Consumers quickly came to rely on apps like DoorDash and Uber Eats to conveniently deliver food to their homes and workplaces during the pandemic–and the trend shows few signs of slowing down. According to Statista, food delivery will grow at a compound annual rate of nearly 10 percent between 2024 and 2029.
However, digging into customer feedback on the delivery experience reveals some concerning trends. According to Chatmeter’s AI analysis of more than two million customer reviews, more than half of delivery-related reviews are negative (46 percent) or mixed (6 percent). Customers regularly complain about incorrect orders, longer-than-estimated wait times, and negative staff interactions. As delivery fees and menu prices continue to soar, at what point will consumers determine it just isn’t worth it any more?
For restaurants, the reputation stakes of delivery are high. In a survey, half of consumers say they have had food arrive late and/or cold. Additionally, 44 percent have had items missing from their orders and 29 percent have received food that did not taste good. Following an experience like this, 50 percent would avoid ordering from that restaurant again–and more than a quarter (25 percent) would avoid visiting that restaurant in person.
Restaurants who believe that when they hand an order to a delivery driver the experience is out of their control should pay careful attention to the fact that consumers are still closely associating delivery experiences with the restaurant they ordered from.
For brands that want to deliver on their brand promises alongside customer orders, there are a few steps they can take to improve delivery experiences.
Get more feedback from third-party customers
You have customers that come to you directly, customers who order through third-party apps, and customers who do a mix of both. So, it’s important you’re capturing feedback from all of them. While customers can leave reviews directly on platforms like DoorDash, a better approach is asking them to give it to you directly. Consider including a QR code in delivery orders that leads customers to a survey where they can share their feedback about the delivery experience.
This information, combined with insights from reviews, can give you more holistic customer intelligence to inform decision making.
Optimize delivery menus, prices and promotions
One thing that’s beyond your control? The service fees charged by delivery apps. More than half of consumers (55 percent) said high delivery fees prevent them from ordering restaurant delivery sometimes, and 39 percent said menu prices that are more expensive than in-store prices can lead them to skip getting delivery. Additionally, menu prices were the top-ranked factor for consumers when it comes to choosing a restaurant for delivery.
Optimizing your pricing based on customer feedback can help you differentiate from the competition. Additionally, you can use customer feedback to customize which menu items are offered for delivery, and to promote specific delivery items. Consider the items delivery customers rave about, and items they don’t love. Don’t forget to look at photos, too, to understand how well your menu items are traveling and which items don’t quite hold up.
Surveyed consumers shared that their favorite items for delivery are pizza, wings, sandwiches, burgers and tacos, while their least favorite items included seafood, ice cream, steak and french fries. Your customers’ preferences might vary, which is why it’s important to get their input.
Operationalize customer feedback to improve delivery
Poor customer service was a common theme in customer reviews about restaurant delivery. Understandably, a customer who receives the wrong order or spoiled food after a long, expensive wait is going to be frustrated.
While restaurants can’t necessarily control delivery apps’ customer service policies, they can respond better when customers contact them directly. Restaurants should create clear policies and procedures for handling customer service issues related to third-party delivery. While the “fault” of a poor experience often lies with a delivery app, there’s no reason a restaurant can’t show empathy for a customer’s situation and take steps to turn them into a returning customer, such as offering a discount toward future orders or providing them clear directions on how to request a refund from the app.
Additionally, there are operational steps restaurants can take to minimize these complaints in the first place. Implementing quality checks at multiple stages of order preparation can ensure the correct orders go to the right people. Ensuring third-party delivery drivers can clearly identify and pick up the correct order is also critical.
Restaurants might also consider upgrading packaging to ensure food is still hot and edible upon arrival. For example, a soup’s ingredients and broth could be packaged separately to avoid noodles getting mushy. Or, burgers and tacos could be delivered in multiple parts for assembly so they don’t get soggy. Paying attention to customer feedback on which items aren’t arriving in satisfactory condition can help you make the right investments here. Re-heating instructions could also be included to help consumers salvage a cold meal.
John Mazur is CEO of Chatmeter, a leader in multi-location customer intelligence. With over 20 years of global executive experience, he has a proven track record of growing and transforming businesses through the creation and improvement of fundamental business practices that drive profitable growth in competitive and volatile markets. He previously served as President, Residential at CoStar following the company’s acquisition of HomeSnap, where he served as CEO.
