New York has always been a technology and trend hub for more than eight million inhabitants. Following the coronavirus pandemic and the country-wide shutdowns of restaurants, food delivery for restaurants and their customers has become crucial.
There are many variants to select from, as many people look for "delivery apps NYC", and the restaurants are hurrying to adopt the newest online ordering system. They might not be all right for your particular place, but you may find one or two delivery services that are your restaurant's best option.
Moreover, incorporating an online restaurant ordering system and options of takeout into your business model will help you deal with the complexities of COVID-19 by growing the bottom line and increasing the consumer base.
In this post, we're going to discuss:
What are third-party delivery apps?
The best food delivery apps in NYC
Third-party apps replacement
What are the third-party apps of delivery?
The third-party delivery takeout apps are a trading platform for restaurants, a sort of registry categorized by location and category of food that helps consumers to order and purchase on their phone or laptop from individual menus.
A third-party app is a middle man, acting as a virtual food hall that takes you in front of the hungry clients ready to order in your region.
While some of these apps are based on order-ahead takeout that the clients pick up, most of them suggest the private contractors who bring their food directly to the consumer from your restaurant so that you do not have to recruit, train and pay for drivers.
You can prefer direct, online shopping (on your website) rather than third-party apps if you want to retain more operations and profit-making in the house. It means either you suggest pickup only on these orders or you hire your delivery fleet. Since some dining rooms stay closed or work with limited capacity, some restaurants have retrained their employees as temporary delivery drivers.
The cons of delivery apps
The number of third-party applications raised a lot in 2020, with online order rises of more than 25% after a pandemic started and 78% of online users make orders often or more frequently as ever.
The best food supply app, though, has its cons. Many take up to 30 percent in addition to the monthly charge on all sales, rendering it impossible on specific orders to get profit until you have big volumes of orders.
Third-party applications could bring more damage than good for an industry with a razor-thin margin and facing the problems of COVID-19, to the point that New York City put a provisional limit on commissions at 15% and promotion fees or other related contributions at 5%.
Recently a new class action lawsuit has been sued against some third-party delivery applications.
The most favored delivery apps among New Yorkers
Sales for meal delivery applications rose in June 2020. Grubhub controlled the bulk of the United States with Eat24 and Smooth acquisitions until 2018. The app is now the most successful food service app in the Northeastern metropolitan regions, Boston and New York City.
But DoorDash took big strides forward last year with its 45% share of sales in the USA as of June, and also it has met the highest growth in usage – a 33% growth between February and November of 2019.
Below, you can see the delivery apps rating of usage in NYC- Grubhub – 52%; UberEats – 25%; DoorDash – 21%; Other – 2%.
It's crucial to admit, as not only clients use third-party delivery apps more frequently – half of them operate more than just one application for it. So if you think about how to sell your restaurant, it is important to take a close look at your delivery networks' success to ensure that you reach your clients where they are.
What are the leading apps of delivery in NYC?
Grubhub
Grubhub has been a leader in online and smartphone shopping for over 22,6 million customers worldwide since purchasing Seamless, Eat24, and its acquisition by Just Eat Takeaway.
The consumers may narrow their search results by cuisine, price points, characteristics such as coupons and shipping tracks, or consumer reviews.
The customers can also choose- either they want delivery or pickup, as both variants suggest an approximate time of arrival or pickup. The various points of delivery can be stored in the app.
Approachability: You can download it for iOS and Android; Grubhub is accessible in over 3,200 cities in the U.S.
Customer Fees: $3.99 shipping fee, plus a variable percentage service cost due to the order size.
Restaurant Commission Fees: For Grubhub orders, the base commission rate is 10% plus a handling charge of 3.05% + $0.50. There will also be a 20% extra promotion charge. There is also an additional 20 percent promotion charge.
Subscription: $10 a month for Grubhub+ subscription plan that waives customer payments for the restaurant members of the app.
Coronavirus Update: Grubhub has contact-free service, with a pickup option for people who prefer to pick up the food themselves. At check-out, clients will choose the delivery method and leave clear instructions for their driver.
