5.X — Takeout and Delivery: The Multiplier You’re Underinvesting In #
Takeout sales are projected to grow at three times the rate of on-premise dining and at seven times the rate of the rest of the total food industry. Those aren’t incremental shifts. Those are tectonic plates moving underneath your business.
If delivery and takeout represent thirty percent of your revenue, why are you only dedicating ten percent of your total resources to it? This is one of the most egregious misallocations I see in the industry. Operators will invest hundreds of thousands of dollars in their dining room — the design, the furniture, the lighting — and then hand a takeout order to a Guest in a flimsy container with a stapled receipt on top. The food is the same food. The Guest is the same Guest. But the experience is a completely different standard. And that Guest notices.
To compete for a strong share of the takeout and delivery market, think about the entire process from the Guest’s perspective. The ordering process should be seamless. Not all dishes transport well — be selective, or develop dishes specifically with takeout in mind. Invest in packaging that ensures food arrives looking and tasting the way you intended. That packaging is a branding opportunity — every bag, every box, every container reinforces who you are.
Your takeout team needs to be trained with the same rigor as your front-of-house cast. The Guest on the phone or the app deserves the same level of care as the Guest at table twelve. If this revenue stream represents a significant part of your business — and for many of you it already does — give it the resources, the attention, and the respect it deserves.
