SimplyDelivery 2024: Intuitive Restaurant Order Management

SimplyDelivery is a cloud-based software package tailored to the requirements of restaurants and food delivery services. In this interview, marketing manager Vera Müller discusses the opportunities and challenges that modern-day restaurants are facing, and how they can be leveraged using the tools that this innovative company provides.

Please tell us a bit more about SimplyDelivery.

SimplyDelivery was founded in 2014 by the three co-founders, who wanted to digitize the gastronomy industry. They started with just five people in the company and today we have 120 employees. We also got our first investment funding last year, and since then, a lot of exciting things happened. 

We’re constantly developing our software. With our product, every process in a restaurant can be digitized and automated – from the online shop to supply management, marketing to general management.

Here’s a quick overview of what SimplyDelivery can do:

What, would you say, are the main pain points that restaurants are dealing with, and how does your product help them?

There are many – but the most important one is that they don't have a lot of time so for them, time efficiency is vital. Our software helps them to organize everything in one system. 

For example, if you work with a POS system provider, another company for your finances, and another for your deliveries, it becomes difficult to stay on top of everything. SimplyDelivery clusters all of that data in one place. 

And then, of course, if you look at food delivery, which is also a big part of the service we offer, we have portal links to Just Eat, Uber Eats, Wolt, and more. For restaurants, it's easier to use that portal connection because usually, restaurants would have a designated iPad for each of those apps, which makes it difficult to manage all the incoming orders. 

With our system, they just need one device. Every portal is automatically transferred to our cash register and the deliveries can be processed automatically, saving time and resources.

The most important part of our product is that it enables restaurants to see every one of their orders in a single system. They don't need to do any manual typing or use designated iPads, which helps avoid errors and saves time. 

It's very easy to use, 100% secure, and offers the most up-to-date security standards in the countries where we operate

What kind of restaurants do you typically work with? 

We have four main customer groups: independent restaurants; franchises like McDonald's or Burger King; the delivery branch, which is focused on delivery services; and ghost kitchens, which is a newer category developing rapidly here in Germany, as well as the US. 

How do you encourage restaurant staff to use your system? 

We try to make our system very easy for restaurant staff to understand. We realize that everything has to move very quickly and smoothly, so we try to keep it as simple as possible. 

We have an onboarding flow at the beginning where we show all the different tools that can be used. We also have an online knowledge base where every team member can see video tutorials and read through handbooks and guidelines. 

Finally, if anyone encounters any issues, we have a support team that’s available 24/7 by email or phone. We see this as a very important part of what we do and evidently, our customers feel that they can always reach us when needed.

How does SimplyDelivery address the growing demand for sustainability?

That's definitely something we're working on because, with the help of our software, a lot of processes within a restaurant are digitized. For example, in Germany, we have a law that says you have to give receipts to customers. We digitize that process to reduce the use of paper. 

With the ban on single-use plastic in Germany, many restaurateurs are faced with the challenge of offering alternative solutions. Therefore we’re also planning to collaborate with companies that offer sustainable packaging for the delivery industry.

Which emerging trends do you find particularly exciting right now?

Our market grew tremendously throughout the pandemic – especially the delivery side. If a restaurant didn’t have a delivery service set up, it was almost impossible to survive during that time. In the last couple of years, we’ve seen an even bigger demand for our product and we expect this growth to increase even further. 

We’re also seeing the concept of ghost kitchens, which are restaurants without a dining area, gaining popularity. It's more like a delivery concept where you can order but you cannot dine in. We expect this concept to grow quite rapidly in the coming years.