Maximize Takeout Profitability With These Six Steps

3 Min Read By Di Neal

Off-premise dining was already on-trend in the restaurant industry well before COVID-19. According to Morgan Stanley estimates, online delivery is set to grow from $260 billion in 2017 to $325 billion in 2020 – and possibly $470 billion by 2025. But now there’s something coming on stronger than even delivery: takeout.

Just since the beginning of the pandemic and the restrictions on on-premise dining, 62 percent of operators have or plan to implement designated takeout areas due to the re-configuration efforts. And more than 40 percent of US consumers are likely to go to the drive-through, get takeout or use delivery even when dine-in is allowed, according to Tork.

Even as restaurants reopen to some on-premise dining, takeout presents distinct advantages:

Takeout can help make up for those “missing tables” resulting from social distancing requirements, even as it requires less of a restaurant’s biggest expense item: labor. Curbside takeout may project a “safer” image…