Your customers are running away to the office

1-min read

Let's be honest, summer has had me a little disconnected. It has been a long time since I last wrote to you. So let me get philosophical this time... time goes by too fast.

It seems that it was yesterday when Covid forced restaurants shut, or when they reopened, but with many (or excessive) restrictions. However, now that many had adapted mainly through Delivery and Take Away services, autumn arrives with the "old normal" under his arm.

There are already many places where restrictions tend to disappear (or almost). With greater flexibility than in the past, most workers have already returned to their offices, or are about to do so. Many restaurants had already become accustomed to having a high volume of delivery orders at lunchtime and during the week. However, many workers who used to order from home are now at the office.

But... why don't we take food to the offices?

First of all, let me emphasize I don't believe the current situation is going to be identical to the pre-covid one. In fact, I firmly believe the role of delivery will be increasingly important. I think we should reflect on how to optimize said service to adapt it in the best way to the different casuistry.

Some companies like Deliveroo in England, have launched an entire division called "Delivery for Work" just to further this use case. Also in England, Pure has set up drop points in offices where workers receive their orders. In Barcelona, Only Breaks has developed specific channels for offices, separate from its usual offer at Only Foodies.

In essence, it is a use case that will give you the ability to manage large volumes of orders in an easy way.

Find here the three key factors of your B2B offer:

1. Specialized menus for offices: the first thing to consider is your target audience. We can differentiate two large groups. The first would be formed by individual employees and the second by groups of employees.
   
   As for the individual employee, it would make a lot of sense to create a reduced version of your regular menu that resembles the traditional, affordable and healthier "set lunch menu". What someone orders in their free time have little or nothing to do with what they would order in their day-to-day routine at the office. As for groups of employees, it is about adapting a menu for large orders (catering type) that they can enjoy in meetings or events at the office, with, for example, boxes or packs that include food for several people.
   
   Having the ability to adapt your offer to each case will allow you to develop a new source of income. In addition, the fact of meeting all that demand with reduced and/or standardized versions of your menu will greatly facilitate your operation.
   

2. Order cut-off time and delivery intervals: setting a cut-off time for a customer to place an order at their office, as well as setting delivery intervals for it, will allow you to optimize the preparation process. You will know in advance how many products, or how much time and resources you need to cook them, being able to organize yourself in the best way.
   
   You will not need a rider for each order as with the usual delivery service. You can group several orders by areas and delivery times, being able to send several orders at the same time, thus reducing the shipping cost to (almost) zero. In addition, since you will get your orders well ahead of having them delivered, you can also take the opportunity to expand your delivery areas to the areas that have more offices or that you decide to cover.
   

3. Development of commercial agreements with companies: the development of the relationship with companies will be very important. Sometimes just through referrals. Others, for example, in the same way as with traditional gourmet checks. Companies can partially and automatically subsidize orders for their employees, benefiting from tax advantages.
   
   The employee (your customer) would enjoy a discount on their online order at Cheerfy Shop. The company would assume the cost of this discount as it usually happens when they pay part of the salary through gourmet checks or similar. Your restaurant would have created a new source of income with all the benefits previously mentioned.
   
   A very illustrative example is that of Honest Greens, which has reached an agreement with WeWork workspaces whereby all workers in these spaces, in Madrid and Barcelona, can order at Honest Greens enjoying different benefits and discounts.

If you are already using Cheerfy, I encourage you to reflect on how this use case can help you.

If you do not use Cheerfy but are thinking about it, we would be happy to explain operations and capabilities in further detail.

I am here to help you.

Tony @ Cheerfy