The new coronavirus, COVID-19, has wreaked havoc on the restaurant industry and eased our psychological distress, to say the least. Many had to quickly shift from dine-in service to food delivery and takeout due to the airborne transmission of this COVID-19 epidemic. Some parts of the world were on track to adopt online delivery technologies and artificial intelligence, like in the Middle East, but other regions, such as Canada, were not well prepared for the COVID-19 pandemic.
As countries around the world implemented quarantines and social distancing measures necessary to contain the COVID-19 pandemic, customers rushed online to order everything from toilet paper to baking flour. With restaurant closures due to COVID-19, food delivery saw a surge—similar to the 20% increase recorded in China at the height of the pandemic crisis, according to TechCrunch. In Dubai, for example, this increase in food delivery was much more significant due to the already high penetration of food delivery apps and aggregators such as UberEats, Talabat, Deliveroo, and Zomato. The COVID-19 outbreak slowed dine-in meals but did not reduce the frequency of food consumption.
However, the increase in food delivery and takeout is not without challenges.
Two words: Restaurant Review. Consumers remain consumers and will now voice their complaints much louder on online review sites, which could harm your online presence. Beyond issues like delivery fees, delays, cold food upon arrival, and infection risk, customers are closely monitoring safety. Is the restaurant aware of infection risks and taking necessary measures to ensure staff safety and prevent COVID (using hand sanitizers, wearing masks, etc.)? Does it comply with constantly changing health restrictions? Are delivery drivers wearing masks during delivery? Is contactless delivery an option? As restaurateurs, it is essential during this period to resolve issues in real time during COVID-19 lockdowns.
Restaurants were among the sectors hardest hit by this COVID-19 pandemic, but many were also able to adopt online food ordering and curbside pickups to provide access to food during COVID-19 confinement. Still, they had to quickly adapt to the new restaurant operating norm, and mistakes are inevitable. The good news is that business owners and operators have an abundance of feedback from customer reviews via online review sites to help detect these mistakes, whether negative or positive reviews. Listening to what customers say and quickly adopting necessary measures is now crucial. One negative review—because you’ve just learned how to manage a smooth and safe food delivery operation—can stop you before you even start. This is an opportunity to turn one bad review into multiple positive ones. It all revolves around managing your online reputation, or simply put, restaurant reviews.
How can the restaurant operations manager listen to all online reviews related to food delivery?
So, if you manage operations for your group of restaurants, what are your options? Well, you first need to identify the different online review sites customers use to leave feedback on a restaurant. You have your usual suspects, such as the delivery apps and aggregators mentioned earlier, as well as those available in other parts of the world, like DoorDash and Skip The Line. But there are other platforms customers might use to complain. These include Google Maps, Facebook, Foursquare (mainly in the Middle East), and even good old Yellow Pages. Keep in mind that some consumers will share their opinions on social media. You don’t want to miss potential negative reviews if you’re unaware of these review platforms or social networks.
In collaboration with your marketing team, operators must ensure they have access to all these platforms or at least regularly receive a summary report. However, this might not be fast enough to react to an operational issue occurring that day when a negative review appears on one of these platforms. What you need is a more automated system to alert you to potential food delivery problems as they happen. This allows you to respond and resolve the issue the same day to avoid receiving further negative reviews, especially during this COVID-19 pandemic.
You can lose 30 potential customers from just one negative review!
One study showed that negative reviews successfully drive customers away from your business to your competitors. Research shows that one negative review scares away 22% of customers—about 30 potential buyers. The percentage of lost sales increases with more negative reviews. If you receive three negative reviews, you drive away 60% of potential customers, and that figure rises to 70% if you receive more than five negative reviews. As a restaurateur, you probably want to see the words “positive reviews” appear again on this blog. Don’t worry—the COVID-19 pandemic will not ruin your online reputation.
With that in mind, can you really afford not to monitor and respond to negative online reviews daily? This can be operationally difficult with a manual process, but fortunately, this is why online reputation management solutions like Localyser exist.
Online review management tools are designed to gather all your online reviews from different web sources and alert you when you receive new negative reviews.
For example, at Localyser, the platform integrates with more than 70 different review sites worldwide.
The COVID-19 crisis has arrived. In conclusion, we have shown that to win in the food delivery and takeout game (the new norm), your best weapon is to listen to what customers are saying so you can quickly adapt to new changes. We will do everything we can to ease the psychological distress caused by accumulating reviews. Contactless delivery, infection risk awareness, and adherence to proper health and safety protocols. Use this time to develop this new revenue stream. After all, this COVID-19 pandemic is not going away anytime soon, and customers won’t be returning quickly. So schedule a demo with us today and improve your business.
