The coronavirus has become an international pandemic impacting the sanitary and economic situation of many sectors, in particular our industry: the restaurant industry. We can see today that restaurants have had to close their doors to the public until further notice and can only rely on one sales channel: delivery and/or click and collect.

As our entire population is under lockdown and travel has been restricted to the bare minimum, restaurants have had to adapt in order to deliver to their customers and maintain contact with them. Deliveries have skyrocketed in the last few days as customers look for convenient ways to eat while staying at home.

We wanted to answer several questions about how restaurants can ,in this time of containment, start or continue to operate in delivery efficiently and profitably.

Q1: RusHour processes thousands of orders for delivery every day. What changes have you noticed in the volume of orders during the lock-up period?

We work with independent restaurants, franchisees of large restaurant chains and a number of virtual restaurants nationwide. Since February, we have seen a steady increase in order volume of up to 300% from February to March.

We have analysed the results of our restaurant partners on their platforms such as Ubereats, Deliveroo and JustEat and have seen a clear increase in their order volumes and average basket.

Restaurant closures and the government-imposed lockdown period account for this triple-digit increase. Customers are regularly turning to the platforms to order from their favourite restaurants. We also noticed that the average basket was higher than usual with an average increase of 7€ per order. This is mainly due to the fact that orders are shared by families in order to save on delivery costs, we also note menu changes made by restaurants in order to adapt their offers to gain simplicity and efficiency.

Q2: With the pandemic in full swing, is there a risk for customers to order delivery rather than cook at home?

We notice a strong demand from customers who wonder about the potential risks they are taking when ordering. Customers want to be sure that the sanitary steps have been respected during the preparation of their orders. Restaurants and platforms have adapted and communicated extensively to reassure their customers in this respect.

As such, we have seen the emergence of "touchless" delivery at all restaurants and their employees who are now equipped with gloves and masks to avoid any contact with the food and the delivery people.

Q3: How do you see restaurants coping with a drop in their restaurant attendance? What is the impact on their employees?

We had the opportunity to speak with our restaurant partners, some of whom decided to close their doors at the beginning of the containment because they were not operationally structured to deliver to their customers or because of a lack of personnel.

We are at the beginning of a major crisis and it is still difficult to assess its impact but we can see that the population relies more than ever on delivery to meet their needs. Restaurants have understood this and must adapt accordingly. Many restaurants have taken steps to register on delivery platforms when they did not expect to do so. For all these reasons, RusHour is there to support them.

We want to help restaurants absorb this economic shock and give them the means to seize new opportunities now.

Q4: In this period of health crisis, is delivery enough to keep your restaurant going?

Not all restaurants will be able to survive on delivery alone, especially those that didn't rely on it initially. Virtual restaurants are now the best equipped to deal with the increase in online orders.

It is important in these times to be agile and creative, for example we have some restaurants that have decided to create offers of basic foodstuffs in addition to their basic menu. In the last few days, we have been working with our clients to adapt their menu to the situation by proposing a more targeted offer. This makes their work less complicated and ensures an optimal level of quality, especially since supply management is complicated for some. The key lies in the agility of the teams to adapt to the current context. This is where RusHour's expertise comes in.

The question for restaurants and large chains is to what extent can they make their available kitchens productive while being creative with their customers.

‍

About RusHour

RusHour is dedicated to becoming a trusted partner for restaurants around the world, offering several products and services that help restaurants adapt to the technology and trends of tomorrow. We provide our customers with a unique way to manage all online orders from multiple platforms from one location. At the same time, our team of experts is on hand day-to-day to support restaurants through this change.

Any questions? Write to us: hello@rushour.io

Need a demonstration? Make an appointment right here!

‍

‍