The Grubhub Community Relief Fund has also been created to encourage customers to make round their orders in the nearest dollar. This additional virtual "change" is given to charities that help local restaurants and drivers suffered from the pandemic.
The clients will also benefit from a Supper for Support program to get a $10 discount off their order of $30 or more. It's accessible in participating restaurants from 5:00 to 9:00.
Uber Eats
Over 75 million users use Uber worldwide. It is a fast and convenient way to get around and stop the need to wait a long time or stand on the road to hail a taxi. Uber Eats is exceptionally masterly in using its ridesharing success to deliver food door-to-door its fleet of drivers.
Due to the fleet's size, it may even cover a few smaller towns, and this is especially useful for restaurants that haven't established a delivery as a part of their work.
Uber Eats has already been a successful food supply app on its own, but its new purchase of Postmates secures a stronger foothold on the food delivery industry.
The app is really user-friendly for clients and filters restaurants by location of customer and food accessible nearby. It ensures you are entered in local food choices as long as your restaurant is open and on the app so you can meet clients who may have missed your restaurant. The application also illustrates expected shipping times and makes cashless transfers possible.
Approachability: You can install it on iOS and Android; Uber Eats serves over 3,000 cities in the U.S.
Customer fee: a 15 percent service charge of an order's subtotal, and usually comes with a small order fee for orders under $10.
Restaurant Commission Fees: range from 20 percent to 30% prior to introducing a temporary limit.
Subscription: Eat Pass is the response of Uber Eats to the increasing of subscriptions service. The subscription of $10 per month offers $0 delivery and a 5% discount on orders over $15 for restaurants-participants.
Coronavirus Update: The contact-free delivery is now regular, and Uber Eats offers more protection training, assistance, and mitigating resources the risks of exposure for their delivery drivers.
DoorDash
DoorDash has over 310,000 restaurants in 4,000 cities worldwide, the country's fastest-growing food delivery app. DoorDash is also not as widespread as Grubhub, but it comes here.
Search functions allow users to search by food category (burgers, vegetarians, Mexican food, and much more) or by the level of rating, price, and delivery in more than 30 minutes.
It has a section named Featured restaurant partners, including Cheesecake Factory and Chipotle, and bigger chains. The application also includes offers like no first-order shipping pay and options for trying restaurants outside your immediate area.
Approachability: You can download it for iOS and Android; DoorDash serves over 800 cities in the U.S.
Customer Fees: Differ depending on the restaurant, but usually have a $3 for delivery and a $3 service fee on top of the price of a meal and taxes.
Restaurant Commission Fees: Around 20% per order
Subscription: DashPass offers $0 shipping charge and reduced service fees on orders of $12 or more, for 10 dollars a month, through restaurants-participants.
Coronavirus Update: The default choice on all orders is contactless distribution. CEO and co-founder of DoorDash, Tony Xu, has declared a "the commission relief and marketing support package" to aid weak restaurants. They've realized programs to provide financial assistance and safety of health for delivery drivers.
Postmates
Postmates is also a very successful consumer delivery app as they provide more than just food – including alcohol drinks – and will now be able to exchange their data with Uber Eats since the latest acquisition.
This data size would allow each platform to provide its users with more specific deals – before Uber Eats integrates Postmates completely into the brand. For today, the two work now apart from each other.
Postmates is simple to use for restaurateurs. Like Uber Eats, they have their delivery workers, who are active round-the-clock and bring food to customers anytime and anywhere. Everything you have to do is register, set up your menu, and cook food – Postmates will take care of all else.
Postmates is similar to Delivery.com for customers because it is an all-inclusive delivery system that provides almost immediate fulfillment for anything from supplies of food to birthday presents to cleaning supplies.
Approachability: Download on iOS and Android; Postmates is now accessible in more than 4,200 U.S. cities.
Customer fees: differ, up to $10, it depends on the period the order is issued, with Blitz Prices for peak hours.
