Pizza Today - January 2017 - 32

The Marketing Power of Thirdparty Delivery

Delivery service apps know search
engine optimization (SEO). In some
cases, they return higher in a Google
search for a restaurant than the actual
establishment's Web site. Online giants
like Google Maps and Facebook have
even integrated third-party apps into
their sites.
VanMerrienboer has capitalized on
third-party's online marketing savvy.
He considers fees associated as marketing. (The commissions vary from
company to company, he says, ranging
from six percent to 35 percent.)
Red Zeppelin does not offer delivery,
but it has a streamlined carryout operation that includes a drive-thru window. Partnering with Waitr, Takeout
Express and Mr. Delivery has allowed
VanMerrienboer to tap into a market
the pizzeria is not currently serving. "If
you are on the Waitr app and you are
looking for seafood and you are scrolling on restaurants, you come across my
restaurant. It helps actually market my
brand to the customer who was not
even looking for pizza."
Outsourcing delivery is paying off for
VanMerrienboer. "I will probably do
about $120,000 just with Waitr in this
first nine months of my business," he
says. "I don't pay labor. I don't have to
deal with the customer being aggravated, calling me and asking 'where is my
pizza?', because you get that through
Waitr. All that and my liability and
insurance, all of that is taken away. I
couldn't even pay six percent to handle
all of that."
If there is a delivery issue, customers
work directly with the service provider
to correct it. "It deflects a lot of the
pressure off the restaurant in complaints
because they really can't be mad if they
get a cold pizza now - because it's not
my fault," VanMerrienboen says. "There
is a buffer there that I really like."
VanMerrienboer says calls from
angry delivery customers are few. The
challenge lies in tracking the sales
coming from the service companies.
Third-party orders come in via a
tablet or phone and Red Zeppelin staff
3 2 / P I Z Z AT O D AY. C O M / J A N UA R Y 2 0 1 7

manually key orders into a POS system.
VanMerrienboer's end-of-day reports
only distinguish to-go from dine in. He
must go into his client access of Waitr
to view those sales.
Montanile feels VanMerrienboer's
pain as five-unit Venezia's juggles
orders from Eat24, GrubHub, DoorDash, EZ Cater and PostMates. He
found a technical solution that bridges
the gap between third-party orders and
Venezia's POS system.
"When you start doing any type
of volume with any aggregators you
must have a way for the orders to flow
through your POS system to avoid
errors and increased labor costs of having to manually enter all of these orders
in," Montanile says. "Instead of staffing
an employee, we hired a company called
Chowly, who takes the third-party
order and codes it through our POS
system seamlessly for a small fee."
If you can't beat them, join them.

Venezia's leverages the efficiency
and accuracy of its in-house delivery
program by delivering orders from the
third-party ordering apps, as well as
allowing third parties like Door Dash
to deliver Venezia's pizza.
"Many people are finding third-party
Web sites for delivery when they search
on Google," Montanile says. "If we
don't partner with some of these aggregator companies then we are losing out
on revenue that may go to our competition. I feel it is a necessity for restaurants in order to stay with the times."
Montanile advise to be selective
when choosing partnerships. "My main
considerations were how reputable the
company was in business, assuring we
would receive our weekly deposits consistently and the third party having a
responsive call center for support when
any challenges arise," he says. "The only
decision is commission as third-party
sites are all over the board - 13- to
18-percent commission should be the
break-even point for most restaurants."
Operator beware

The new segment comes with its fair
share of growing pains.

Last year, Taranto received a customer complaint only to find that the order
came through a third-party provider on
Yahoo that she did not authorize to sell
her food. "I did a search of my restaurant via Yahoo and went to their page
for my restaurant," she says. "You see
reviews, store hours, etc. There was also
a link that said 'order online'. I clicked
it and it went to a site that was my
menu but not my prices."
She says that working with the
service to refund the customer and
remove Taranto's from the site was frustrating. Months later, her restaurant was
back on the site. Her attorney sent the
company a cease and desist to no avail.
"The customer thinks they are
ordering from me, not a third party.
(They think) that my restaurant has
a contract or consent with this third
party," Taranto says. "It is my restaurant
who is responsible for the food quality,
correctness, and timeliness. And yet,
these third-party companies and drivers
are delivering for many different area
restaurants. All control has been taken
out of my hands."
Taranto isn't the only operator
dealing with vendors selling products
without consent. Some restaurants have
resorted to posting disclaimers in their
shops and on their Web sites warning customers that if they choose to
order from a third party, the restaurant
cannot guarantee the product quality,
pricing or delivery timing will meet the
standards of the restaurant.
Some companies have simple opt-out
clauses while other required substantial
steps and even legal action. In the past
year, several restaurants have sued various third-party companies for trademark infringement and selling product
without consent.
There are efforts within the restaurant industry to establish standards for
third-party delivery services regarding
food transport safety, liability, intellectual property and opt-out opportunities. n
DENISE GREER

Today.

is associate editor of Pizza

http://www.PIZZATODAY.COM

Pizza Today - January 2017

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Pizza Today - January 2017