Delivery playbook for restaurants and cloud kitchens

Eight in the evening. The dining room is full, the kitchen is loud, and six delivery orders are waiting at the pass. Two riders are standing there. Someone asks, "Who is taking which?" Someone else is on the phone with a customer who wants to know where dinner is.

Direct orders, from your phone line, WhatsApp, website or ordering app, are your best margin. But only if delivery is reliable. A cold, late dinner costs you the order and the next one too.

This playbook shows how to run your own delivery for direct orders, so the kitchen can stay on the food.

The delivery challenge in a restaurant or cloud kitchen#

• Meal-time peaks. Twenty orders in thirty minutes and nobody free to plan routes.

• Waiting at the pass. Riders wait, unsure which orders are theirs or where to go first.

• Hot food, short clock. A long route turns a good meal into a bad review.

• The calls. The phone rings at the worst moment, with customers asking for updates.

• Margin. Orders you take yourself carry no marketplace commission, so it matters that you deliver them well.

What your customers expect#

• Hot food, packed so it does not leak or go soggy.

• A realistic time when ordering, and the rider arriving close to it.

• To see where their dinner is without calling.

• The same order they placed, complete, with nothing missing.

Your delivery setup#

Riders. Count the orders that land in your peak half-hour and how many one rider can carry. Part-time riders for lunch and dinner work well. Set each rider's carrying limit lower for food than for dry goods.

Slots. Nobody books a slot for dinner, but you can still keep to a rhythm. Plan trips every few minutes during the peak, so orders do not wait for a full batch. Outside the peak, dispatch by hand.

Packing. Seal every order, keep hot and cold items apart, and add a bag label with the order number and customer name. Have each order ready at the pass before the rider arrives, not after.

How MiniDrop fits your day#

1. 1

   Step 1: Create the order as soon as it is accepted

   Enter it in the outlet portal, or ask your software provider whether your billing counter or ordering system can be connected, so orders arrive in MiniDrop on their own. Create an order.

2. 2

   Step 2: Put dispatch on a rhythm for the peak

   Set a schedule to plan trips every few minutes during lunch and dinner. Outside the peak, press Dispatch now.

3. 3

   Step 3: Approve the routes

   MiniDrop shares orders across the riders who are online and puts the stops in order. You check the map and approve. Review and approve routes.

4. 4

   Step 4: Hand the right bag to the right rider

   Each rider sees their own trip on the phone, with the customer name and address. If the app asks for a pickup code at the pass, you read it out to the rider standing there. Read about the pickup code.

5. 5

   Step 5: Let customers follow the rider

   Send the tracking link with your restaurant's name and logo. They see how many stops are before theirs and an arrival estimate. Share the tracking link.

6. 6

   Step 6: Watch the live map

   See every rider on a trip and each order's status, so you know early who is running late. Track orders.

Mistakes to avoid#

• Waiting to send orders in one big batch. Hot food should leave in small, quick trips.

• Letting riders wait at the pass. Have orders ready before they arrive, with the order number on the bag.

• Approving routes late. Nothing reaches a rider until you approve, so keep someone on it during the peak.

• Taking calls for updates. The tracking link answers the question before the customer asks.

Direct orders are the ones where you keep the customer relationship and the margin, so they deserve a delivery experience that brings the customer back. Read how to end "where is my order" calls for the next step.

Your peak-hour checklist#

• Riders are online before the peak starts.

• A dispatch schedule is on for lunch and dinner.

• Bags are sealed and labelled before the rider arrives.

• Routes are checked and approved without delay.

• Tracking links are sent for every order.

• Someone watches the live map during the busiest half hour.

• End of day: late and undelivered orders reviewed.

Frequently asked questions#

To see more for your trade, read about delivery for restaurants and cloud kitchens. Then try it with your own riders.

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