OpenTable
Food Delivery Software
Food delivery software enables and supports the delivery of menu items from your restaurant to your customers’ locations. Food delivery software automates much of the delivery management process, including:
- • Processing delivery orders.
- • Assigning deliveries to drivers.
- • Capturing delivery order payments.
Compare All Food Delivery Software
Sort by
Recommendations: Sorts listings by the number of recommendations our advisors have made over the past 30 days. Our advisors assess buyers’ needs for free and only recommend products that meet buyers’ needs. Vendors pay Software Advice for these referrals.
Reviews: Sorts listings by the number of user reviews we have published, greatest to least.
Sponsored: Sorts listings by software vendors running active bidding campaigns, from the highest to lowest bid. Vendors who have paid for placement have a ‘Visit Website’ button, whereas unpaid vendors have a ‘Learn More’ button.
Avg Rating: Sorts listings by overall star rating based on user reviews, highest to lowest.
A to Z: Sorts listings by product name from A to Z.
Reviews: Sorts listings by the number of user reviews we have published, greatest to least.
Sponsored: Sorts listings by software vendors running active bidding campaigns, from the highest to lowest bid. Vendors who have paid for placement have a ‘Visit Website’ button, whereas unpaid vendors have a ‘Learn More’ button.
Avg Rating: Sorts listings by overall star rating based on user reviews, highest to lowest.
A to Z: Sorts listings by product name from A to Z.
Simphony POS
Simphony POS
FrontRunners 2022
Simphony POS, from Oracle MICROS is a restaurant management system designed to help restaurants, cafes, bars, hotels, resorts and casinos manage orders, inventories, menus and more. It enables businesses to process online payments...Read more about Simphony POS
CAKE POS
CAKE POS
FrontRunners 2022
CAKE is a cloud-based point of sale (POS) solution for restaurants. Primary features include payment acceptance, guest and waitlist manager, online ordering, gift cards and table-side ordering. It allows users to track real-t...Read more about CAKE POS
Toast POS
Toast POS
Toast POS is a flexible system built exclusively for restaurants and the food service industry. Offering tools like online ordering, delivery, takeout, mobile app ordering, contactless payments, and e-gift card purchasing, this so...Read more about Toast POS
SpotOn
SpotOn
FrontRunners 2022
SpotOn Restaurant is a cloud-based point-of-sale solution that enables businesses to streamline processes related to food ordering, tableside payments, customer retention and more. The online ordering functionality enables busines...Read more about SpotOn
Upserve
Upserve
Upserve by Lightspeed is a complete restaurant management solution featuring an Android or iOS-based point-of-sale (POS) system, online ordering, contactless payments, automated inventory management, sales analytics, and more. The...Read more about Upserve
Linga rOS System
Linga rOS System
LINGA is an enterprise-ready cloud-based business platform with 20+ applications in addition to Point of Sale (POS). With over 17 years in the restaurant and retail markets, LINGA POS offers businesses hardware, software technolog...Read more about Linga rOS System
OpenTable
OpenTable
OpenTable is a cloud-based restaurant management solution that enables restaurant managers to accept online reservations and optimize seating arrangements. It is suitable for restaurants of all sizes. OpenTable is available i...Read more about OpenTable
Clover
Clover
Clover POS is an integrated point-of-sale (POS) system with custom hardware designed for several types of retailers. This POS system is available in both web-based and server-based deployment versions and offers countertop hardwar...Read more about Clover
talech
talech
Talech POS is a cloud-based retail, restaurant & bar and professional services solution that offers point-of-sale (POS), inventory and customer management, appointment scheduling and deep, real-time analytics. The solution stores ...Read more about talech
Route4Me
Route4Me
FrontRunners 2022
Route4Me is a cloud-based fleet management solution designed for small, midsize and large businesses. Primary features include route planning and routing guides. It allows users to type-in or upload customer addresses and plan a r...Read more about Route4Me
Software pricing tips
Read our Food Delivery Software Buyers GuideSubscription models
- Per employee/per month: This model allows you to pay a monthly fee for each of your employees.
- Per user/per month: Users pay a monthly fee for users—normally administrative users—rather than all employees.
Perpetual license
- This involves paying an upfront sum for the license to own the software and use it indefinitely.
- This is the more traditional model and is most common with on-premise applications and with larger businesses.
