Home delivery has become an essential feature for restaurants and retailers to offer customers, and thankfully there are lots of different platforms which take the pain out of setting up and running this type of service.
The main problem is picking from the various competing software solutions, so to help you decide, here are a few tips that will let you narrow down the field.
Consider the key features
It is not enough for delivery service software to look good and boast a big market share; it also needs to fulfill the requirements of business users with features that will actually streamline their implementation of home delivery without creating more problems than it solves.
One example of an asset that desirable delivery service software tools can bring to the table is a combination of route planning and proof-of-delivery. The former will make it easy for you to ensure that employees are able to reach their destinations efficiently and without running into transport issues en route, while the latter will give you the confidence to confirm that items have arrived safely and are in the hands of the correct person.
Check commission fees & other costs
Another priority when weighing up delivery service software is establishing just how much it will cost you to use the platform in question.
Some services are founded on the concept of effectively outsourcing both the software and the actual delivery process entirely, so you will be paying for access to the platform as well as for the provision of delivery personnel. This is potentially worthwhile for smaller organizations that are starting from scratch and do not want to hire permanent team members to ship meals and goods from A to B, although there are commission fees to consider, which can be anywhere up to 40% of the value of the order.
Others will simply provide the software framework which you can then use to take charge of your own delivery service in-house, and while the platform costs will be lower in this case, you will also need to do more of the hard work yourself.
Take software for a test drive before making a commitment
One good thing about the delivery service software market is that you can put prospective platforms through their paces without making a full commitment until you are happy that they are right for you.
Likewise if you go the third party route, you may even sign up to more than one service to get the maximum coverage in terms of engaging with prospective customers.
Most importantly, you should do your research and ask other businesses in your area about their own experiences, as this word-of-mouth approach to recommendations can often be more fruitful and informative than any other option.
Finally, if you feel like the service you select is not working for you after an amount of time experiencing it, make a change rather than hoping for improvements to materialize.