Back of House Staff | September 14, 2020, 06:00 PM CDT
Ah, curbside pickup. The concept of is hardly new—in fact, it has roots in the carhop culture of the 1920s, which is decidely cool. But in the coronavirus pandemic, nothing is "decidedly" anything—uncertainty reigns, and curbside pickup less a novelty than a lifeline for many restaurants as they wait and hope for a future in which they can fully reopen.
Until then, offering a curbside pickup system is one smart way to ensure that your restaurant remains an accessible option for those customers who are unwilling or unable to return to regular dining. For the immunocompromised and the elderly, increased dining options like curbside pickup can allow these individuals to return to some semblance of normalcy—and it can help your restaurant continue to make sales if (or *gulp* when) we see a second wave of COVID-19 outbreaks this fall.
In this article we'll cover:
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A curbside pickup system enables you to serve customers without them actually entering your restaurant, and without having to provide a delivery service or wait around after placing a to-go order. This system is a happy medium that falls somewhere in between a traditionally placed to-go order and a delivery order.
By using a curbside pickup system, staff bring customers' order outside to them, rather than inviting them into the restaurant. This allows restaurant staff to keep a safe distance, and keeps everyone in the open air. The current thinking is that good ventilation systems are key to increased safety during the COVID-19 crisis—and when it comes to ventilation, nothing beats the great outdoors.
Curbside is also a great way to further develop your omni-channel strategy and tie your brick-and-mortar location to an ecommerce experience, which may become relevant if the COVID-19 crisis worsens again this fall.
Each platform has different prompts, customizable flows, and so forth, but the overall premise is fairly simple, and fairly standardized. Your customer places their order online, selects a time slot for pickup, and pays through the online system. Then your restaurant receives their order, and at the designated time, the customer walks or drives up. Your staff then places the order directly in the customer's car, or hands off the order to them outside or is set outside for contactless pick-up. Boom, curbside success!
According to new data from Adobe Analytics, 30% of consumers said they prefer curbside pickup to delivery, which makes a curbside pickup system a clearly great option that can potentially increase your orders. (Additionally, 65% of consumers say that social distancing has encouraged them to try new ways of buying food, so more may be open to curbside pickup than they think).
A streamlined curbside system is also a smart way for restaurants to increase sales when they have limited seating capacity, since all of the orders are taken to-go, and keeps all transactions cashless, which is ideal in an era when most Americans fear touching cash.
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As more and more systems become automated, curbside pickup tech will become a great component of your business even when the COVID-19 crisis finally comes to a close (whenever that may be.) The present moment is an especially good time to test it out. As the whole world shifts and changes to accommodate new safety procedures and new systems, consumers are markedly more tolerant of new systems—and all of the attendant kinks that need to be worked out when they're instituted.
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While there's bound to be a learning curve for staff regarding a new curbside pickup app, there are also ways to make it run more smoothly from the get-go.
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[Photo: Anna Shvets via Pexels]
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