Executive Insight: Contactless Food Pickup and Delivery

1. How has customer demand for self-service and fresh food changed the restaurant and food-service model?

Food delivery and pickup was on an upward swing before the pandemic, and stay-at-home orders accelerated the trend even further. Food service operators have had to shift their focus to off-premise sales, and reducing face-to-face contact has changed the concept of hospitality. The customer experience now encompasses freshness of the food, as well as safety, security, and the convenience self-service provides.

2. How can contactless, self-service food delivery and pickup options enhance customer confidence and satisfaction?

Where contactless food pickup and delivery might’ve been considered a convenience pre-pandemic, it’s now not only expected—it’s also essential. Instead of worrying anyone could rifle through their order while placed at a communal station, customers can have confidence, knowing their food is being held in a secure, insulated cubby while waiting to be picked up.

3. How can self-service food delivery and pickup reduce labor costs?

Minnow enables self-service food pickup, so both customers and delivery drivers are able to retrieve orders with one click of a text message. This frees up staff time since they no longer need to manage the order pickup process, hand out orders, or call out names. Instead of playing traffic controller, staff can focus on making food and providing customer service.

4. Describe how Minnow’s pickup lockers enhance sustainability initiatives?

Minnow Pickup Pods were designed for multiple use cases, including scheduled group delivery. That means multiple food orders can be placed at a restaurant to be delivered at the same time to an office building, multi-family dwelling, or a college campus, among other scenarios. This is a tiny action that can have huge impact. Being able to consolidate orders reduces the number of individual deliveries, taking drivers off the road and reducing greenhouse gases.