MAKING MONEY

FOR delivery to be successful it has to attract a lot of customers, and there are four ways Snappy Shopper recommends to drive this tra c: pricing, consistency, marketing and range.

“We’re seeing that customers tend to spend more online, with a 160% increase in customer spend online compared with in store,” says Links.

“To o er your customers adequate choice, we recommend having 2,500 of your top-selling lines in your online product range. There is also an option to add additional categories to promote seasonal items at times like Christmas and Halloween, meaning you can capitalise on trends throughout the year.”

Another way to increase pro ts from delivery is to charge people more for it. Retailers using Deliveroo or Uber Eats will often place a surcharge on their delivered options, compared with in-store will reduce their fuel bills, and also examine their delivery routes more closely.

A haphazard approach can see drivers making the same trips multiple times, but with a more organised system in place, they can reduce petrol costs, driver hours and also customer waiting times, which can drive future orders.

“Consistency and customer service create brand loyalty and lead to repeat orders,” says Links. “Customers want to receive their orders within the stipulated 30-60 minutes, with minimal substitutions.”

Retailer View

“I MADE an on-demand delivery platform at the start of the pandemic, using my store as a dark store at night a er it had closed, but it was a lot of time and e ort. I would close the store at 7pm, go home and eat my dinner, and then I would be out on the road delivering groceries, as I was the only driver. It was so draining, I had to step it back.

purchases, to cover the extra cost of using those services. The downside to this can be that fewer customers may be willing to use your store.

“With on-demand, people are willing to spend more, so we have products that are £14.20 in store that will be £25 when delivered,” says Arjun Patel, from Premier Cavendish Square in Swindon, Wiltshire. “You get fewer customers that way, but you make more pro t.”

Ultimately, if you are to make pro ts from your home delivery service, you need to invest in promoting it so it becomes something that customers want to use regularly.

“From a marketing perspective, it’s all about strong and powerful branding inside and outside the store,” says Links.

“Our marketing team will promote your stores across our social media platforms to drive sales on the app and generate awareness.”

“We’ve got a platform now, which is on the back burner for now, but will enable other stores to join. We’re nalising an algorithm and we’ve got AI involved as well. It will be a separate business to the store.

“My best advice is to focus on revenue and pro t. To drive more revenue, you can charge more money per order, but do fewer deliveries. With higher prices, you can do two or three deliveries yourself and make £50£60 each, or you try to make 20 deliveries that aren’t worth as much and have the stress of getting drivers.”