stopping delivery and offering great C/O deal

anyone consider dropping delivery and giving a great C/O deal like free bread, drink, dessert to get them to come and get it

the reason is tips are going in the crapper and its hard to keep drivers with$4 a gallon coming

While fuel costs were never considered, I have operated profitably for 14 years in a small market without delivery. I think the key is to offer your customers value.

I have always argued that a quality pizza is worth driving for, and you can put the money you save back into the product, which develops a loyal customer base.

The problem you may encounter is the crossover. You are right to offer more as an incentive for customers to switch, but it will take time and much effort to make a smooth transition.

But let’s face it, a lot of changes are taking place, and your customers are dealing with it everyday.

I would never think of not delivering, 50% of my business is delivery. I have a few questions, how much business is delivery? Do you charge for delivery? What do you pay your drivers? I agree with the other poster that the key is to offer your customers value and it sounds like he does well without delivery but how much more could he do with delivery? To him it doesnt matter because he has never done it (of course I always want to make more money so I would add it to my business if I wasnt doing it) But if you are already delivering then it will be hard to lose the money from those sales and you will lose money. People want delivery that is just what they expect in the pizza business. Anyways if you can answer the questions I will see if there are some suggestions I can give.
P.S. EH lol

We pay our delivery guys 5$ an hour. They pay for thier own gas and they do minimal tasks around the place. They make about 25-45 avg in tips…on a good night they made 75 in 6 hours…5 in gas…70 in pocket…they don’t have it that bad…

I know this doesn’t exactly help you, but it’s been an issue I’ve considered in the reverse. Should I ever open a place, I’d start with dine-in or carry-out only. I’d ONLY add delivery if I had to. I want to find those two idiots that started delivery and strangle them.

I think if I was going to start a place again, I would do only delivieries…Find a convenient location in a back alley or industrial area somewhere…No exposure but cheap rent…

im with you on this one boss… I have such good plans but soon i will just do that…

Absolutely royster13!
I sold out all together now, but I had opened as a delco, then decided to double my space (& double my rent) and add dine-in. If I were to do it all over again, delco only, and be the best at that.
Just my opinion…

Perhaps you could reduce the delivery radius and have a designated “meeting place” for those deliveries that were a little farther within your radius?

That way, you’re not totally axing delivery, but your drivers won’t have to go as far?

Most customers, I would think, at the prospect of losing delivery when it was offered before would rather be able to meet you half way than to say “not at all”.

They may not be happy, but you might not lose them as quickly as cutting them off completely…KWIM?

$5 in gas over 6 hours? The must either be making a $10 tip every delivery or the deliveries must be < 1/2 mile from the store.

It is a nice idea for working with the customers . . . but I will never put the scheduling and flow of any part of my business into someone else’s hands. they arrive late, get caught on a phone call, lose track of time, or decide not to come, and I have a very valuable hourly employee hanging out nowhere doing nothing. And my business falling behind the whole while.

It was appreciated by most when we did it, but understood by all when we stopped doing it. One no-show too many.

One of our local chains “Mr. Jims” suggests exactly that. Find a spot where you can have the business that’s in the center of high-density housing (doesn’t mean apartments, just not rural) and open up shop. I can see this working in some areas but not working in others (those with very segmented areas due to zoning regulations).

Can’t imagine not doing delivery. Rather than stopping it, why not just set a higher minimum? There is no way to make up for not doing delivery. You just have to decide if the reduced sales are acceptable to you if you do. I think my thought process would be “how can I increase deliveries” so I can keep more drivers on staff. That way you at least have some flexibility when turnover happens.

I can’t help but laugh at these “$4 gas coming” comments. Thanks to our state taxes and extra regulations, we have been way over that for a while now. Personally, I pay almost $4.50 a gallon for diesel and my last fill up ran me $171.00.