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Those that do dine-in.... dine-in only?

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rocktonic

New member
i am opening with a prime focus on dine-in and still not sure if to offer delivery or not. i have been watching the number of deliveries that have been going out from the main two competitors (local indys) who are also large dine-in but offer delivery and have been disapointed in the delivery results. they both do great dine-in/carry out, but the truth is that our area has houses that are very spread out so i have repeatedly seen drivers take single orders and be gone for 30-45 minutes with just that one order.

being a start up i know it is VERY important to try and explore every option in order to build customers and volume, but the more ive been watching the main competition(and others) it seems that delivery is only a small portion of their business, yet with driver wages, insurance and what not, it all adds a lot of extra obligations towards my breakeven, which of course i would like to lower as much as possible to give me the best shot to get to breakeven and then profitable… i would love to just get any insight from any of you. and as far as my dine in goes, i will be offering full service dine in with seating for around 65 as well as serving beer and wine.
 
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In 2010, a pizza customer still expects delivery, and will be surprised that you don’t deliver.

Having said that, some of the most successful chains today, LC and Papa Murphys, don’t deliver.

Given your demo, (mine is similiar), I respect your plan not to deliver. But you need to carefully prepare your employees response when they are asked. when you see them hang up the phone enough times, from people who only want delivery, you will start to second guess yourself. You’ll have to find a way to turn your negative into a positive.
“Unfortunately sir, we don’t deliver, but if you would like to pick up your order, the 2 liter is on me!”

2 good demos your gonna miss is mom who doesn’t want to pack the kids in the car to come pick it up, and people who are watching the game, and don’t wanna leave the tv. You might do some real targeted marketing to get them to pickup before the game, or curbside service “If you call us from the parking lot, we’ll bring the order out to your car”
 
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We do dine in/carry out only. (we have tried delivery in the distant past).If there is any way possible to avoid delivery, do so. If it is not your main focus, it is a lot of work and hassle for not much return.
 
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I’ve been pleasantly surprised that since we opened March 1st. we have had not one single request for delivery but we do a large carry-out trade.

We’re a town of 3500, I’ve got 2 chains represented which both deliver (for a fee), and we’re set up as a full service “Family Pub” with a complete menu from burgers to steaks with pizza playing a sizable part of our equation.

Personally, delivery is not going to be a consideration for us. I scouted out the competition as part of our business plan development and determined that it just would not be economically feasible, nor missed.
 
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pizzapirate,
The issue here is, with his demo, rocktonic thinks he won’t do enough delivery business to cover the insurance expence, even if he had no additional labor and let his dishwasher or extra cook take the deliveries.

At a monthly premium of say $400, and a delivery charge of $2 (which may be high, and assuming he keeps it all), he’ll still need 50 deliveries a week to cover just the insurance. I get the impression rocktonic thinks that doesn’t look realistic based on his competitors.
 
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napoli kinda hit it on the head… i have not seen good delivery volume out of the local indys who do good carryout and dine in, and esp in an area where EVERYONE offers free delivery, i cant see really turning much of a profit on the delivery side. so i guess what i am asking is with that in mind and with available seating inside, is the volume build and possible client loss from not offering delivery able to be offset in your experiences?
 
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