| If I worked that full time, I could easily afford my apartment and other expenses. (Castletown, Isle of Man.) Now, if I still lived in London? Different story. Certain restaurant types (high margin, food well suited for delivery) and locales (high population density) seem well suited for delivery. The local steak house? Probably not, for a number of reasons: - The main profit generator at many sit down venues, drinks, are unlikely to be ordered. - Impulse add-ons, especially dessert, are less likely. Even with dark pattern upsells on apps. Dining out has many minutes or hours during which additional ordering opportunities are available. Ordering out is a single discrete event. - On platforms that don’t work with the restaurant, the option of a higher margin delivery-only menu doesn’t exist. Items with low or negative margin can go out the door that otherwise wouldn’t. - Delivery services seemingly take more for merchant processing than many restaurant chains I’ve helped secure acquiring for. Likely due to much higher chargeback/fraud on digital apps than through traditional delivery or in-restaurant. This is a killer on a low margin vertical such as dining. |
At least, that was my experience.