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By: Alex Canter, CEO, Nextbite

“An experience isn’t about going somewhere. It’s how I’m choosing to live at a particular moment. If the choice I have made is to run around in the backyard with my kid or play an online video game with my friend who lives two hundred miles away, I don’t want to be interrupted from that experience to go get—or even worse, make-—something to eat.”

The above excerpt, published to “Delivering the Digital Restaurant: Your Roadmap to the Future of Food,” written by Meredith Sandland and Carl Orsbourn, brings a glimpse into what many consumers, especially Millennials, consider when it comes to food delivery. It’s a part of their individual and family lifestyle, maybe even overall well-being.

So, are restaurants therefore thinking about delivery as an experience?

This thought process was a part of Nextbite’s inception.

Think about this: dining-in gives almost an automatic experience—the way one’s greeted and seated, the overall atmosphere, the timing and quality of the meal; so why should delivery be any different? Consumers want an enjoyable and even unique experience when ordering delivery too.

It’s digital over dine-in time.

With the right resources, restaurants have the opportunity to tweak overall business strategy and reach new customers for increased revenue with existing resources.

This has been top of mind for me since before the launch of the company. In fact, I first adapted my family’s LA restaurant, Canter’s Deli, to this way of thinking. The approach proved to be successful and became the building blocks of Nextbite.

Restaurants should consider this when thinking through the consumer delivery experience:

Menus don’t translate well, and so it’s important to work with a culinary team to consider removing or replacing certain items. Think carefully through ingredients. Maybe separating items or even creating meal kits makes sense…which leads to…

Packaging—it caters to this overall consumer want, an experience. Think beautiful and carefully placed food, as you’d see served during a dine-in experience. Or, even consider the packaging of our beloved electronics…the beautiful Apple packaging for instance. We love to feel special and packaging can bring that satisfaction to the table. Let’s not forget that packaging affects the way food travels.

Should certain ingredients that are typically mixed together be packaged separately to avoid issues like sogginess or loss of taste and texture? Packaging also impacts temperature, which leads us to the most basic, yet important question…

Is it hot? We always encourage restaurant operators to put food in their car and drive around for 20 minutes to see how the food travels before thinking through the delivery process. People want hot (and delicious) food that’s delivered in the timeframe that they expected.

Create a successful delivery experience with Nextbite. Join us in this restaurant revolution and add a virtual brand to your menu offerings today.

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