7 ways to improve your ranking on delivery platforms

Delivery platforms have transformed the way customers order and consume meals. Today, they are increasingly changing the way we shop for fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG).

For restaurants, FMCG brands, convenience stores and grocery giants, third-party delivery partners offer an easy-to-integrate platform brimming with customers eager to place orders.

However, the popularity of these delivery platforms also means that they are extremely competitive markets. Hundreds of restaurants are vying for every customer's attention, and standing out in this ambient noise is the goal of every brand.

The big question is: how do you get your restaurant to the top of the list and ranked higher on these delivery platforms?

7 ways to improve your restaurant's ranking on delivery platforms

The answer is not simple. There's no single magic solution, as each platform has different methods for ranking stores, which they don't disclose. But in the end, apps will reward restaurants that receive more orders and satisfy customers.

Improving your delivery performance is the key to success. But that in itself presents a huge challenge. We explore the details here, breaking the task down into seven ways to improve your restaurant's ranking on delivery platforms.

The aim is to make small improvements at first, and then, as your ranking improves, to create a virtuous circle. Better performance leads to more customers, which leads to better reviews and higher rankings. Which attracts even more customers, and so on.

As long as you can keep up with growing demand and maintain consistent performance, you'll be on your way to FMCG delivery success!

#1 Improve customer service

One of the challenges of using third-party delivery apps is that you don't have control over the whole process. Deliverers are generally freelancers who are not invested in the success of your brand. So there's no guarantee that their service standards will match yours.

There are, however, some things you can control. Here are a few examples:

• Reduce errors by allocating resources to double-check order accuracy and completeness
• Package products carefully to appeal to customers
• Automate order management to free staff from tablet hell, allowing them to focus more on the customer experience.
• Add personal touches like handwritten thank-you notes

These measures can greatly improve the parts of the customer experience you can control. You can also offer customers a hotline if they encounter a problem, rather than leaving it to delivery partners, who are often difficult to reach.

#2 Improve delivery time

Research shows that 60% of delivery customers place the greatest importance on speed of delivery for customer satisfaction.

Improving delivery speed means optimizing every stage of the order process. As soon as the order is placed, the countdown begins. Order management, communication with purchasing staff and the way in which the order is prepared and handed over to the delivery driver are all areas where time can be saved on every order.

Better order and inventory management can be achieved by automating many of the processes involved. RusHour integrates with delivery platforms to accept all orders in a single system. It also sends them automatically to your point-of-sale (POS) system, eliminating the need for staff to re-enter orders.

Good communication between the person selecting the items and the delivery management team will help you synchronize the order so that it's ready when the delivery driver arrives. This will save even more time and keep your delivery drivers happy!

#3 Improve control precision

Double and triple check each order to ensure that every item is included, taking into account allergies and customer feedback.

It's useful to have a dedicated packing station and staff responsible for ensuring that orders are shipped accurately and completely.

Make sure you use good quality images that clearly show the products for sale. This will avoid any confusion on the customer's side. For example, a customer might buy 10 units of an item thinking it's a single product, when in reality they've ordered 10 multiple lots. This type of avoidable error can waste time and cause frustration for both the customer and your staff.

#4 Increase the average value of orders

There are many simple actions you can take to increase the average value of each order and thus improve your ranking on delivery applications.

You might be tempted to put hundreds of items on your menus, but this often backfires. It's much better to select the most effective items to maximize efficiency.

Make sure you offer attractive upsells, just as you do at the restaurant checkout. Many apps allow you to highlight items frequently purchased together, or display special offers when users place their order. A great way to increase basket size is to create combos.

Here again, high-quality images help to increase order value. Customers are more likely to buy high-value items if they look appetizing.

User experience is another crucial aspect of increasing order value.

Make sure your menu is logically organized - it's a good idea to arrange items in a similar way to how they are in most restaurants. This way, customers will feel comfortable with their shopping habits. It will also help increase your restaurant's conversion rate - the rate at which customers complete an order after adding items to the basket.

With so many items on sale, managing menus is a challenge for FMCG brands across multiple delivery platforms. RusHour's menu creation tool has been designed to make the task much simpler. It enables you to create attractive menus with flow logic, and deploy them across all delivery platforms in a single go. When you need to add items or make changes, simply go to a dashboard to update all your menus with a single click.

#5 Best user reviews and ratings

Many apps offer a "best reviews" category, featuring the best-rated restaurants. This is a huge opportunity to attract customers and increase orders.

Implementing all the above measures will improve your customer reviews. But assuming you're doing your best to provide good service, one of the best ways to do this is to ask for reviews. Include handwritten thank-you notes, thanking the customer for their order and politely asking them to leave a review if they enjoyed the experience.

Another way to satisfy your customers is to ensure that their goods arrive safely. Think about your packaging:

• Wrap fragile items in bubble wrap
• Do not overload the packaging, making it difficult to unpack the items.
• Use ice packs and insulated bags for cold and frozen items
• Use sustainable and recyclable packaging whenever possible to reduce environmental impact

#6 Use sponsored ads

Another way of jumping the queue and appearing at the top of ads is to pay for it. Delivery platforms often offer paid slots to brands wishing to launch promotions or campaigns to attract new customers.

In the long term, improving your overall performance is the best strategy, but paying for short-term exposure could be a good option to consider for a strong surge of new customers or the launch of a new product line.

#7 Highlight special offers

Delivery platforms often organize campaigns in which you can participate to gain exposure. For example, if you offer a 10% discount when the customer spends more than €30 on cosmetics. A small discount on the total amount of the basket can put you in the spotlight on the home page when users open the application. An attractive offer could significantly boost sales and put your products in front of many more consumers.

Here are some offers to consider:

• 1 Buy - 1 Free - on products you need to sell off
• 10 discount on your first order - to attract new customers
• Free delivery on orders over €30 - to increase average order value
• Free item for orders over €20 - to increase order value

The other option is to be highlighted for your outstanding performance over a given period. Applications often have a "top picks" or "most popular" section at the top of the screen, which attracts a lot of attention.

The factors that applications use to determine this are varied and generally kept secret, but here are the main factors to aim for:

• Conversion metrics: how many customers complete an order after viewing your menu
• Operational performance: your online availability rate, your acceptance rate, your average acceptance, order packaging and courier waiting time.
• Restaurant rating: the rating of your restaurant given by customers on the application
• Distance from customer
• Preference data from regular customers

You can't control everything on this list. But as we've discussed, it might be worth devoting more resources to improving your operational performance, customer satisfaction and conversion rate.

PROCESS MORE ORDERS FASTER AND IMPROVE YOUR RANKING WITH DELIVERY AUTOMATION

There's a lot to be done to improve your ranking on delivery platforms, but the good news is that it all also helps to improve your company's overall performance and strengthen your relationship with customers. So, in the end, it's a win-win situation.

Anything that can reduce your order processing time, improve accuracy and make your staff happier will contribute to happier customers, better reviews and higher rankings on the delivery platforms you use.

RusHour's order management platform and key integrations with delivery partners as well as with the restaurant's POS and inventory management software help you process more orders faster and with fewer errors. Convenience stores and FMCG brands also have much to gain from RusHour's powerful automation of key processes.

Find out how RusHour can help you optimize your delivery performance and generate more orders via your delivery partners.

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