Last mile delivery for restaurants

As with any industry, the delivery world has its own set of terms. One you might have heard of is ‘last mile delivery’. But what exactly is it, and how does it fit into the restaurant world?

Simply put, last mile delivery is the transportation of goods from a distribution hub to their final destination. For restaurants, this means getting food orders out the restaurant door and into the customer’s hands as quickly as possible.

Optimizing last mile delivery requires balancing a number of factors:

·       Speed is critical in restaurant last mile delivery to ensure food remains warm (or cool) when it reaches the customer’s door

·       Timeliness goes hand in hand with speed to ensure an order is in a driver’s hand as soon as it’s left the kitchen

·       Cost must be considered to ensure the restaurant turns a profit on an order

Unfortunately for restaurant owners, the ‘last mile’ of a delivery is usually the most expensive part of the delivery cycle as each individual item has a unique delivery address, losing the benefits that come with economies of scale.

With consumers having almost instantaneous delivery expectations, a myriad of delivery companies have emerged offering delivery solutions for restaurants (think Postmates and DoorDash). These companies utilise technology and analytics to optimize last mile deliveries: for example, reducing trip time by calculating the the quickest route for a driver to take from a restaurant to a customer, or assigning multiple deliveries to a single driver to complete in one trip.

Whether restaurants choose to use a third-party delivery company or use their own in-house delivery drivers, speedy last mile delivery is essential in a restaurant’s success in 2021.