A US Pizzeria owner found a way of making money by ordering his under-priced pizzas through a delivery App that he had been unknowingly added to.
Aj’s NY Pizzeria was always against offering a delivery service as they felt it would ruin the experience of dining in and would end up competing against the likes of Domino’s.
Unexpected Complaints
In March 2019, the Pizzeria started getting customer complaints that they had either received the wrong pizza or that pizzas were being delivered cold. The owner quickly checked Google and to his shock could see that a delivery option had been added to the Google Listing. The delivery option had been added and managed by a company called DoorDash.
DoorDash would control the orders and then phone each order through to Aj’s Pizzeria and pick up the orders when they were ready to then deliver to each customer. DoorDash were causing serious problems for the Pizzeria by not using the correct bags for the pizzas to keep them nice and hot which lead to many complaints about the pizzas being delivered cold which employees had to then deal with along with bad online reviews.
Incorrect Product Listings
DoorDash were advertising the products are incorrect prices, for example a pizza that should be $24 was being sold for $16 by DoorDash. This led to much confusion that the restaurant owner had to put it to the test. The pizzeria anonymously ordered 10 pizzas at $16 each, costing $160 and had them delivered to a friend. When the order was collected the pizzeria was then paid $240, giving the pizzeria an additional profit of $8 per pizza.
To maximise profits, the next order that was put through was boxed up without any toppings giving the pizzeria even more profit from the incorrect prices. DoorDash did not catch on to what the pizzeria were doing after several weeks of placing these orders and making a profit.
Demand Testing
It turns out that DoorDash have a testing period where they will copy a restautant’s menu and offer items at a cheaper price to gain customer retention and then go to that restaurant with positive order data that has been collected over a certain period of time. As many restaurants and takeaways may be unaware of how they were able to get so many orders, by cutting prices for instance, they may see the positive data and sign on to use a delivery company such as DoorDash and then start having to pay fee’s to them.
A Unique App is More Profitable
With a Smart Restaurants App you would not experience any of the issues Aj’s NY Pizzeria experienced with DoorDash. A unique App is far more profitable than being on a generic App such as JustEat or Deliveroo, where you have to pay extensive fees and have the added risks of a third party making inevitable mistakes like delivering cold food. With your very own App you can control the menu and the prices along with certain features such as a Collection or Delivery service, cash or card payments. You can also offer loyalty to your customers which will persuade them to order with you over any other ordering app or even a competitor.
Take a look at our Editions and Bespoke Apps to find out more and get in touch with us to discuss an App for your Restaurant or Takeaway.
