It’s becoming harder and harder for restaurants to get seen by customers on platforms like Uber Eats, Just Eat, and Deliveroo. In fact, there were 158,000 restaurants using Deliveroo alone in 2022.
That’s a lot of competition to contend with, which can make it challenging for you to cut through the noise and reach potential customers.
So how exactly can you boost your visibility on these platforms?
We’re here to answer this question.
In this article, we’ll show you what factors affect visibility, and how you can use this information to make sure your restaurant is seen by as many potential customers as possible.
What factors affect visibility on takeaway apps?
Before we look at how to boost your visibility, let’s cover some of the factors that can influence how many customers see your listing.
Customer ratings and reviews
Positive customer reviews and high ratings can significantly impact your visibility. It shows delivery apps that your food is good and that customers like it. As a result, they'll be more likely to boost your listing in the rankings and help you reach more customers.
Images of your food
Figures from Deliveroo found that listings with images of their menu items can boost their orders by 24%. Why? Because images not only show potential customers how good your food looks, but also that you’re trustworthy.
Think about it. Would you be happier ordering food online from a restaurant that has images of their food, or a restaurant that doesn’t? We know which we’d prefer.
Number of visitors to your listing
If your listing gets a lot of visitors, delivery apps can see that your food is in-demand. And when your food is in-demand, delivery apps want you to reach as many people as possible.
The more money you make, the more money they make, so they’re more likely to boost it in their rankings.
Order acceptance rate (OAT)
Most delivery platforms will review how many orders you accept in comparison to how many orders you reject. If you reject too many orders, your listing position can take a hit. In fact, the Deliveroo algorithm pushes restaurants with a high order acceptance rate to the top of the list.
Estimated order duration (EOD)
EOD is the time it takes for a customer to receive their food after making an order. The faster you can whip up your dishes, the shorter the EOD. And with a shorter EOD, you have a better chance of placing higher up in the restaurant list.
Amount of orders during different times of the day
Most delivery apps will prioritise listings that are popular during certain times of the day. For example, if you get a lot of orders at lunch time, the apps will boost your listing during this time period. This means you’re more likely to reach customers during your peak times.
Quality of food
Delivery apps want customers to order food, right? So it makes sense for them to push the restaurants that provide customers with good-quality, delicious food. Plus, customers expect restaurant-quality food when they order online.
If customers leave reviews that show your food is good quality, it can help you climb the rankings to reach more customers.
5 tips to improve your visibility on delivery apps
Let’s take a look at five ways to improve your Just Eat, Deliveroo, and Uber Eats ranking.
1. Focus on customer feedback
The more positive reviews your restaurant franchise receives, the better your rankings are. It’s that simple.
Here are a couple of ways you can encourage customers to leave reviews:
- Offer an incentive: Give customers a reason to leave a review by offering an incentive. For example, you could offer a discount on future orders or a free dessert when they leave a review.
- Provide a good service: If you want customers to leave positive reviews, you have to give them an experience worth reviewing. Being responsive to their queries, offering a speedy delivery time, and making delicious food are all ways you can provide a good service and encourage them to leave a review.
Positive reviews also make customers more likely to buy from you. According to a survey from Statista, 94% of respondents said that positive reviews make them more likely to use a business.
And as we already know, when you get more orders, delivery apps will also boost you in the rankings.
2. Deliver your food quickly
Speedy delivery is no longer a bonus, it’s essential for today’s diners. This report from Papu.io found that delivery time is the most likely factor to influence satisfaction when ordering food online.
Another study found that 34% of diners expect a hot-food delivery within 30 minutes. Plus, 54% would blame the restaurant for a late delivery — not the delivery company.
In other words, a late delivery can negatively impact their perception of your brand. This could lead to negative reviews or customers not ordering from you again — both of which can influence your position in the delivery app list.
Take a look at these tips to make sure your food reaches customers as quickly as possible:
- Review your food preparation process. Make sure your food prep processes are as smooth and efficient as possible. This involves how you prepare the ingredients, how you make the food, how you package it. By streamlining these processes, you can make the food as quickly as possible when an order comes in.
- Work with a virtual brand company: By partnering with a virtual brand partner (like us at Peckwater Brands — hi 👋), you’ll get access to efficient menus with a minimal prep time. In fact, most of our partners can prepare all of their meals in as little as eight minutes, which improves your overall food-delivery time. Find out more about working with us!
- Create a designated collection area. The quicker you hand-off to delivery drivers, the faster your overall order times will be. By having a designated food-collection area, drivers can easily pick up the food and take it to your customers. It also means that drivers know where to collect food during busy periods, preventing delays and ensuring the food leaves the kitchen as quickly as possible.
4. Offer discounts and rewards
Discounts and rewards are a great way to encourage customers to buy from you again. And when customers make repeat purchases, it shows the delivery apps that your food is good quality. As a result, they bump you up in the restaurant list.
The best way to offer discounts and rewards is to launch a loyalty scheme.
A loyalty programme involves offering customers a discount or free item when they buy a certain amount of food. For example, after ordering from your restaurant five times, they get a discount on their sixth order.
Each delivery app operates a slightly different structure for running loyalty schemes. You can find out more about the different loyalty schemes in this article: How to Set-up a Loyalty Scheme for your Deliveroo, JustEat and Uber Eats Customers.
5. Use high-quality images
We’ve already touched on the benefits of using images in your food listings and how it can boost your positions in the restaurant listings. On top of this, it’s also important to consider the quality of the images you’re using.
If images of your food are low-quality, pixelated, or from an unflattering angle, you risk giving off a bad impression. But with attractive, high-quality images, customers are much more likely to want to place an order. This article found that companies with high-quality food images made an average of almost five times more than those that didn’t.
Here are some tips for taking top-quality photos of your menu items:
- Arrange your food: Make your food look as aesthetically pleasing as possible to get the best images. This means positioning the food for the best angle and showcasing the key elements. For example, if shooting a burger, you’ll make the burger look as full, fresh, and delicious as possible.
- Think about the angle: Let’s use a burger as an example again. If you take a birds-eye shot of a burger, you’ll miss all the filling (which is what the customer really wants to soo). By making sure that you get the right angle to cover all the filling, the customer gets a better idea of what the burger looks like and how delicious it’ll taste.
- Be realistic: Although it’s important for images to make the food look delicious, it shouldn’t be unrealistic. You don’t want customers to be disappointed when they receive their food, so keep this in mind when taking your photos.
- Work with an expert. If you’re not confident in taking high-quality images of food, work with someone who is. For example, if you work with Peckwater Brands, we’ll take care of all the images and make sure the food looks mouth-wateringly delicious 🤤.
Increase your restaurant visibility with our virtual brands
Working with a delivery franchise partner like Peckwater Brands will help you reach more customers, maximise your capacity, and increase your restaurant revenue. Plus, we’ll take care of your listings, branding, and marketing, which means we’ll take care of boosting your listings on the delivery apps.
Get in touch today to find out more about launching a virtual brand from your kitchen!
