How To Start An In-House Restaurant Delivery System In 2024

Restaurant delivery systems allow businesses to offer online and phone order delivery without using third-party delivery platforms. In-house delivery can be less expensive and more secure than relying on apps like DoorDash and works well with the best POS systems. Read on for more information on what in-house restaurant delivery systems are and how to use restaurant delivery system software for your business.

What Is An In-House Restaurant Delivery System?

An in-house restaurant delivery system is a system where customers can place online and phone orders with the restaurant, which are then delivered by restaurant employee drivers. Restaurants can use restaurant delivery system software to manage incoming orders, communicate order status with customers, and monitor delivery driver activity.

Why Is In-House Restaurant Delivery A Good Idea?

Your profit margins are going to be the biggest reason to choose in-house restaurant delivery versus third-party delivery. In many cases, it’s almost twice as expensive to use a third-party app for delivering your orders.

Additionally, you won’t have to worry about random delivery drivers that you have no control over affecting the buyer experience, you can manage your own packaging and delivery presentation, and you can integrate your online ordering system with your existing restaurant POS software.

How The Best Delivery Point Of Sale Systems Compare

How To Build A Restaurant Delivery System

Let’s explore how to create the best restaurant delivery system for your business.

Step 1: Find The Right POS & Restaurant Delivery System Software

The first step to setting up your own restaurant delivery system is to choose the best restaurant POS system. Restaurant POS systems like Lightspeed Restaurant typically include built-in restaurant delivery system software and restaurant delivery integrations such as Deliverect.

Some general features to look for when researching a POS system for online ordering and delivery include:

• Built-in online ordering tools
• Built-in delivery management tools
• Customer accounts and loyalty programs
• Easy-to-use user interface for customers and staff
• Customer and order data collection
• Customer order updates via text message or email

Read our guide on how to choose a restaurant POS system to help you decide the right restaurant POS software for your restaurant’s needs.

Step 2: Decide On Your Courier Strategy

When you implement an in-house restaurant delivery system, you have the power to decide who is handling and delivering your food, which directly impacts your customers’ impression of your business.

Here are some helpful questions to help you develop your courtier strategy:

• Are you going to provide vehicles for your delivery drivers, or will they use their cars?
• How will you help your delivery drivers track and log their mileage for reimbursement?
• Do you know what kind of insurance you’ll need?

Some of the best food delivery POS systems include helpful features like driver navigation, delivery tracking, and ways to communicate reliably (and safely) with drivers who are en route.

Step 3: Evaluate Your Staffing

In-house delivery means hiring new staff. The last thing you want to do is overwhelm your current employees with new duties on top of a changing day-to-day structure, new technology, and increased orders.

A soft launch of your in-house delivery program (limiting the number of orders allowed, the times customers can make delivery orders, only delivering on certain days, etc.) is a good way to get an idea of the interest and potential increase in orders.

Some ways to manage potential changes as a result of in-house delivery include:

• Hiring an employee who only manages online orders
• Creating a space in the kitchen that is solely used for delivery orders
• Hiring extra kitchen staff
• Using a kitchen display system (KDS) to organize orders for kitchen staff

Step 4: Market Your New Delivery Service

Once your in-house delivery system is set up, you need to have a successful launch!

Be prepared for some issues and customer complaints. Keep changing processes until you have the restaurant delivery system and software that works best for your restaurant, your employees, and your customers.

Take advantage of your social media presence, physical advertising, and word-of-mouth to help your current customers spread the word about your new delivery services.

Consider handing out coupons for a discounted first delivery order to customers the week before you launch, “refer a friend” coupons, or fridge-sized menus with contact information to make ordering even easier. Also, consider offering delivery discounts for your loyalty program members.

 Should You Build A Restaurant Delivery System?

You should build a restaurant delivery system if you are ready to set up an online ordering platform with delivery settings, have the budget to hire part-time drivers, are looking to avoid the common issues with third-party platform delivery drivers and fees, and have a POS system with restaurant delivery system software built in or delivery integrations available.

It may be beneficial to still list your restaurant on third-party delivery service platforms so that you can get discovered by your local audience. After being discovered, encourage returning customers to use your own online ordering platform and delivery service.

We also recommend keeping in contact with customers on the status of their orders. This builds the level of trust that customers usually get when they use a third-party app like DoorDash that sends consistent updates and order tracking.