Delivery has boomed during the pandemic, with the key players adapting to meet the occasion. As consumers turn to the digital services more than ever, operators are seeking new ways to stay connected with their most loyal customers.
Prior to coronavirus, uptake of many technologies in restaurants was relatively limited. Just 8% of consumers had used a self-ordering tablet, and only 10% had used a QR code, according to research conducted for Hostech by Lumina Intelligence. But as many can now attest, both anecdotally and through their own restaurant operations, this usage has shot up in the past year, in the case of QR codes usage jumping by more than 250%.
Franco Manca chairman David Page has spoken of the frustration, but inevitability, of working with delivery partners during the pandemic.
Page, whose restaurants went from doing 15-20% delivery to 100% during lockdown, said it was difficult handing over customer contact to a third party.
But he said the logistics of delivery were too complex and too different a specialism to hospitality, and so it therefore made sense to work with third parties.
“The issues we had were the same issues we had before, which is in the restaurants we are completely in charge of delivering the food to the customers, we’re in control, said Page, speaking at MCA’s Restaurant Conference,