You make one heck of a pizza. Friends and family have been talking up your
The first thing you should know is that an online pizza delivery business is different from selling pizzas in a local pizzeria. The expectations, execution of service, and relationship with your customer are on a different level.
Additionally, online pizza delivery opens your business to an endless list of customers, longer than you ever imagined.
To help you get started turning your idea into a
Understanding the Pizza Delivery Market
In the United States alone, there are more than 78,000 pizzerias. Americans spent about $14 billion on pizza delivery in 2020 alone. Understanding what works and what doesn’t in an online pizza delivery business is key to staying afloat when you’re just starting out.
So, how does that work?
Make a Plan
Firstly, plan and have realistic expectations for the food delivery business. Where do you see yourself in the next few years and where do you want to be in that time? Refer back to this plan every once in a while to ensure that you stay on track.
Learn From Your Competition
The next thing is to find out who your competition is. Pizza Hut, Domino’s Pizza, and Little Caesar’s are some of the biggest names in the business. Don’t let these big guys scare you. Instead, draw some inspiration from them.
Figure out what they are doing right and how to improve on it. You may go as far as ordering pizzas online from some of them for a
Know Your Customers
The most important person in an online pizza delivery business is the customer. In a competitive market, making assumptions as to the profile of your customer is a waste of time, effort, and money.
Expect most of your customers to be between the ages of 18 and 35. West Virginia, Delaware, and New Jersey are the US states with the most pizza lovers.
Knowing who your target customer also makes it easier to plan effective marketing campaigns around them.
How Much Does it Cost to Start an Online Pizza Delivery Business?
To start a pizza delivery business from scratch, you should have between $35,000 and $55,000 lined up. If you already have a pizza restaurant, you would only need half the total amount required to take your business online.
Launch or Update Your Pizzeria Website
Next, create a website or app for your pizzeria or at least upgrade the current one with responsive and
Or, instead, use Ecwid to build a storefront. Here’s a shortlist of
cash-on-delivery payment option- mobile payments (Apple pay
- accept tips
- curbside pick up
- delivery zones (with delivery rates automation)
On top of that, Ecwid provides you with
What are the Most-Craved Pizza Toppings?
Part of running a successful online pizza delivery business is making what the customer wants. It’s not your job to bother about what pizza toppings sell the most, let the audience decide.
According to research by Brian Roemmele on Quora, here are the pizza toppings people love the most:
Pepperoni
You probably guessed it: pepperoni comes in first. About 36% of pizza orders have been pepperoni toppings. 1 in every 3 boxes of pizza contains pepperoni toppings. If you want to reach the peak of online pizza delivery, you best make pepperoni toppings your number 1 priority.
Sausage
Coming second on the people’s favorite pizza toppings is sausage. 14% of the time, pizza orders are for sausage toppings. By now, you know what your number 2 priority pizza topping is.
Mushrooms, Chicken, and some Cheese
At 11%, mushroom toppings are the 3rd pizza toppings on the list. Next is cheese which customers order 10% of the time. Chicken is not too far behind claiming 8% of the orders for pizzas online.
Beef, onions, and olives are among the most delivered pizza toppings. If you’re taking a hard look at the business side of things, you should consider focusing on these toppings. Unless that is, your business model is built on unusual toppings. In that case, you do you.
The best food delivery services to use
Next to making delicious pizzas is delivering them hot and fresh. Remember how far we’ve come and how tricky it is to have dedicated customers. So, the last thing you want to do is brown them off. For that reason, delivering pizzas on time is vital to winning over customers in a highly competitive online food delivery business.
To get pizza delivery right, you need to connect with some of the best food delivery services in the United States.
Grubhub
If food delivery was a basketball league, Grubhub would be the LeBron James. Iconic. Modern. Classic. One of the most important things you would expect from a food delivery service is to reach your customers far and wide. Say less, because this food delivery service does it arguably better than any other.
Grubhub currently delivers food to more than 4,000 cities in the US alone. That’s not all, your customers have multiple payment options for their deliveries.
Uber Eats
In a popularity contest, UberEats knocks out any competition. UberEats is integrated with Uber (duh!) and already serves over 500 cities in more than 24 countries. The best thing about this service is that your customers can track the delivery of their pizzas in
DoorDash
This is probably the most
Who wouldn’t love that?
DoorDash also has a wide reach as it serves 4,000 cities and counting in the US, Canada, and Australia. As for restrictions on minimum orders, DoorDash has none.
Your own website
Without your own website, consumers won’t believe you even exist. To prove that you’re a serious business, you will need a website. Even a basic one. Ecwid lets you create an online store for free and accept payments with zero commission.
Conclusion
The world might never be the same again thanks to a global pandemic. It has given rise (no pun intended) to an increased demand for online pizza delivery. When starting an online pizza delivery business, it pays to check out the competition. See what they are doing right and learn from their mistakes. It may be equally important to remember that your customer is the most important person in this business.
To give your customer the best online pizza ordering experience, put more effort into optimizing your website and providing a robust ecommerce option that is easy for them to navigate. Lastly, don’t compromise on quality. Hire only the best food delivery services to take your business to the next level. We’ll see you at the top, rising pizza star!
- Local Business Ideas That Every Community Needs
- How To Start a Local Business — Your Guide To Launching a Small Business
- How to Market a Local Business
- How to Get Started with Ecommerce for Local Bakery Delivery
- How to Start a Local Veg Box Delivery Service
- How to Start an Online Pizza Delivery Business
- Selling Meat Online: How to Start a Local Meat Delivery Service
- How Can Local Milk Delivery Businesses Win with Ecommerce?
- How To Sell Flowers Online: Ecommerce for Florist Business
- How to Start a Local Grocery Delivery Service
- How to Start a Local Food Delivery Service for Restaurants
- Top Local Business Listings to Boost Your Business Visibility