Ways to Enhance the Customer Experience Through Food Delivery Branding

Over the past year, restaurants have been given the unique opportunity of connecting with their customers from their homes. Normally, when a customer comes in contact with the brand, six out of 10 times they're entering the restaurant's dining room. But during the pandemic, restaurants have been able to switch this dynamic and they're the ones entering their customer's dining rooms. As restaurants venture into their customer's homes, many of them for the first time ever, connecting with customers is more important now than ever. Enter: The importance of food delivery branding. 

Though things are starting to open back up, many families are still utilizing delivery and takeout options much more frequently than they were in the past. By being extremely intentional with food delivery branding and packaged customer touchpoints, restaurant owners are able to improve the customer experience as a whole and create connections that last.

Food Delivery Branding + Customer Experience

With delivery, people are looking to be able to experience your restaurant, but from the comfort of home. Many restaurants miss this opportunity to offer a delivery experience worth repeating by just placing their food into boxes and using styrofoam containers and cups. 

As restaurants are now living in a time where delivery is being relied on heavily by customers, the experience had by customers with packaged food and drink needs to be examined a little deeper.

Think about this: A customer opens the package of your food in their kitchen, what's their first thought upon opening? How does the look and feel of the package make them feel? Is there more to take in than just food inside of a plain box? 

We're not so subtly hinting at the elements of branding. When directly delivering to the customer, you eliminate the human element and the environmental element. You're really putting the conveyance of your brand in the hands of the paper goods and packaging that will be touched by the hands of your customer. 

Packaging is a great opportunity to relay your message to the consumer. By using your packaging surfaces to tell a story, you can connect with your customer and draw them closer to the brand. We understand that custom-printed packaging may not be in the budget but there are other ways to add a personal branded touch by using items like labels or stickers on standard cups, boxes, bags, etc. 

The demand by customers to be immersed in an experience is heavily increasing. Without being able to utilize your team or physical space to help create that experience, you've got to play on the tools at hand. 

In addition, make sure you don't miss the opportunity to embrace and encourage community through your food delivery branding. The stronger the experience, the more your packaging is able to create connection, which will lead to more traction with social media sharing, and more so now than ever, consumers are glued to their phones.

The main point is, create an experience that consumers can connect with and make sure it aligns with your brand. 

What You Can Do Now

All of that being said, how can you create an experience within your takeout or delivery packaging? 

Similar to the physical space, you need to address each and every customer touchpoint. Take a well-rounded look at the experience you're currently providing. 

Are opportunities for creating connections being missed by using plain, white cups? Are messaging opportunities being missed that could quickly be harnessed by adding a note card into the bag? Is there anything that could be included that will exist in the home long after the take-out boxes are tossed into the recycling bin? 

Promo products, like reusable cups, magnets, reusable shopping bags (or canvas bags), t-shirts, and laptop stickers can all be a simple addition to each takeout order that helps your restaurant stick around in the homes of both your loyal and new customers. 

Also, don't forget the kids, if it makes sense for your segment of course. By including a coloring menu and crayons for kids, you can bring in the essence of the dine-in experience and also help parents enjoy their meal more by occupying their children. It's a win-win for everyone.

We previously mentioned that the better your packaging looks, the more likely it is that customers will snap a pic and post it to their social platforms.  It's imperative to make the meal an experience that speaks to them while also including all handles and hashtags for your restaurant brand so they're more likely to share on socials. This promotes connection with your brand via a digital platform that's at the fingertips of your current and future customers. 

Lastly, including a coupon for a future order is something to consider. This coupon could be redeemed in-store or online. 

This leads to the fact that while delivery orders have risen in popularity, you should be taking advantage of the opportunity to collect email addresses. This is something that you would not typically be able to gather when customers are eating dine-in only. Once collected, you will need a plan to follow-up, spark a reorder, and inspire a customer relationship that lasts. 

Keeping That Connection Going

Now that a customer has ordered from you once, what's next? Consider introducing a drip campaign to keep the conversation going and deepen the connection. Send a chain of automated emails that thank them for their order, ask them to leave a review, and lastly, provide a coupon. 

Ask customers to follow you on socials, and keep creating and curating content that's both valuable and engaging in hopes that this will draw them to continue placing to-go orders and of course eventually dine-in at the restaurant. 

Though times have been tough, take this opportunity to strengthen your food delivery branding and you'll see a rise in delivery and take-out orders.

Keep in mind, the cost of developing this customer experience isn't an expense. It's an investment. An investment that pays you back in spades through increased orders and building a stronger connection between the brand and customer. 

Wondering how to move forward after the impacts that COVID-19 has had on the restaurant industry? We have written a blog that outlines some of the positives that have come of this unprecedented change in the market. 

If you need a strategic restaurant branding expert to help you through the process of creating a bold food delivery branding experience, give us a ring. We're ready to deliver.