When it comes to dining, consumer preferences have shifted dramatically. 

Gone are the days when the vast majority of diners wanted to eat in a restaurant. Today, more and more customers prioritize convenience and want easy takeout and delivery options. Brands have responded to this trend in a variety of ways, with some jumping into third-party delivery right away. There are brands like Jimmy John’s, which has famously refused to use third-party providers, as the brand fears risking quality, and Just Salad, which chose Grubhub as its exclusive third-party delivery provider in April of 2019. 

The way No Limit Agency sees it, third-party delivery is both the present and the future of the restaurant industry, and brands would do well to meet this particular consumer demand. 

“Brands need third-party delivery,” No Limit Agency CEO Nick Powills said. “If they don’t get in the game, they leave money on the table. The customer wants the food delivered. The smart restaurants are looking at their total square footage of design and decreasing it, knowing that the new footprint is beyond those walls.”

What’s more, brands need to ensure that their delivery quality is equal to what customers will find in the restaurant. Powills cited price wars, less control and more frustration as barriers to a positive customer brand experience. 

“Third-party delivery has absolutely disrupted the restaurant business,” Powills said. “Now, the restaurant lives outside of the four walls. What surprises me is that brands are charging more for delivery to the home, yet, the quality of the food decreases the farther away from the kitchen it gets and there is no service experience. Additionally, I don’t love that some restaurants are separating themselves from great customer service.”

One brand that is doing customer service right is No Limit Agency client Teriyaki Madness. 

Founded in 2003, Teriyaki Madness has since expanded to almost 100 locations across the United States. The brand got into the delivery game three years ago, and while it wasn’t a seamless transition, brand executives still feel as if TMAD is ahead of the game compared to other brands in the fast casual sector. 

“We didn’t even have a help desk consumers could call,” Teriyaki Madness Executive Vice President of Marketing Jodi Boyce said of the brand’s early delivery days. “Now, we have someone who deals with customer issues. There are a lot of operational pieces that need to be considered with delivery. Since we’re almost 100% franchised, one of the hardest things was to convince shops to give a 20 to 30% commission to the third-party delivery providers. We really dug into the data and found that delivery is incremental enough to the business that it is worth it. So even though you’re taking that percentage, your overall numbers are going up. Plus, delivery is great for brand exposure.”

Boyce notes that third-party delivery has also affected the size of Teriyaki Madness restaurants, keeping in line with how other food brands are also decreasing their restaurant sizes. 

“Probably in the last year or so we’ve become much more open to looking at smaller footprints since so much food is going out the door,” Boyce said. “We’ve also started to look at dual kitchen lines. Since so much business takes place outside of our four walls, we’re considering having two lines in the kitchen, one for dining in and the other for going out the door.” 

Today, Teriyaki Madness is resisting the path of exclusivity, opting instead to partner with multiple third-party delivery providers. 

“We want to keep the business side competitive, so we haven’t gone exclusive with just one partner as of yet,” Boyce said. “It’s working in our favor. We’re not big enough where we want to do that quite yet, but if we go that way one day, we want to get the best deal financially for us and for our customers.”

The brand’s two best partners are DoorDash and Postmates, with Uber Eats coming in at a close third, Boyce said. 

“DoorDash and Postmates are competing against each other,” Boyce said. “They are each willing to test new programs with us to prove themselves over the other. They are also giving lower rates to consumers to prove to us that those consumers want their platform over another.” 

Powills applauds the brand’s decision to use multiple third-delivery partners.

“I think it’s smart to not put all of your eggs into one basket,” he said. “The customer can get super disgruntled with one delivery partner because of poor customer service and make a switch. Brands should go on as many platforms as possible to maximize that additional local marketing reach.”

Like Teriyaki Madness, brands should trial their third-party delivery partners, and they should also make sure to prioritize the human element, Powills said. This will help ensure that brands are working with delivery partners who provide the same quality of care. 

“Remember, there is the app, the reach and then the delivery,” Powills said. “Ultimately, to the customer, the delivery is the most important part—and this is based on human interaction. Did the driver pick up on time, deliver on time and communicate on brand? There are a lot of variables to success and you are already putting risk in the hands of people who won’t care about your brand—because they don’t work with you and have no affinity. I think it can be a valuable extension of the restaurant if done right—but don’t allow it to be a big stool leg you stand on, as I think the cost, the value and the experience are risky to a great product, restaurant and experience.”

By keeping an eye on consumer preferences and trends and exploring the various third-party delivery options out there, brands like Teriyaki Madness are positioning themselves for success.