Are batched app orders hurting restaurant reputations?

Do you need a treat every day? You're not alone. Over half of surveyed consumers said they had dessert within the past 24 hours. Grab a sweet and take a seat for today's edition of The Prep. 🧁

On the menu:
⚫️ Batched orders bother customers
⚫️ More restaurants are considering service fees
⚫️ Convenience stores are competition, too

Batched orders could hurt a restaurant's reputation

DoorDash and other delivery apps like to bundle or batch multiple orders in one trip, but a new survey found these orders can disappoint customers. Deliveries often take longer, and customers have cited issues with food temperatures. Overall, satisfaction with batched orders was 79%, 10 points less than satisfaction with nonstop orders. Although these deliveries are out of a restaurant’s control, they could impact customers’ impression of an establishment. (Restaurant Business)

The enduring power of desserts 

Even during economic uncertainty, consumers like to treat themselves. This phenomenon might explain the growth in restaurants focused on desserts. According to Yelp data, openings of these shops were up over 50% from May 2023 to April 2024. To compete in the space, some dessert shops have expanded beyond a single popular menu item, like donuts, to give customers multiple opportunities to treat themselves. (Restaurant Dive) 

Seattle’s coming minimum wage increase puts restaurants In a bind

At the end of the year, the city’s minimum wage is set to rise and the tip credit is set to expire, leaving restaurants with hard choices to make. Some might consider eliminating tipping and turning to service fees, but these are widely unpopular with diners across the country. Others could replace some server duties with kiosks and QR codes. 

Brandon Pettit, the Seattle restaurateur behind establishments like Delancey, sums up the dilemma like this: “I’m perfectly happy removing tipping, but removing tipping will have immense effects throughout the industry,” he says. “A lot of places will go out of business, and a lot of front-of-house workers will get pay cuts, which is a problem, but a lot of back-of-house workers will get pay increases, which is a good thing. So it’s an incredibly complicated scenario.” (Eater) 

 The Digital Restaurant: 'Will restaurant traffic ever grow again?'

“If you understand who your customer is, and you've already got them as a loyal customer, or at least a customer that knows who you and your brand are, then maybe you've got some opportunity there to be able to figure out how exactly to message to them, to remind them of you and your brand, and also to encourage them back in.” - Meredith Sandland, CEO of Empower Delivery 

There’s mixed financial news in the restaurant industry right now, but that doesn’t change the big picture, say Carl Orsbourn and Meredith Sandland, co-hosts of The Digital Restaurant podcast. “We are on a long, slow march to greater convenience,” and that will benefit restaurants in the long run, says Sandland, as Osbourn criticizes the loss of personal interaction. The duo also discuss the reasons why delivery platforms such as DoorDash are continuing to grow while the industry is in decline, and how restaurants can take advantage of AI. (Digital Restaurant)

⚫️ Meet the country’s best new bartenders

⚫️ Convenience stores pose a growing threat to restaurants
⚫️ Robots can serve diners, can’t replicate human hospitality 

4%

Current level of retail vacancies in the U.S., which is an all time low. While this should be good news for shops and restaurants, real estate recovery has been uneven. For example, in some parts of NYC, the retail vacancy rate is 32%, Modern Delivery points out. (Brookings)

What we’re reading: Modern Creole: A Taste of New Orleans Culture and Cuisine by Eric Cook, the beloved chef behind New Orleans restaurants Saint John and Gris-Gris. In addition to recipes for his famous oyster BLT and Kréyole 75, Cook includes personal history, such as his experience moving from the military to the kitchen. As he told Garden and Gun, “People were barking orders at you, coming at you from everywhere. ‘Yes sir’ to ‘yes chef’ was an easy transition.” 

Who we’re following: The Bitchy Waiter (aka Darron Cardosa) served tables for over 30 years and now serves up his hilarious thoughts on diners and the restaurant industry on Instagram and Threads.

Thank you for reading The Prep.

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