EatsNotApps.com
3rd party delivery apps. During the pandemic with government-imposed restric- tions on in restaurant dining along with customers staying home and adhering for calls for us to social distance and limit traveling within our com- munities, things have gotten worse for restaurant owners and their staff with Statistics Canada data also showing a decline between 14 to 35 percent in restaurant food and beverage sales since the pandemic. So, I know what you’re saying to yourself right now, if restau- rants are losing money, why do restaurants use these third-party apps? Well, the answer is simple, because of the successful marketing cam- paigns by these third-party apps companies’ business cannot afford not to be listed
SUPPORTING LOCAL EATS NOT THIRD-PARTY APPS!
by Lee Ann Atwater
Wanting to keep the doors to Boneheads BBQ open for takeout, she wanted a solution to limit her losses from having customers use third-par- ty apps, Wheatley approached marketing and design firm Visual Voice in Truro, Nova Scotia. “Boneheads BBQ was already doing everything they could by setting up for take-out, online ordering and local delivery,” explained Visual Voice’s director Nuri Guerra “the problem was down to educating the consumer about the impact their use of these apps is having on the eateries.” As the latest covid lockdown hit the Halifax Regional Municipality, well all of Nova Scotia for that matter, Wheatley and Guerra’s response was to launch the website EatsNotApps. com to raise awareness of the issue and promote, free-of-charge, any and all HRM restaurants that offer other forms of delivery or take out. The site includes links to restaurant websites with enticing photos and a map listing their locations. Sadly, since the recent launch of the website EatsNotApps.com, some of the restaurants listed have had to close either temporarily or perma- nently. The restaurant industry is built on loyal custom- ers and that comes from restaurateurs offering more than just great food but more important- ly a fantastic customer experience whether the customer is dining in, grabbing takeout or using
S ince the pandemic, there has been a call to stay in our communities and to support local eateries to help them and their staff to survive the fluctuating restrictions that have been placed on the food and beverage industry, well all businesses for that matter. When supporting local businesses lets make sure that the revenues for your food and beverage purchases are truly staying in the communities these businesses serve. It is super convenient to use one of the highly marketed food delivery apps like UberEats, DoorDash, and SkipTheDish- es. However, consumers need to be aware there is a high cost associated with that click and order convenience for these international delivery apps. If you have used any of the above-mentioned food delivery apps then you know that the customer pays a delivery fee of up to $5.99 upfront for
“Even though I don’t make a profit with them I need the cash flow to keep the business going; I feel a responsibility to my staff and all my loyal cus- tomers to survive this.” as a restaurant that offers these services so that they can be seen by the potential customer’s aka hundreds of thousands of apps users. “I cannot do without them during Covid, I tried,” says Bone- heads BBQ owner Cindy Wheatley. “Even though I don’t make a profit with them I need the cash flow to keep the business going; I feel a respon - sibility to my staff and all my loyal customers to survive this.”
these services. But did you know that the bulk of the costs of these food delivery services are in hidden commission fees of 20-30 percent that the restaurants must pay to offer these services to their customers. According to Statistics Canada data, the average Canadian restaurant has a profit margin of only 4-6 percent, yes, those numbers are correct! This means many of the restaurants that offer and use these highly nationally advertised apps, lose money with every purchase made through these
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JUNE 2021 • SPOTLIGHT ON BUSINESS MAGAZINE
SPOTLIGHT ON BUSINESS MAGAZINE • JUNE 2021
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