How mismanaged delivery data can affect your business 

Restaurants have been navigating third-party to the best of their ability since it’s rise to popularity in the last decade, and many have embraced delivery as an opportunity to grow and succeed in unprecedented times. 

Delivery has proven fruitful for savvy operators, and adoption is at an all-time high due to the 2020 pandemic. Delivery popularity is climbing, and it doesn’t seem like it’s going to slow down anytime soon: The 2021 QSR Operational Index found a 7,500% increase in the third-party delivery channel from 2018 to 2021.  

As much as the industry has evolved in the past three years, however, delivery dilemmas remain: Operators remain skeptical about their reporting, frustrated by the lack of visibility into their delivery data, and unsure of how to move forward amidst ongoing delivery losses, overpaid fees and royalties, and the various operational and financial headaches that are symptomatic of mismanaged delivery data.  

Mismanaged delivery data is common, and it’s easy to overcome with the right tools. If you’re afraid that your delivery data and reporting is inaccurate, you’re not alone—In fact, you’re likely in the majority. In most cases, the blueprint for delivery data losses looks like this:  

1. You lack visibility into what happened 
   Cash loss is occurring in the delivery process, but you’re not sure where or exactly how much
2. Lack of visibility into why it happened 
   There are unpaid cancels, refunds, and missing items to account for, but there is no way to figure out exactly why the loss occurred.  
3. Without knowing what and why, you can’t improve your processes 
   You need to balance your books for overpayments of fees to report back to the Delivery Service Providers (DSPs). You also need to remediate canceled orders and improve your operation to eliminate and reduce errors.  

If you’re unable to improve your operation, eliminate and reduce errors, and get that visibility into the ‘what’ and the ‘why’, third-party delivery issues may wreak havoc on your operations and finances in the following ways:  

Overpaying fees and taxes 

With little-to-no visibility into delivery losses, it’s increasingly difficult to reconcile data with DSPs. If you are unable to identify what losses occurred and why they occurred, how can you ensure you’re paying the right amount for DSP fees and taxes? 

Inefficiencies resulting in hours of lost time 

Time is money, and there’s no business that is truer than the restaurant business. You’re understaffed and managing turnover while working against rising inflation and wage increases. If your team is attempting to reconcile third-party delivery fees, they are being buried under hours of tedious spreadsheet work, instead of working on tasks that directly contribute to increasing that bottom line. 

Skip the headaches—Ensure data accuracy and nip delivery losses in the bud. Automate your delivery reconciliation efforts and replace manual reconciliation with your custom Delivery dashboard to get accurate, precise reporting daily without the chaos of spreadsheets.