delivery using the below seven (7) strategies to capture these healthy and safety benefits.

7 No-Contact Pickup and Delivery Strategies

Check out these seven ways to offer contactless pickup and delivery as your restaurant considers no-contact services:

1. Optimize Your Menu

Many food items are not optimized for delivery. Consider creating a separate menu for delivery and takeout services. Choose foods that won’t spill or spoil during transport. Dishes that don’t require any hand assembly after being cooked are also optimal for a no-contact menu.

With a more focused delivery and takeout menu, you can ensure your customers’ orders will always arrive in peak condition. A smaller menu may also help your staff completely orders more quickly and result in an increased number of daily no-contact deliveries.

2. Prioritize Your Packaging

The right product packaging helps your delivery services shine. Make sure your restaurant uses sturdy containers that prevent food from shifting during transport while keeping the food items at the desired temperature. The right packaging can help you deliver food in its freshest form and recreate the dine-in restaurant experience.

Packaging is a great opportunity to offer customers peace of mind about your restaurant’s sanitary practices. Using tamper-free packaging stickers signals to your customers that their order was prepared safely and no one touched it after it the order was completed. As a bonus, you can brand the packaging stickers for your restaurant.

3. Advertise No-Contact Options

With health and sanitary routinely in the news, consumers actively search for no-contact dining options. Advertise your restaurant’s no-contact options by posting your contactless services on your website and social media accounts. Email updates to those signed up for your restaurant’s mailing list also helps spread the word.

Make sure you let customers know the measures your restaurant takes to practice safe food handling and proper social distancing. Provide an overview of your no-contact strategies to customers and the efforts you take to ensure their health and safety.

4. Train Your Staff

Properly train your staff on new procedures when implementing contactless pickup and delivery strategies. Make sure your entire staff is aware of new health safety standards and best practices to conform to CDC guidelines applicable to restaurants and bars. If you use native delivery drivers, be sure to provide them cleaning and sanitation supplies to keep in their vehicle.

In-depth staff training on no-contact strategies helps drivers be more efficient when fulfilling orders. Walking staff through the delivery process (from order submission to proper delivery and payment collection) can help drivers handle the influx of takeout and delivery orders your restaurant receives.

5. Set Up Online Ordering

Online ordering is a great way to promote contactless delivery and takeout orders. Whether through an app or your restaurant’s website, make sure your customers are able to place orders online and request no contact. If you have an online ordering system, provide a place for customers to leave special instructions for pickup and delivery.

6. Offer Touchless Payment

Enable online payment and tipping options when setting up online ordering options. Allowing your customers to pay online or over the phone helps keep delivery and takeout services truly contactless by reducing the need for interaction. Touchless payment systems also ensure your staff is still able to receive tips.

To promote your contactless services and touchless payment options, consider offering your customers incentives such as a percentage off their first online purchase.

7. Gather Feedback

Gather customer feedback frequently to make contactless delivery and takeout services a success. Be proactive about sending emails to inquire about customers’ pickup and delivery experiences. Efforts spent on bettering weak spots in your no-contact services help drive overall success and increase customer retention.

Your food business can incentivize customer responses by offering coupons or discounts in exchange for their feedback. This strategy can attract more responses and feedback while further creating customer dedication to your restaurant.

Partner With Revolving Kitchen to Boost Your Delivery Services

More restaurants are looking to the virtual kitchen model as an efficient and cost-effective way to deliver quality food to customers. Virtual kitchens allow you to rent a modern and turn-key commercial kitchen space to prepare food for delivery. Leveraging cloud kitchen soace can provide food businesses all the amenities needed at a lower cost than a traditional brick-and-mortar restaurants.

If you’re looking for a commercial kitchen space for rent in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, check out Revolving Kitchen. The Revolving Kitchen facility features all the infrastructure and equipment your restaurant needs for contactless delivery. Revolving Kitchen offers kitchens for private use on both a short- and long-term basis.

To start optimizing your restaurant’s delivery services, contact Revolving Kitchen today.