Another type of restaurant that would fall under the category of delivery-only is a virtual restaurant. This is a restaurant that has no physical space other than its kitchen, which is often that of a "parent" restaurant, housing other smaller brands within its operations. Virtual restaurants and their menus only exist online, and operate solely for delivery.
Delivery and takeaway are hardly new concepts. Chinese restaurants in big cities have been capitalizing on both for years, and pizza restaurants probably wouldn't still exist if they hadn't nailed down the process a long time ago.
But delivery as a whole has seen some major transformations in the past decade or so. With more and more restaurants offering and even relying on delivery, we've gained more routes than ever to have food brought to our front door. Whether it's making a phone call, ordering online, or clicking "order again" on any one of our many delivery apps, the delivery business has become much more streamlined. So it's no surprise that we're now seeing even more delivery-only kitchens aiming to capitalize on this.
 |
At face value, a delivery-only kitchen is fairly self-explanatory. It's a kitchen that only offers delivery. Simple enough, right? Right.
Well, the whole picture is often more complex. There are multiple setups that facilitate a delivery-only kitchen. For example, many of them operate out of cloud kitchens. Cloud kitchens are massive, warehouse-like spaces with many cooking stations in which individual restaurants rent out space to prepare food solely for delivery. This lowers overhead costs and allows the restaurants to focus solely on turning out delivery orders as quickly as possible.
Another type of restaurant that would fall under the category of delivery-only is a virtual restaurant. This is a restaurant that has no physical space other than its kitchen, which is often that of a "parent" restaurant, housing other smaller brands within its operations. Virtual restaurants and their menus only exist online, and operate solely for delivery.
In a society where basically anything we want is at our fingertips, the idea of changing out of your PJs on a lazy night just to go grab pizza feels silly. Enter delivery.
As its popularity has risen, so has the infrastructure and software to facilitate it. Once upon a time, you actually had to pick up a phone and give your order and address to someone on the other end in order to get delivery. But now, with services like DoorDash, Grubhub, UberEats, etc., you just click a couple buttons and your. food is en route. This convenience has made delivery all the more appealing to a generation that is making fewer and fewer phone calls.
Plus, restaurants have had to make some major changes amidst the Covid-19 pandemic, and delivery is at the top of that list. While dining rooms operate at limited or zero capacity, and we enter colder months where outdoor seating isn't logical in some climates, delivery and take-out become your only two options for ordering your favorite food.
The most obvious difference is that you can't walk into a delivery-only restaurant and be seated or even place an order. In fact, you might not even know where a delivery-only restaurant operates out of.
Of course, most standard restaurants offer delivery, but along with it they have seating and front-of-house staff to greet you upon arrival. Delivery-only restaurants don't have these frills, rather choosing to focus on streamlining the delivery process. As discussed earlier, many of them may not even operate out of a typical restaurant kitchen, but rather a cloud kitchen or similar facility.
If all that still sounds a little intimidating, we here at Superorder have still got you covered. With the help of our team, you can use your existing operation, however big or small, to launch a virtual restaurant with multiple brands. This means you'll have even more chances to reach consumers, with even less investment.
We'll handle branding, website and menu design, and everything else needed to get you going. All you have to do is what you're best at: make great food (just for more people). If this sounds more like what you need, email us at signup@superorder.com or fill out this form to talk with a team expert!
