Anyone here implemented a curbside pickup program? Parking has been a major issue at my store so we’re looking to reserve some parking spots and just do an Outback Style curbside program. Problem is, I have no experience with this and am looking for any advice that people can offer. Thanks.
Check with you landlord first – restricted parking is not always an option. If parking is a big issue this would seem a hurdle. Maybe they just call when they are there and say where they are and what car???
I personally don’t like the concept as extra labor is a problem but if parking is severely affecting your business it may be a viable option.
My first thought when I read your post is how is curbside pickup going to solve your parking problem? I can see the reserved parking spaces for carryout, but whether the customer comes in or you have an employee going out, the vehicle is still going to be parked there for about the same amount of time.
I do take orders out to people who have difficulty getting in and out of vehicles (Physically challenged) as a courtesy to them as they are regular customers because of it.
I think it would actually hurt your situation. Prime front parking reserved for pickups…if everyone follows the rules then you have a parking spot left open which no one is supposte to use when you need it for a dine in customer.
Make sure to take the safety of your employee into account as well. I would at the very least install a camera and maybe some extra lighting in the area they will be.
Thanks for the feedback. I suppose I should’ve been more clear that this would be curbside carry-out (they would not be reserved spots for people to sit in the car and eat what we brought out to them). The point about taking away prime spots from dine-in customers is a good one, but as we’re located in a strip mall those spots frequently are overrun by customers looking to dine elsewhere anyway. It may be the landlord won’t agree to the reserved spots, but I am currently planning on the assumption he will (won’t make any purchases until I have reached an agreement).
The employee safety thing is also a very good point. I had thought of the camera needs for the purpose of seeing when a customer pulls up, but not as a safety precaution for my employees.
From a logistics side, I guess what I was wondering is whether anybody has done this on a regular basis – customer calls in an order, pulls up maybe 15 or 20 minutes later, and an employee runs the food out to them. I’m still trying to work out basic questions like whether this move will require an additional staff member to serve as the food runner, what sort of information to take down in the phone call (license plate #, car model, etc.), depending on the number of customers use the service whether to consider an additional dedicated phone line, how to run out orders and still allow people to pay with credit cards, etc. Just basic stuff like that. Any feedback on logistics like this would be great.
Either way, thanks to everyone for the feedback. I’ve been unable to read through this site recently but used to be a regular visitor and always appreciate the willingness to help out another pizza store owner.
Mat
I just got done reading an article about curbside pickup and it was really interesting. The big players all have dedicated staff just for their curbside programs, someone to answers the phones, someone to package, and someone to take it to the customers car. They say that as soon as your curbside sales reach 5% of your business you should have dedicated staff. Some of the big name chain restaurants are doing 12-13% of their sales in curbside, one in particualr is doing just under a million a year per store in their curbside program. How you pack it is very important, so go with the nice stuff. The order just has to be correct each and every time or your sales will suffer and so on… I will pull out the article again and post anything that I missed later today.
No worries man, I’ve read through that article as well. It was definitely interesting, although I’m certainly not going to fool myself into thinking I need the same staffing levels as an Outback doing a million plus.
Thanks for the heads up on the article though.
I don’t think I have any fears of doing a million in take out either, but the article made some very good points. I think what we really have to do is make sure of the accuracy, ready when promised, and quality of food and packaging. I think I can do that with one extra person in my store when we are busy, and with my normal staff when slow. If you attempt to turn it out with normal staff when busy it just seems that a business would be asking for errors and that would kill a take out program really fast!