DoorDash Pressures McDonald’s to Get Orders Right, Faster

DoorDash the food ordering and food delivery platform is to start penalizing McDonald’s restaurants for slow service and order mistakes, according to a report by the Wall Street Journal.

DoorDash Pressures McDonald’s to Get Orders Right

In a bid to ensure that customers know when their orders will be delivered and that they receive their orders on time DoorDash will start penalizing eateries by raising its commission rates. This could mean commission rates jumping as high as 20% per order starting next year.

In addition, McDonald’s restaurants that reach a certain threshold of customer refunds will be required to pay for those refunds themselves. Eateries that are in compliance with delivery time rules, will be charged as low as 11.6% in commission fees.

According to the new measure, higher rates will kick in when drivers have to wait more than four minutes after arriving to pick up an order. According to DoorDash’s policy, delivery is considered late when the amount of time taken to travel to the merchant and/or to the customer exceeds the estimated time, taking into account factors outside of the deliverer’s control including wait time at the merchant.

Looking Towards Faster Deliveries

The latest measure comes at the heels of DoorDash’s bid to improve efficiency cut losses and provide customers with fast reliable deliveries. In December last year, DoorDash announced it is introducing DashMart, a fast grocery deliveries service that promises to deliver groceries within 10-15 minutes starting in New York. With over 2,000 items, DashMart offers a wide assortment of fresh and frozen grocery staples, snacks, household goods, and local products to fulfill customers’ last-minute shopping needs.

Costs and Impact of Food Delivery Delay

Customer dining habits in recent years have changed thanks to a busy lifestyle and post COVID-19 era. More people are opting to eat in, thus relying on food deliveries. Restaurants and eateries are responding by partnering with delivery service providers such as DoorDash, GrubHub, and Ubereats to address the growing demand. However, getting orders wrong and late deliveries fuels customers’ dissatisfaction and threaten the loss of business.

As a restaurant owner, you will need to be on top of your delivery operations as much as your onsite operation. Some things to consider to raise your delivery game can include:

Making your menu available online: By offering your menu online you help bring automation and expedite the ordering process. Customers will know exactly what to get and the cost of the meals upfront. You will also need to optimize your menu items for delivery by selecting items that you feel will travel well without any mishaps.

?Investing in quality packaging ensures that the food travels well: no one likes to receive a food delivery that is soggy and dripping. Fight the urge to cut corners by using substandard delivery packages and risk harming your brand and business.

Apologize and compensate when you are at fault: there is nothing like a sincere apology and compensating customers when you are in the wrong. At the very least your customers will appreciate that you own up to your faults and are willing to make amends.

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This article, "DoorDash Pressures McDonald’s to Get Orders Right, Faster" was first published on Small Business Trends