How to start food delivery at your café: a step-by-step plan
Delivery menu, zones and minimum order, own couriers or a delivery service, packaging and online payment: what to prepare so delivery doesn’t eat your profit.
Vitrina team5 minute read
Contents
In short
Start with a short delivery menu: not every dish survives the journey.
The minimum order should cover delivery, and a free-delivery threshold should nudge guests to order more.
Your own couriers, a delivery service or an aggregator can deliver; a combination often works best.
Online payment and a tracking page take care of most calls and cancellations.
Set the zone and the minimum order
A delivery zone is not a circle on a map but the neighbourhoods a courier can reach on time. Start with the closest ones, where your guests live and work.
The minimum order should cover the delivery: if a courier costs as much as a small order, you are working at a loss. Set a threshold above which delivery is free: it nudges guests to add a drink or a dessert.
Decide who delivers
| Option | Pros | Cons |
|---|---|---|
| Your own couriers | The most control and the lowest cost per delivery when there are many orders | Couriers have to be paid during quiet hours too |
| A delivery service for a fixed fee | The platform’s courier carries your order, and the guest stays yours | You pay for every trip |
| An aggregator | Brings both orders and a courier | Takes a percentage of the bill and keeps the guest |
A combination often works best: your own couriers in the nearest neighbourhoods and a delivery service at peak times or for distant addresses.
Take care of packaging
Packaging is part of the dish. Hot dishes go in containers that keep the heat, sauces and dressings separately, crispy food packed so it doesn’t go soft. Put a flyer with your website’s QR code in the bag: that way the next order comes directly.
Set up online payment
Online payment takes cash out of couriers’ hands and stops orders being cancelled “at the door”. The money should go straight to your account through your own payment provider; read carefully who holds your funds, and for how long.
Keep payment on receipt as well: some guests still pay in cash. Then you need cash accounting for couriers: who is holding how much and when they handed it in.
Let the guest follow the order
The guest’s most common question is “where is my order?”. A tracking page with the status and the courier on a map takes care of most calls to the venue.
Your first guests
Start with people who already know you: regulars, Instagram followers, neighbours from nearby offices.
How Vitrina does it
Zones with a minimum order and free delivery above a threshold, a courier app with tracking, cash accounting and a delivery-service courier for a single order are on the delivery page. And the commission calculator shows how much you save compared with an aggregator.
Frequently asked questions
What minimum order should I set for delivery?
One that covers the courier’s trip together with the packaging. Work out what a single delivery costs and set the minimum above it; set the free-delivery threshold higher still, so the guest has a reason to add a dish.
Do I need my own couriers from day one?
No. You can start with a fixed-fee delivery service and pickup, and hire couriers once there are enough orders to keep them busy in quiet hours too.
How do I keep track of couriers’ cash?
Record who is holding how much and when they handed it in. In Vitrina, courier cash accounting and handover come with the “Full” plan; more on the delivery page.