As the Australian hospitality industry and population come to terms with widespread closure, venues and companies are moving into takeaway and delivery food and drinks to service patrons stuck at home.
The options of takeaway and-or delivery are nothing new, but have often been seen as less necessary or unprofitable against regular services.
The national enforced closure of all pubs and restaurants has dramatically changed the playing field, and for many venues without significant retail liquor outlets there are few options for revenue during the crisis.
Note: The NSW government has confirmed venues with a Hotel licence are able to do takeaway and delivery alcohol sales, even if they don’t usually have authority to serve off-premise.
Contributing to the challenges of a completely different trading style, there is the additional requirement of social distancing. Interaction between staff and customers must be minimised, often compromising normal systems.
In terms of basic logistics, a pub needs to:
- Facilitate online or phone ordering – this should include payment, where possible
- Process the order (as per normal)
- Package for delivery or pickup
- Arrange delivery (where required) or provide contactless pickup options
Beyond the above there is the mission to inform people in the vicinity that you are providing the services.
Ordering
One company looking to work with pubs on their food & bev solution is Order Up!
The Australian start-up offers an all-in-one menu ordering system that is easy for venues to implement, with no fixed term contracts.
It requires no infrastructure or hardware from the venue beyond an internet connection, and manages online ordering, payments and even delivery logistics – all under the venue’s own brand.
Customers can easily access the system via any mobile device, without requiring an app, download or specialty software. It can also be multilingual.
In the wake of the crisis, Order Up! is providing free setup (usually around $1k) and heavily reduced fees to get more pubs started.
Delivery
Bolt Bikes provide commercial-grade e-bikes through flexible rental subscriptions starting from $69 per week, which includes full maintenance and a long-lasting battery to meet business demand.
The bikes provide opportunity for businesses to offer jobs to their existing team as delivery riders.
Adding to the option of engaging your own delivery riders, Bolt has just created a noticeboard called Bolt Jobs, to directly connect its existing network of over 1,000 delivery riders looking for work with local businesses. The service is 100 per cent free to use; Bolt says it recognised an urgent need.
“We created our Jobs Board to connect our community and instigate immediate job opportunities, taking the pressure off both business and rider,” explains Mina Nada, Bolt Bikes co-founder and CEO.
“It was a common question being asked of us and urgent for our team to implement. It’s important for our community to support one another as best as we can during this tough time.”
Promotion
While you may be able to communicate with existing customers and followers through social media, many potential nearby patrons are stuck at home on the couch browsing what’s available.
A further opportunity to come from transitioning to takeaway and delivery service is introducing new patrons to what you have to offer.
The Happiest Hour is a platform that lists the best pub food and drink specials across Australia, sharing insights with its 100,000+ users. Under normal circumstances this is mostly about mid-week promotions and offers to increase foot traffic.
Prompted by the crisis, The Happiest Hour is in the process of launching a new feature allowing pubs doing takeaway to list exactly what’s on offer, and when.
The company sought interest this week and immediately found around 40 pubs eager to be listed through the feature. A continued drive will accompany the service’s launch next week.
“Our loyal user base loves supporting local pubs, and in this difficult time that hasn’t changed at all,” offers co-founder Joonas Karppinen.
“During this Covid-19 lock-down period we’re making pubs that offer takeaway easily discoverable on our platform, which we hope makes a difference to the industry that is the lifeblood of Australia.”
