Back in 2015, GrubHub, the leading food delivery service, looked at their actual ordering data. The data revealed that frozen yogurt was the #1 most commonly ordered food by college students. Waffle fries came in second. Sure, people like to create their own cups of froyo but sometimes they just want froyo on demand, especially late at night or on a cold or rainy day.
If you’re not already using a delivery service, you’re probably wondering if you should. Keep in mind that not all food delivery services require restaurants to join their service. Companies like DoorDash and Postmates can deliver from any restaurant because they don’t need the restaurants’ permission to place and pick up an order. DoorDash has also been known to markup menu item prices, making it more difficult for customers to figure out the real cost of a DoorDash delivery.
Fees
Food delivery services typically do not charge restaurants setup fees or monthly subscription fees. They provide their own drivers though some will work allow you to use your own drivers (e.g., GrubHub). Customers, the ones placing the orders, typically pay a deliver fee of $4.99 and up. The delivery fee that customers pay can vary depending on distance.
Here’s a breakdown of the fees that customers and restaurants pay for using food delivery services:
| Company | Delivery fee for customers | Fee for owners |
| UBEREats | $4.99 | 30% of sales |
| DoorDash | $5.99 | 20% of sales |
| Postmates | varies, depends on distance | $4.99 delivery + 10%-20% of sales |
| Grubhub | varies, determined by restaurant | 13.5% of sales, on average |
| Yelp Eat24 | $5 | 12.5% of sales |
Service fees for restaurants typically range from 10% to 30% of sales made through the delivery service. While UBEREats charges the highest fees, they also have the most drivers. Having more drivers should mean faster delivery.
Types of Fees
Be sure that you understand the fees. For example, here are the types of fees that GrubHub charges:
- “Prepaid Order Commission Rate – This applies to the food and beverage totals when diners place an order on Grubhub’s website or app. If you offer your own delivery, then this rate is also applied to your delivery fee.
- Delivery Commission Rate – If Grubhub delivers your orders, this rate is also applied on your food and beverage totals.
- Phone Order Commission Rate – This applies to food and beverage totals and delivery fees for orders placed via the routing phone number listed on Grubhub.
- Order Processing Fee – This applies to each prepaid order. The rate applied is 3.05% + $0.30 per order.
- Pay Me Now Fee – There’s a $1 fee per transaction when your balance is requested and released on the same day. It may take 3-4 business days to see the funds in your bank account.”
The Bottom Line
All of the food delivery services we looked at have experience delivering frozen treats. Postmates, the delivery service partner of Pinkberry, uses insulated cold storage bags for froyo deliveries.
We recommend partnering with delivery services in order to obtain better service from delivery companies. The incremental sales that come from delivery services are likely sales that wouldn’t have otherwise occurred, so the bottom line is restaurants should work with delivery services.
Be sure to monitor your reviews and customer feedback to ensure that customers are happy with their froyo deliveries. If they aren’t, talk to the delivery service and reach out to the customer.
