bake - February 2019 - 12

practical marketing

The Delivery Challenge
Transforming your bakery into the digital age is equally impor-

Scheduled deliveries are generally those early morning deliv-

tant for back of the house and operational efficiency. "We are

eries to businesses that have an account with the bakery. These

blending now our POS, email marketing, online store, loyalty

ﬁrst two types of deliveries are always managed internally, and

program (coming soon) and hoping by using more common

proﬁtable because of the margin on the special deliveries or

technologies there will be more reporting and inventory/stock

the volume on the scheduled deliveries."

plugins to help us," says Janice Jucker, president of Three
Brothers Bakery in Houston.

It's the third type of delivery, short order, that's becoming the
new expectation of consumers, Clements says. "Uber Eats,

As for third-party shipping and delivery, George Keushguerian,

GrubHub, Postmates, and Door Dash are all new businesses

owner of TwinPeaks Online, explains that "no one wants to pay

that have arisen to meet this expectation. I have seen some

for shipping thanks to the dominance of Amazon. But ship-

bakeries already working with some of these companies to

ping costs money. Businesses that want to ship can choose a

boost sales. I strongly recommend retail bakeries to at least

third party, though they may not have a choice in shipping or

check out some of these companies to see if there's an oppor-

delivery fees. If bakeries want to do this in-house, they will need

tunity to meet these short order expectations and increase its

to increase the overhead and raise prices. Or charge for ship-

number of happy customers."

ping. There is no free way to ship."
What about mobile payment?
In the restaurant delivery space, he says, GrubHub, UberEats

"Mobile payments are largely dependent on platform," he adds.

and others all charge delivery fees, and they are the main

"Some POS and payment providers, platforms, and devices

players. Other online platforms like FoodyDirect also charge for

offer this service out of the box while others may not. While

nationwide shipping. These companies often have "free ship-

I still don't think this technology is a must-have in terms of

ping" promotions to add users to their database.

payment methods offered to customers, that may soon change.
Give it another 12 months and the playing ﬁeld may have

A new Visa study reveals that 96% of customers surveyed

shifted more toward mobile payment."

want free shipping from stores and 85% want free delivery
from a restaurant. So how can retail bakeries compete in this

Keushguerian recommends talking to your payments processor

environment?

company or who you purchased your credit card reader from.
Most of these companies, like Pax, Verifone and Ingenico, offer

"Everything, it seems, is being commoditized, and the point

NFC terminals to accept mobile payments, he adds. "If you

of differentiation is becoming, 'How fast can I get it?' The

recently purchased new equipment, some of these companies

specialized nature of a bakery's offerings does create a buffer

will take returns or buy backs. It never hurts to ask."

says Mike Clements, owner of BakeSmart. "As I see it, there are

Where inefficiency hurts most is the back of the house,

three types of deliveries: special, scheduled, and short order.

Keushguerian says. "In general, anything that a staff member

Wedding and event deliveries are categorized as special deliv-

does by hand using paper and pencil can be done more effi-

eries. The bakery is often providing a service beyond driving

ciently using a computer system. Reduce time that's wasted.

a truck from A to B, such as setup of a cake for an event.

That will result in an improved bottom line."

12 < FEB 2019 | bakemag.com

UBER EATS

of sorts from this attitude, but it does not absolve it entirely,"
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