Food Delivery App for Restaurants

Many people enjoy the convenience of eating delicious takeout in the comfort of their own homes. Restaurants save money on commercial property by establishing a delivery-oriented service. Food delivery apps provide order management tools to simplify this process for restaurants.

What Are Delivery Apps?

Food delivery services connect restaurants to hungry customers. They allow restaurants to reach more people by receiving and fulfilling online orders. Customers can quickly and easily order food using delivery apps, which lets restaurants boost their business. Delivery apps significantly raise sales by giving restaurants a more accessible online presence.

How Do Food Delivery Apps Work?

Apps such as UberEats, DoorDash and more allow customers to order and pay for their food on their phone. The app notifies freelancer drivers to deliver the food, eliminating a restaurant’s need to hire their own delivery drivers. However, delivery apps also enable restaurants to hire their own drivers if they wish. Restaurants set and maintain their menu prices, but the apps control the service and delivery fees.

Delivery apps pay drivers a base pay to deliver orders, and they charge service fees for both customers and restaurants. Service fees cover marketing and advertising, drivers’ background checks and wages, credit card processing and more.

Customers search for nearby restaurants, browse full menus and track their order status using delivery apps. The app service is typically responsible for any delivery issues that occur, freeing restaurants from managing drivers.

What Are the Most Popular Food Delivery Apps?

Food delivery apps gained popularity as more and more people began taking advantage of their convenience. These delivery platforms make ordering food quick and easy. Some of the best food delivery apps for restaurants include the following companies:

Uber Eats

Uber Eats gives restaurants the flexibility to use their own delivery drivers or drivers through the app. The delivery radius depends on the city, and the app helps determine which areas the restaurant can reach.

Uber Eats Orders helps restaurants and food businesses track orders, manage deliveries and analyze customer insights and sales data. It allows merchants to respond to customer reviews and offer loyalty programs if they wish. In-app marketing options also let restaurants reach more potential customers and boost sales. Their process is simple and only requires merchants to enter their restaurant information, upload their menu and start taking orders.

Uber Eats charges food businesses a $350 activation fee to register and create their menu on the app, along with 6%-30% of sales for each order. They offer Lite, Plus and Premium plans, and for the lowest tier, merchants pay 6% of sales for each pickup order and 15% of sales for each delivery order.

DoorDash

DoorDash charges merchants delivery and pickup commissions for each order, and they offer a 30-day free trial. Commissions range from 15% to 30% based on different tiers. The basic tier allows restaurants to receive in-app marketing and cost savings, while higher tiers let restaurants reach more delivery areas and customers through various perks.

DoorDash reaches 85% of American consumers, making it a well-known delivery app. It offers merchants many options, such as using DoorDash drivers or their own drivers and receiving orders through the DoorDash app or through their own website.

The DoorDash Order Manager app enables restaurants to track and manage orders and update their menu on an Android tablet in real time. The Order Manager app costs a weekly fee, and restaurants pay additional fees to print orders or receive them directly in their kitchen. DoorDash also allows restaurants to receive orders directly to their point-of-sale system.

Grubhub

Grubhub offers merchants a free welcome kit with marketing materials, and they charge a 10% commission per order along with small processing fees. They also charge 20% or more for marketing per order placed through the app.

Grubhub provides merchants with educational materials, marketing tools and a complimentary tablet to track orders. They also allow access to loyalty programs, promotions and rewards. Basic, Plus and Premium tiers offer different benefits such as photography services, menu consultation, point-of-sale integration and more.

Postmates

Postmates allows merchants to negotiate their commission charges and avoid credit card processing fees since Postmates pays them directly via direct deposit. They also allow restaurants to receive orders in various ways, such as by tablet, phone or a point-of-sale system.

Delivery.com

Delivery.com operates in many popular cities, and it charges merchants lower service fees than other delivery app services. Delivery.com charges a 15% commission per order and 2.75% plus $0.25 service fees. They also offer special services such as professional photography, website design and more.

The Delivery.com pay-to-win strategy leverages paid services for marketing and ranking boosts, so merchants have to pay extra fees for increased visibility. Delivery.com is also less well-known than other delivery service apps, so restaurants may struggle to reach more customers using this app service.

ChowNow

ChowNow is an online ordering app that charges merchants a one-time registration fee and a monthly fee instead of order commissions. ChowNow does not provide delivery drivers like other delivery app services do, but it offers restaurants the option to connect with other apps’ delivery services or hire their own delivery drivers. ChowNow is essentially a middleman and marketing strategy merchants use to track and manage orders.

Otter

Otter integrates multiple point-of-sale and delivery apps into a single system to help restaurants save time, increase sales and simplify their delivery processes. Otter helps restaurants optimize their operations by allowing them to work with locations, menus, delivery orders and support in one comprehensive place. Otter also lets restaurants consolidate all their data into an easy-to-use dashboard.

Otter charges restaurants a monthly fee ranging from $10 to $89 a month based on the restaurant’s preferred services. The lowest fee provides restaurants with order history, data exports and a top menu item report, but you will have to pay a higher monthly fee if you would like additional benefits. The highest monthly plan offers benefits such as new revenue streams, missed revenue tracking, live alerts, net payout and commissions, marketing reporting and optimization, insights and error history.

Which Food Delivery Service Is Best for Restaurants?

A food delivery app gives restaurants more online visibility and connects them with more customers. The best food delivery apps for restaurants depends on various factors. Food business owners need to consider the audience they wish to reach and how much they are willing to pay for order commissions and service fees.

The most popular companies such as DoorDash and Uber Eats can reach a wider customer base, while other apps like ChowNow and Delivery.com can save restaurants money on commission fees. Food business owners should also consider ease of use as they choose a delivery service app. Some apps allow for quick and easy setup, and others even allow restaurants to receive point-of-sale orders directly in their kitchens.

Open a Delivery-Only Kitchen With Revolving Kitchen

Delivery apps such as our Virtual Food Hall app help you reach more customers and easily manage online orders. Rent a kitchen from Revolving Kitchen to provide customers with delicious meals without spending money on a brick-and-mortar dine-in location. Open a delivery-only food service and start delivering food quickly and flexibly with clean kitchens full of convenient amenities.

Revolving Kitchen offers quality commercial kitchen rental spaces in various sizes. Save money with low-cost startup fees and customizable lease options. Start or expand your delivery-only service with a fully equipped and newly upgraded kitchen. Contact Revolving Kitchen to learn more about renting a kitchen space for your food business.