Restaurant Commission Fees: ranges between 15% and 30%
Subscription: Postmates Unlimited is a $10 monthly subscription program, enabling free shipping from selected shops and restaurants on orders more than $12.
Coronavirus Update: provides contact-free delivery and gives consumers the chance to warn whether their delivery driver is sick. Postmates have now formed a Fleet Relief Fund to assist their workers with any medical costs relevant to COVID-19.
Delivery.com
Compared to the other food delivery applications in this list, Delivery.com does not use a fleet of drivers. It offers instead a program to make online ordering and shipping simpler for you.
Here, you can order not only food; you can also get things like groceries, alcohol, and even dry cleaning. Like Postmates, this is a one-stop-shop where consumers can find everything they need at any moment.
Also, because of its cross-country success, Americans coming to New York for work or fun, and who are already customers of Delivery.com, will choose this choice by default whenever they wish to order.
Approachability: You can use it online or download it on iOS and Android; Delivery.com serves 100 cities across the U.S.
Customer Fee: The app is free, and the restaurants charge delivery fees and minimum orders.
Restaurant Commission Fees: Around 15%
Subscription: They do not provide a paid subscription package such as the other delivery apps on this list but provide a program of loyalty and rewards helping users earn points for their purchases.
Coronavirus Update: Delivery.com has introduced numerous programs to help its companion organizations, such as matching contributions from users, for example, and secure drivers by contact-free delivery and more protection training. They also have supported medical workers by gathering money for food donations to local hospitals.
ChowNow
ChowNow provides online commission-free ordering, which is a welcome service during the coronavirus pandemic. The strategy operates in two forms for restaurants. First, via their websites – an increasingly common alternative for food delivery applications – they power online ordering systems at more than 14,000 restaurants across America.
Secondly, by including smooth integrations into a company's social media resources, including Facebook, Instagram, and Google, it enables customers to order through the means they're already on.
ChowNow also uses a discovery program to allow customers to look for restaurants in their areas or to browse restaurants depending on the food type. The application gives you consumer insights and assistance for marketing. You can also make an individual ChowNow app with your logo and branding for extra exposure.
Approachability: You can make orders online or download the app on iOS and Android; ChowNow is accessible in all major metro cities across the U.S., collaborating with over 14,000 restaurants.
Customer Fees: Range depending on the restaurant and its placement. Pricing to consumers is transparent until their order is filled.
Restaurant Commission Fees: There are no commissions on orders; they work just on a monthly or an annual plan, beginning at $99 per month plus a fee for a set up on a two-year commitment.
Subscription: There is no monthly subscription service for customers.
Coronavirus Update: Although established in 2011, their restaurant support service and purpose are now more relevant – free online orders for restaurants and transparent restaurant prices to ensure the restaurants keep more profits during this difficult time.
Also, they have established contact-free pickup and delivery through their fleet of delivery drivers.
Third-party apps replacement
These days, offering takeout and shipping are essential for survival. Although third-party apps can help ease some challenges, we must admit that the higher costs – often up to 30% – can make it challenging to make a profit.
The restaurateurs are also less aware of customer experience with these apps and work in a crowded market, making it difficult to distinguish themselves when clients have so many options in one app.
Many restaurants prefer direct online ordering right through their website– so they can offer comfort, at the same time keeping profitability and control.
Acceptance of our site orders ensures you keep 100% of the sales, and there is no middle man. You can also use more of your staff to educate them in different skills, including preparing food packaging for takeout. And you can hire them as delivery drivers and coordinators of pickup.
Via the delivery process, the name, marketing efforts, and deals will become broader this way; it will help you upgrade the customer experience and minimize order errors.
One thing for clear, and it is for the near future that ordering online and shipping applications are here to stay. While some parts of the country have reopened, the consumer trust remains at a low level, with nearly half of the consumers planning to dine out as often as ever. It ensures more nights in and more web purchases.
It is hard for busy New Yorkers to dispute the comfort. That is why the delivery applications and internet shopping will still be one of the primary ways restaurants stay in business and find ways to generate revenue before we return to normal life.