Tips for maximizing third-party delivery service during the pandemic: Hear directly from our third-party partners

During this global health crisis, technology companies, including our 250+ third-party partners, have been helping restaurants manage the impact on their businesses. Chowly, Doordash, Grubhub and UberEATS are a few who have implemented alternative, off-premise service options for independent restaurant partners and their customers. 

These continue to help ease economic hardship for restaurants and consumers by providing relief through deferral of commission fees, waived delivery fees, a daily pay-out feature, contactless delivery, takeout phone assistance and more: 

To help you quickly start fulfilling off-premise orders, Chowly’s COVID-19 Relief Response program offers waived setup fees and a 60-day, no-risk trial period for a limited time. This will help your restaurant more quickly adapt to the current situation without worrying about the costs associated with introducing additional technology. 

With Chowly, your restaurant can easily integrate direct online ordering channels and third-party delivery platforms, such as Grubhub, UberEats and DoorDash, in as few as two business days. All orders through these channels will be sent directly to your restaurant’s existing POS systems, without the need for additional tablets, hardware or supplementary labor. 

DoorDash has committed to a package of commission relief and marketing support for new and existing DoorDash partner restaurants to help them generate up to $200 million in additional sales this year. Continuing through the end of April, independent restaurants in the United States, Canada, Puerto Rico and Australia can sign up for free with DoorDash and Caviar and pay zero commissions for 30 days.  

Existing DoorDash and Caviar restaurants will pay no commission fees on pickup orders, so customers can spend less time in the store. They’re also providing additional commission reductions for eligible merchants already on DoorDash. Other efforts include: 

• Adding more than 100,000 independent restaurant partners to DashPass — their subscription program which offers $0 delivery for consumers — for free. Merchants on DashPass see higher sales, which are critical to helping restaurants right now.  
• Reducing commissions for those merchants already on DashPass and providing all Caviar restaurants with the opportunity to participate in a $0 delivery fee program. 
• Changing the default delivery method to a no-contact option to minimize contact between Dashers and customers. With this update, “Leave it at my door” will be the default drop-off option, and customers will have the choice to select “Hand it to me” if they prefer. 
• Earmarking up to $20 million for merchant marketing programs to generate more revenue for restaurants already on DoorDash. Note, DoorDash has said they may iterate on or modify their approach, including the type, amount, criteria and duration of aid, as conditions change. 

Grubhub is also providing relief for restaurants by deferring commission fees for impacted independent restaurants, in addition to: 

• Matching all promotions run by independent restaurants with their Smart Promotions feature to help make their growth investments twice as effective 
• The Grubhub Community Relief Fund, which sends Donate the Change contributions to charitable organizations that support drivers and restaurants impacted by the coronavirus outbreak 
• Implementing contact-free delivery at checkout, so customers can safely continue to support their favorite local restaurants 

Beginning in the U.S. and Canada, Uber Eats announced efforts to support the restaurant industry, including driving customer demand by waiving the delivery fee on all orders from independent restaurants. They’ve also launched a daily pay-out feature to help restaurant cash flows. Similar efforts have been announced in Australia, New Zealand, the U.K., France and Latin America, with more to come. Other efforts include: 

• “Leave at door” delivery: They’ve advised customers to use the no-contact feature at checkout or communicate alternate instructions directly in-app 
• Uber Eats phone assistance: Beginning in France, customers without a smartphone have the option to use a dedicated phone number and get assistance to order a meal 

NCR is committed to helping restaurants of all sizes navigate the many challenges of the coronavirus outbreak. For more information on off-premise optimization, takeout and delivery options - please contact NCR.  

Our restaurant solutions experts are in the trenches with our customers, working hard to help provide guidance, solutions and recommendations. For other COVID-19 resources, articles and stories, visit NCR.com/coronavirus/restaurants.