How to Run Your Restaurant During COVID: Best Practices

The restaurant industry has been hit especially hard from the pandemic. But it looks like the situation is changing as coronavirus restrictions ease, and restaurants start making small steps to rebuild their businesses.

Allset is committed to supporting local kitchens, and we want to share a few major tips that will help your restaurant:

• Grow your business in the current environment
• Work with 3rd-party services without paying big fees
• Successfully reopen for dine-in

Sound good? Let’s dive in.

1. Offering digital pre-ordering is a new normal

As social distancing measures are still in place, diners are turning to delivery and pickup options, with takeout already named the ‘new dine-in.’

Even though restaurants are allowed to serve takeaway meals, they have to follow precautionary measures laid out by the government to guarantee the safety of guests and staff.

With that in mind, restaurants should enable Digital Pre-Ordering for diners who are planning to visit, as well as Contactless On-Site Ordering for customers in-store. This will minimize lines, person-to-person interaction, and the amount of time spent in the restaurant.

2. Keep your margins healthy when working with 3rd-parties

Ordering online has become the new norm. Today, instead of regular dining out routine, diners go to restaurant websites before visiting and use online ordering services listed there.

That’s why we highly recommend doing these two things on your website:

• List commission-free digital ordering platforms as your primary options for visitors to pre-order at your restaurant
• Put costly delivery services separately from your commission-free partners, or remove expensive platforms from your website completely

Delivery apps charge high commissions on each order (25%-40%), eating away all your profits. Directing website visitors to commission-free options will allow your customers to order your food online with $0 fees for you.

We are very well aware of how much commissions delivery apps take. They have brand recognition, and they use that to their advantage, but during these times when restaurants do not have their dine-in service, that high commission is certainly felt. That’s why I was looking for a platform with a lower commission share to work with. We have our eye on the future, and since it looks like we will do takeout and delivery only for a long while to come, we wanted to build on a takeout platform now. — Hibist Legesse, owner at Bati Ethiopian Kitchen, on partnering with Allset.

Enable the Allset ordering option on your website. Allset is a commission-free digital ordering solution for both your online and in-store visitors. Unlike expensive 3rd-party services, we offer:

• 0% Commission on your existing customers for a lifetime
• $10 discount for all your customers paid by Allset

Here’s how it works: the diner will visit your website and place an online order through Allset. You will receive the order without paying any commission fees.

When the same customer uses Allset again in the future, their orders will be commission-free for you. This is valid on all orders placed through our platform, including the Allset app.

Additionally, we are providing the $10 discount for all your clients to order at your restaurant on Allset.

Reopening for dine-in? Increase table turns. With the new guidelines limiting how many people you can sit, table turnover becomes vital to maximize your dine-in sales.

Allset’s unique feature of pre-ordering a sit-down meal reduces the time your guests spend inside the restaurant. That means more customers can be served hourly and business can generate more profit.

This is achieved by ordering, paying, and tipping ahead of time to ensure that the food is ready within 5 minutes upon arrival, plus there’s no need to wait for a check at the end of the meal.

3. Consider adding curbside pickup

Offering curbside pickup is a great way to keep everyone safer during this difficult time. It’s an efficient takeout solution that allows diners not to enter the restaurant.

It’s no surprise that diners love curbside pickup — they don’t have to leave their vehicle to get the food. On the other hand, your restaurant can complete more orders daily without the need for additional seating.

Curbside Pickup is available on the Allset platform for free, along with a safe No-Contact Pickup option for in-store service.

Restaurants interested to be on our platform can Sign Up for 2 Months Free Period Today so you’re set to run your business more effectively and safely, no matter what.