By Meredith Sandland, CEO and Co-Founder of Empower Delivery - 8.8.2024
For today’s restaurants, food delivery is more important than ever. But the existing ways of doing deliveries – using third-parties or having a delivery staff – come with challenges.
Now, there’s a new approach emerging that promises the best of both worlds: dedicated gig drivers managed by automated delivery technology. This means drivers who work just for one restaurant when they’re on the clock, and management activities like scheduling and payroll are automated away.
The Problems with Traditional Delivery Methods
Third-party delivery services like UberEats and DoorDash have revolutionized how restaurants deliver food. But they care more about their own profits than individual restaurants and their brands. This can lead to high fees and a loss of control over how food reaches at-home guests, harming a restaurant’s reputation and guest relationships.
On the other hand, having employee drivers means a consistent brand experience, fewer errors, and faster delivery times. However, this method has downsides, too. It requires significant overhead for management, scheduling, and maintaining enough demand to keep drivers busy. This is a logistical challenge that can be overwhelming and expensive.
A Third Option: Dedicated Gig Drivers
A smart new solution is to use gig drivers who are dedicated to one restaurant at a time. This offers the quality control of employee drivers with the flexibility and cost-efficiency of third-parties. By using dedicated gig drivers, restaurants can achieve:
Brand Consistency: Gig drivers dedicated to one restaurant are more likely to uphold the brand’s standards and values during deliveries. If they don’t, the restaurant has the control to remove them.
Lower Costs: Restaurants spend less money not paying full-time salaries or third-party fees, while maintaining the quality of delivery services.
Flexibility and Scalability: The right technology uses AI to adjust the number of active drivers based on real-time demand, without the commitment of a full-time workforce.
Easier Management: Modern platforms help restaurant operators manage their drivers easily, eliminating the usual time it takes to handle onboarding, scheduling, payroll, and more.
Managing Gig Drivers with Automated Driver Management Systems
Automated driver management systems make it much simpler to manage drivers, because it automates many of the restaurant operator’s management tasks. Here’s how:
Streamlined Onboarding: Automated systems speed up the onboarding process, quickly performing background checks and managing paperwork to reduce the time it takes to get drivers up and running.
Smart Scheduling and Dispatch: Features like dynamic delivery fleet scaling, automated routing, and batching recommendations ensure timely and efficient deliveries every time.
Automatic Payments: Automated systems handle tips and driver payments, reducing administrative work and avoiding costly payment mistakes.
Real-Time Tracking and Performance Management: With real-time tracking, restaurants can always see where deliveries are and how drivers are doing, so a restaurant can always have their finger on the pulse of service and guest satisfaction.
Next-generation delivery management technology can automate and streamline gig driver management. The software saves restaurants time and money – while protecting their brand experience – by handling everything from onboarding to paying drivers. This includes screening applicants, running background checks, completing tax forms, tracking gigs and tips, paying drivers, dynamic delivery fleet scaling, and many other features to power high-quality delivery.
The Benefits of Automated Driver Management Systems
As restaurant delivery grows, using automated driver management systems to manage gig drivers is a great way to balance cost, efficiency, and guest satisfaction. By adopting this innovative approach, restaurants can work better and maintain their brand directly through every delivery.
Moving to smarter, tech-driven delivery management means a restaurant can offer the best experience to their at-home guests. Beyond dedicated drivers, this technology includes many guest-facing features like status notifications, real-time delivery tracking, and guest-driver communications to ensure a seamless brand experience from order through delivery.
For restaurants looking to transform their delivery program, consider how using dedicated gig drivers and advanced delivery management platforms like Empower Delivery can elevate the delivery experience and ensure guests order directly again and again.
Restaurant veteran and digital foodservice expert Meredith Sandland is the CEO and Co-Founder of Empower Delivery. The Empower Delivery software allows restaurants to offer superior delivery without compromising on food quality, profitability, or the customer experience. Previously, she served as founding COO at Kitchen United. As Chief Development Officer at Taco Bell (Yum! Brands), she quadrupled Taco Bell net new unit growth, relaunched the concept to accommodate modern demands including digital interaction, added over 1,000 units to the brand, and over $1 billion in system sales.
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