Some third-party delivery apps are adding more flexibility for restaurants by beginning to allow operators to choose whether to use their own in-house delivery staff to complete third-party orders.
DoorDash has introduced a “flexible fulfillment” feature to its self-delivery product that it first introduced last year, enabling partner restaurants in Canada and the U.S. to use DoorDash driver or in-house delivery staff to complete DoorDash orders.
Grubhub has launched a similar measure, a new “supplemental delivery” feature, expanding self-delivery restaurants’ catchment areas so such restaurants can access more customers using Grubhub drivers.
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Both companies have said that the introduction of these new features is a response to requests made and feedback given by their restaurant partners’ requests. It comes at a time of a serious labour crunch for many North American restaurants.
The low level of employment is affecting operations and delivery for many, and, at a time when restaurants are juggling the return of indoor dining with the surging growth of off-premise consumption, these new measures should make life easier for restaurant management and staff by offering the flexibility to adjust staffing and operations based on the immediate diner demand.
For any restaurateurs who may find themselves in a tight spot with limited drivers, they will still be able to rely on the apps’ vast network of drivers.
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DoorDash’s feature, for example, allows restaurant partners to toggle between Dasher fulfillment and self-delivery in real-time and also prioritize which orders should be delivered by staff and which can go to a Dasher for a flat fulfillment fee.
