Delivery in Times of Corona No:2
I prepared this article for businesses (small or medium-sized) that don’t have much delivery experience in the past. While McDonald’s has lowered the shutter, it’s not a bad idea to scream the world how delicious your french fries are. But it’s not possible to achieve this only by creating an Instagram account.
A social media account which is followed by thousands and even hundreds of thousands is very important in terms of “visibility” and subsequently “awareness”. How about the sale? Marketing methods and tools do not always bring sales. There are a lot of people who have been experiencing this situation in recent days and we all are aware of followers do not mean customers.
As we all know, your shop is closed, that means, you cannot sell directly to those who are passing by your place, your regulars, or your special tastes’ fans. If you have a small business, your place itself, which is your biggest outdoor advertising tool, is closed. You are trying to find the way after a little bit of anxiety and worry. The first thing that comes to mind is to share some “posts/messages with your potential clients, but how? I will answer this question from «restaurant/cafe» businesses’ perspectives as I said in my previous article, but you can implement and at least try these strategies in every field where the demand is in question.
Food Selection
First of all, choose the dish/product that you will call the “hero in the menu”, do not try to sell all your dishes. I suggest you choose one product in the first step, but depending on what your product is, you can include 2–3 varieties of the same product in this process. When you install a system that works for a single dish, you can add new ones or expand your range. Another idea; while choosing the dish, be sure that you have checked the food ordering practices used in the area where you live. When you write your hero’s name in the search section on one of the food delivery application, if there are a small number of places who can deliver, you are advantageous
Packaging
The product produced by people who have a negative Corona test is the most accurate, but this test is not always available. For this reason, you need to work with people who have healthily passed the 14-days quarantine period, live by following the rules of social distance, work by taking hygienic measures such as masks, gloves, and who spend their free time at home. Working such a team or person and promising minimal contact with the food and delivering it in a short time ensure the trust of your consumers. For this reason, I strongly recommend to record this process and put this recorded video aside for evaluation during your communication. We should not forget that products such as toilet paper and pasta — whose shelves are quickly empty — also enter the houses with packages. In other words, the consumer does not hesitate to bring these products, which are located in huge markets where thousands of people walk around. The production processes of toilet papers are managed by really crowded teams but you are less than 10.
Meanwhile, the sources say: « There is currently no evidence to indicate the transmission of COVID-19 through food or food packaging»
There are other sources too that contain this information.
Source: FDA (American Food and Drug Administration) Web address where the relevant text is mentioned: https://www.fda.gov/food/food-safety-during-emergencies/food-safety-and-coronavirus-disease-2019-covid- 19
Source: FSAI (Irish Food Health Authority) Web address where relevant information is provided:
https://www.fsai.ie/faq/coronavirus.html
Transportation
If everything is ok so far, you’re halfway. You should choose delivery options according to your product density and budget. You can either produce or deliver, or you can work with teams for this. Since I think it is more reasonable to adapt to the system in small steps, I think it is best to proceed with few people without risk. Now, the production plan comes into play. How many products you can sell, how much time you need for production? How long can you store? Do not force yourself to take and deliver orders. Currently there is a type of delivery style that we see more often around the world: choosing a delivery day! It means you take orders every day but you deliver it in 1 or 2 days. In other words, instead of “call us we’ll be there asap”, “call, place an order, wait for delivery day” system. No problem here! We are “at home” anyway.
Promotion
Now you need a CTA text and a simple design. You should share this work in both outdoor and digital media. Remember the classical method; You can prepare a mini brochure and distribute it to your delivery area (don’t forget to put one of them in your place’s window). You can expand or improve your call text for social media. I recommend using a sincere, realistic, and reliable tone of voice. Be sure to try to be good enough to claim that you are the “best in the region”. It is not wise to wait for the second chance from the consumer under the conditions we are in now. So if you are good, be really good, otherwise, it is not worth your effort. If you have a “not bad” number of followers on social media, you are lucky to communicate with your potential customers, but don’t be too excited. The follower is not always a customer. For example, everybody knows Jamie Oliver and his cooking videos are watched by millions for hours, but this does not eliminate the fact that he had to close some of his restaurants. Let them know that you are there. Don’t forget to do this with the most delicious photos and besides use smart texts that prove you follow the hygiene rules. People need to know that you are there, you care about their health and you fight back by keeping producing. Do not forget to include production and packaging processes in your contents in a way to increase trust. Maybe you may need to make some discounts, organize campaigns, take long efforts to deliver a single product, but it will be easier to move forward when the system starts up.
The period we are in, have the potential of being the best time to start and practice the “take-out” operation. We hope to be both a more recognizable brand and a more experienced business in delivery when our new normal life begins.
