Takeaway has been the word of the year in the F&B industry this year, and whenever restaurant owners meet, they are not asking about turnover, but are you doing takeaway? How do you operate takeaway?
But in fact, takeaway is not a new thing. The fast food industry has been doing takeaway since long before the advent of the Internet, and there is even takeaway-based fast food. It’s just that when the internet came along, everyone panicked.
However, beneath the complex surface of the Internet, the essence of the F&B industry is gradually getting further away from us.
This article introduces the basic concepts and pros and cons of fast food takeaway from a restaurant owner’s perspective.
1. What exactly is the Takeaway?
Takeaway is an important part of a restaurant’s revenue. For a fast food restaurant, takeaway is one of the basic attributes, usually provided by the phone set by the store or the headquarters and delivered by personnel.
For each shop in the business district, the customer group is different, takeaway will have a large difference in the proportion. Generally, like the small commodity market, IT office buildings, hospitals and other business areas where you can’t get away, takeaway accounts for a relatively large proportion. In some specific business districts, takeaway revenue is even greater than that of dine-in food.
According to the different areas and customer groups, the takeaway ratio of each store will be greatly different. Like small commodity markets, IT office buildings, hospitals or other business areas, takeaway generally accounts for a large proportion, and in some specific business areas, takeaway income is even larger than dine-in.
However, more takeaway is not necessarily a good thing. For brand companies, food away from the shop means a big drop in quality, too many risks, complaints and uncontrollable factors.
Therefore, based on their own brand, many fast food brands have strict control of takeaway growth in staff management, delivery equipment, business district and takeaway varieties, so as to set strict conditions for taking orders and maintain the value of the brand in the public’s mind.
Takeaway is the carrier of the brand and an extension of the dine-in, without which there would be no takeaway. It is a reflection of the overall satisfaction of the brand. In other words, if the dine-in can’t work, then it must be futile to develop takeaway. To be clear, takeaway is never a life-saver.
2. Takeaway: to use or not to use
(Image Credit-Google)
The core consideration for restaurant owners is how food quality and safety can be guaranteed.
Undoubtedly, from the customer’s point of view, whether it is dine-in or takeaway, the quality of food always comes first! Therefore, on this basis, it is important to control the number of takeaways and delivery times.
Compared with dinner enterprises, the takeaway business is rarely carried out, because the production method, cost, experience value, and so on are quite different from fast food.
Of course, some dinner companies, based on the increasing business to open up channels, seem to have tasted a little sweetness of takeaway, which can be understood as a business extension or incremental, but whether the takeaway business will constitute harm to the main business, it is still unknown.
3. Consumer Motivation
This is not the era of shortage of supply and demand in the past. No matter the quality of production or environmental services, just have food. The current supply-demand relationship is seriously unbalanced. Fast food should also choose a brand, consumer experience, and comprehensive satisfaction.
So, the vast majority of customers will definitely choose dine-in consumption, leaving a small number of take-out to the rest of the people.
The vast majority of customers during the dinner period will certainly choose dine-in, so who will be the remaining minority of people ordering takeaway?
Category 1: people who have not completed their work and need to work overtime;
Category 2: people who cannot get away from their work due to the nature of their work (e.g. selling goods in small commodity markets or working in banks)
Category 3: people who are lazy, catching up on sleep, or trying to get a small price.
No matter which category, ordering takeaway is a desperate choice, expected to be of reduced quality, and is not normalized and sustainable. It is very difficult for customers to be “nurtured” into what is known as “consumer inertia”.
4. Clarification of Basic Concepts
(Image Credit-Google)
(1) Is takeaway a product of the internet?
Takeaway has been around for a long time in the F&B industry, each with its own ordering phone or online platform. In the F&B plus Internet model, the restaurant is such a place that connects customers by using social media, and businesses and public platforms are in a parallel relationship.
Only after the emergence of the delivery platform, the total number of takeaways has increased, and the number of merchants involved has become greater, causing competition to become more intense. Therefore, the emergence of delivery platforms will not overwrite the deliciousness that has been precipitated by the times.
(2) Is takeaway a retail business?
“Takeaway is retail” is typical IT thinking and is a layman’s term.
As mentioned before, takeaway is a carrier of the brand, an extension of dine-in, and the taste ultimately judges how good takeaway is! Therefore, takeaway certainly belongs in the F&B industry.
(3) Is the internet and takeaway necessarily linked?
For F&B businesses, the Internet and takeaway are not necessarily linked, and takeaway can still be done outside of the Internet platform. For many brand companies, there are self-built platforms and self-delivery. Many brands have built their own platforms, or have adopted a dual system of “platform and self-delivery”.
However, for some small shops with low unit prices, it can be a disaster as no one will see their small ads, and they cannot send out takeaway by themselves, but only be relying on the platform.
(4) 200 billion takeaway is a potential market?
Of course, it’s not a potential market. People cannot look at takeaway business in isolation. Like dine-in, takeaway is only a means and is only a part of the revenue composition of the restaurants. Therefore, takeaway market should be examined from the macro perspective of the F&B industry.
On the contrary, for the unregulated and non-store scattered business, perhaps takeaway is a potential market.
(5) Is takeaway a lifesaver?
Takeaway is not an isolated existence. It is a reflection of customer dining satisfaction based on dine-in and cannot get on purpose.
Common sense shows that if the dine-in of a restaurant is not good, then do not over-consider takeaway. When the restaurant’s dine-in is doing well, the takeaway will naturally come.
5. Conclusion
Undeniably, in today’s Internet, the takeaway platform is the inevitable product of the current times, and there is nothing wrong with it.
However, the emergence of takeaway platforms has objectively led to huge changes in the ecology of the F&B industry, making the order of food and the way of doing business deviant, providing a breeding ground for unscrupulous businesses, encouraging the evil ways of unscrupulous food enterprises, and stimulating the laziness of young people and the bad habits of cheapness.
As for the advantage of the takeaway platform, from the point of view of the restaurant owners, its only benefit is to blow away those who use small advertisements and put themselves on the front stage from behind the scenes.