At the ICR conference in Orlando this year, delivery was once again a hot topic. Although most restaurants know they can’t live without delivery, that doesn’t mean they have to like it or at least have strong opinions about it.
The trends within delivery included exclusive deals, or the death of them. Last year, in an effort to appeal to a wider range of diners and gain more favorable deals, restaurant brands moved away from exclusive deals with third-party providers.
Another trend in delivery was balancing delivery and dine-in customers and making sure delivery doesn’t diminish the experience of dine-in. At Black Bear Diner, for example, a restaurant might stop taking delivery orders during a busy shift if a manager feels that delivery orders are slowing down service or delivery couriers are waiting in the restaurant and taking away from the dine-in experience.
And of course, there are always the delivery naysayers. At Darden, CEO Gene Lee just doesn’t think delivery is worth it, while Adam Halberg, CEO, Barcelona Wine Bar, sees the value in delivery, but just not for his restaurants.
