In recent years, the food delivery market has exploded.
Although it has many competitors, Uber Eats stands out as the leader.
Selling on it is a great way to boost sales and reach a wider audience. But there are some things to keep in mind before signing up.
In this article, we'll discuss the process of signing up and the pros and cons of Uber for restaurants.
With this information, you can make an informed decision about whether or not Uber Eats is right for your business.
How Does Uber Eats Work for Restaurants?
It’s pretty simple.
When you sign your restaurant up for Uber Eats, customers using the Uber Eats app will be able to order from you directly through the app.
Once the order is placed, you prepare it, and then a Uber Eats driver will collect and deliver it.
Using Uber Eats offers several benefits to you as a business.
First, we want to discuss the process of signing up and what you’ll need. We’ll go over the pros and cons in detail near the end of this article.
How Do You Sign Up for Uber Eats as a Restaurant?
First, you have to head to Uber Eats’ merchant portal. There you’ll fill in all the necessary information.
Then it’s a bit of a waiting game. Uber Eats will contact you after verifying your business is legitimate.
Once you’ve received approval, Uber will send you an Uber Eats restaurant starter kit, including a tablet loaded with the Uber Eats manager software and a “menu photoshoot.”
Uber will send a photographer to take professional photos of your offerings to be used in the app listings.
Following this, you’ll receive onboarding to learn how to use the Uber system. Uber will integrate with your point of sale to make things smoother.
In the last step, Uber will help you set up your delivery radius (how far away you’ll accept orders), fine-tune your offerings, and finalize payment procedures.
Finally, your store will go live on the Uber Eats app, and customers can order from you.
What Do You Need to Sign Up for Uber Eats
You need a restaurant or take-out place.
In some regions, Uber Eats will also deliver for convenience stores and pharmacies.
The essential information you need is the address of your business, as well as the name and surname of the business owner, an email address, and a phone number.
Because registering for Uber Eats will likely result in a higher volume of orders, plan well for that.
If you fail to keep up, it will tarnish your reputation and your ranking on the app itself.
You’ll also need some cash on hand to get started…
Uber Eats Fees for Restaurants
To sign up for the platform, you’ll need to pay $350 for the tablet and photoshoot.
Uber Eats occasionally has free signup periods, where the $350 fee is waived. If you’re undecided, it can be worth waiting a while to see if one of these comes along.
Past the initial fee, that platform has three payment plans.
Lite
With this plan, your business will only be visible if users search for it by name on the app, so it’ll provide minimal exposure.
With this plan, a percentage of all sales through Uber Eats goes for the facilitator—15% of payments for delivery orders and 6% for in-store pickup orders placed on the app.
Plus
This plan will see your business advertised on the app’s home screen and in general search results.
With this one, Uber takes 25% of payments for delivery orders and 6% for pickups.
Premium
This plan will give you preferred payments in search results and prominent home screen spots.
Uber will refund any fees if you get less than 25 orders a month. Moreover, Uber will match any ad spending up to $100.
The trade-off is a reasonably hefty 30% of delivery order payments and 6% for in-store pickup. It’d be worth looking into value proposition budgeting to figure out if this Uber for restaurants plan would be worth it for you.
Self Delivery
As a side note, Uber Eats also allows you to deliver your orders, and they take a 15% fee per order.
Tips for Effectively Selling On Uber Eats
Uber Eats provides the platform, but you still have to do the work.
Below are some tips on how to do well on Uber Eats.
Uber Eats doesn’t provide information about rankings, but it’s a safe bet to focus on some best practices.
Optimize Conversion
A golden rule in all selling is to optimize conversion.
On the Uber Eats restaurant app, you want to attract as many customers as possible and see their orders fulfilled.
One way to attract customers is through promotions. Uber Eats lets you create specials such as free delivery for orders over a certain amount or “buy one get one free” offers.
Another part of this is providing good service.
Increase Delivery Times
If Uber drivers deliver your orders, you have no control over how fast the drivers get the deliveries done.
However, you control how fast you get them ready and hand them over.
The key to increasing delivery times for Uber restaurants is ensuring Uber drivers get their orders as soon as possible.
It’d be worthwhile to have a unique order fulfillment system in place, and a particular spot in-store, where orders can be handed over quickly.
General Optimization
Finally, you need to optimize your process in general.
You must ensure you’re accepting orders quickly, not canceling any, and minimizing any mistakes.
One crucial recommendation we have is the packaging you use. Make sure to seal orders with tamper-proof packaging to determine if the order has been messed with between your store and the customer’s location.
There have been reports of Uber delivery drivers stealing food before, and if you don’t have tamper-proof packaging, the responsibility for the lost food will likely fall on you.
Pros and Cons of Working With Uber Eats
To end off, let’s summarize the pros and cons.
Pro—More Exposure
Uber Eats has 66 million customers. Of course, you won’t have access to 66 million, but this shows that many people use the app. With Uber Eats, you’ll get more exposure than relying on foot traffic.
People are notorious for being indecisive about food and scrolling endlessly. Uber Eats combines these two things, meaning an attractive offer of yours is likely to draw clicks.
What's more, the online orders are likely to bring in your restaurant hungry folk that have enjoyed your meals from afar.
Pro—Save Time and Money
Using Uber for restaurants saves time and money on order fulfillment.
That's money saved because you don’t have to employ a delivery driver.
Have you seen gas prices lately? You also don’t have to have an employee taking that time to drop it off.
Another thing you save from is the in-house serving cost that typically involves plenty of washing and, potentially, serving personnel.
Pro—Data Analysis
An understated benefit of Uber Eats, in our opinion, is the access to ecommerce metrics the platform provides.
You can refine your business by emphasizing its best points by monitoring sales volume, frequency of orders, peak times, and most popular items.
Con—High Fees
The main cons of being an Uber Eats restaurant are the high fees. 25% to 30% is abstract, but to put it into perspective, you’re only making 70-75% of the money paid to you.
That said, using the service can be worth it.
It’s all about weighing the costs and gains, as the exposure
Wrap Up
Uber for restaurants is a great way to boost business, save time, and reduce costs.
Of course, the trade-off is the fees.
Take everything into consideration, do everything smartly, and you can make Uber work for you.
Garan is a writer interested in how tech reshapes the environment, and how the environment reshapes tech. You'll usually find him inoculating against future shock and arguing with bots.
