How Local Food Delivery Businesses Stay Competitive

Software solutions help Meal Prep, Grocery Delivery businesses grow at unprecedented rates

VANCOUVER, Nov. 15, 2017 /PRNewswire/ - Local meal prep and grocery delivery businesses are sprouting up everywhere, and many of them are leveraging software to help feed the growing number of customers who rely on their services.

The secret to success for so many local food delivery businesses lies in good food and a great customer experience. The first ingredient ? good food ? is mostly in the hands of the business owner and their suppliers, but the second ? a great customer experience ? is aided by a number of critical software solutions.

"Software helps us thrive in a world where local delivery businesses are competing with the likes of Amazon, Walmart, and the other big boys," says John Bauer, CEO of The Foodery, a meal prep company in Boston.

"We use MailChimp to send emails ? like order confirmation and delivery reminders ? to our customers, and Gusto to manage payroll for our employees. Delivery management platforms like Routific give us visibility when our drivers are out on the road and route optimization software helps us pack our vans in the order in which they'll be emptied out, which really helps our delivery guys work quickly and efficiently."

Shopify is eliminating a lot of manual work for Rachel Golding, founder and CEO of Dinner on the Table. Golding can accept customer orders, delivery details, and payment information all through her online shop.

"We use Better Shipping for managing and calculating shipping rates. It helps me do the math depending on what a customer orders and where the food needs to be delivered," Golding says. "We rely on Routific for constructing delivery routes. The software also helps us quickly redirect our drivers to accommodate last-minute deliveries."

The Rise of Meal Prep, Grocery Delivery Businesses

Meal prep ? portioned, pre-cooked meals that are delivered to consumers chilled ? is now part of a $400 million market that's projected to increase tenfold in the next five years, according to Technomic, a research and consulting firm for the food industry. There are more than 100 meal delivery services in the U.S. alone, with new ones offering meals tailored to particular dietary preferences and health trends.

Likewise, online grocery shopping is projected to grow five-fold over the next decade, with American consumers spending upwards of $100 billion on food-at-home items by 2025, according to the Digitally Engaged Food Shopper, a report released this year by Nielsen and the Food Marketing Institute (FMI). Around a quarter of American households currently buy some groceries online, up from 19 percent in 2014, and more than 70 percent will engage with online food shopping within 10 years.

About Routific: Hundreds of food delivery businesses around the world rely on Routific's route optimization software and delivery management platform to help them work as efficiently as possible. Routific investors include Techstars Chicago, Pallasite Ventures, Firestarter Fund, and Axiom Zen.

SOURCE Routific