Rated best value for money
Square Online
Square Online
FrontRunners 2022
Square Online is an eCommerce solution that helps businesses in retail and hospitality industries create and launch websites with a custom domain name using built-in templates. The centralized platform allows organizations to conn...Read more about Square Online
GoFrugal
GoFrugal
GoFrugal POS is a hybrid point of sale (POS) solution that helps retailers across various industries, to manage their distribution and billing routines and automate financial transactions. The solution can be deployed either on-pr...Read more about GoFrugal
TapMango
TapMango
FrontRunners 2022
TapMango is a cloud-based customer loyalty platform that assists retail stores and restaurants with rewards and promotions management. Key features include customer experience management, survey creation, mobile ordering and vouch...Read more about TapMango
Shift4Shop
Shift4Shop
Shift4Shop, formerly 3dcart, is a comprehensive cloud-based eCommerce solution that helps businesses create online stores with all necessary functionality already built in. Businesses can create online stores using their own desig...Read more about Shift4Shop
OptimoRoute
OptimoRoute
OptimoRoute helps field service and delivery businesses provide stand-out service. Using sophisticated algorithms, OptimoRoute plans and optimizes routes in a matter of seconds. Underneath a simple interface, there is an endles...Read more about OptimoRoute
Flipdish
Flipdish
Flipdish is a cloud-based solution designed to help restaurants, hotels, takeaways, cafés or bars process and manage online orders through custom branded mobile applications and websites. Features include sales analytics, reward p...Read more about Flipdish
Routific
Routific
Routific is a cloud-based fleet management solution for small and mid-sized businesses. Key features include key route optimization factors such as time windows, stop durations, vehicle types, vehicle capacities and lunch breaks. ...Read more about Routific
GrubHub
GrubHub
FrontRunners 2022
Grubhub is a cloud-based takeout and delivery solution designed for organizations and restaurants to streamline the process of food ordering, payments and distribution. The platform allows businesses to set up recurring food reque...Read more about GrubHub
Marketman
Marketman
MarketMan Restaurant Management is a cloud-based inventory management platform that assists small to large-sized restaurants with procurement, food delivery tracking and accounting. Its key features include menu planning, budgetin...Read more about Marketman
Onfleet
Onfleet
Onfleet is a cloud-based fleet management solution that offers route optimization, auto-dispatching, delivery analytics, and customer communications. iOS and Android apps provide real-time driver tracking, proof of delivery, chat,...Read more about Onfleet
Popular Food Delivery Software Comparisons
Buyers Guide
Last Updated: August 11, 2022Restaurant business owners and operators must meet the ever-changing expectations of their customers. The rise of digital and mobile channels has increased consumer demand for food delivery options, prompting the rise of a viable food delivery software market.
Are you enjoying a piece of the restaurant delivery pie? Imagine if your restaurant could do what it does now and also rake in additional revenue from deliveries.
There’s likely one major factor standing between you and this additional revenue stream: a lack of food delivery software. That’s why we’ve developed this buyer’s guide to help restaurant owners and operators get a grasp on the food delivery software market.
Here’s what we’ll cover:
What Is Food Delivery Software?
Common Features of Food Delivery Software
Restaurant Delivery Software Deployment Options
Benefits of Implementing a Food Delivery Platform
What Is Food Delivery Software?
Food delivery software enables and supports the delivery of menu items from your restaurant to your customers’ locations. Sure, you could probably get by managing deliveries without any restaurant delivery software. But how many delivery drivers do you think you could manage with pen, paper and maybe an Excel spreadsheet?
Food delivery software automates much of the delivery management process, including:
- Processing delivery orders
- Assigning deliveries to drivers
- Capturing delivery order payments
Food delivery platforms also record and analyze delivery order data for reporting. This provides operational insight which helps you make informed decisions about your delivery business and determine the resources necessary for its success.
Restaurant delivery software provides improved experiences for delivery customers, drivers, kitchen staff and management. The following list of common features explains how it does this.
Common Features of Restaurant POS Systems and Food Delivery Software
For the most part, food delivery software offers customer-facing, back office and driver-facing capabilities, including:
| Online menu | Features restaurant food items on a website for customers to review. Can be easily and frequently updated for specials and other necessary modifications. |
| Online ordering | Enables orders to be input and sent to the kitchen for preparation. Orders can be entered either by a server at a POS station or by a customer using online ordering. |
| Kitchen management | Notifies kitchen by printed ticket or digital screen when new orders come in. Kitchen can track menu item counts and notify front-of-house staff if certain items are running low. |
| Driver routing | Directs drivers to customer locations to complete the delivery order. Most systems account for traffic and offer optimized routes based on customizable settings. |
| Delivery team management | Gives managers insight and transparency into the whereabouts and upcoming delivery locations of all delivery drivers. |
| Delivery zone management | Allows users to set and adjust the area in which they deliver. This can include multiple zones with increasing delivery fees based on distance from restaurant. |
In addition to these food delivery management capabilities, fully functional restaurant point of sale (POS) systems typically offer these main features:
| Mobile POS | Growing use of tablets in the consumer space has driven down POS prices, making it realistic for restaurants to equip servers with tablets for taking orders and processing payments anywhere in the restaurant. |
| Inventory management | Restaurant inventory rotates every day and many items are highly perishable. A sufficient tracking system is required to manage food spoilage and deal with vendor deliveries and relationships. |
| Customer relationship management (CRM) | Customer contact information and order histories are highly valuable data for all restaurants in order to build repeat business. CRM capabilities help restaurants gather, store and act on this valuable information. |
| Employee management | Restaurant employees require clock-in/clock-out capabilities to record their hours. Digital scheduling and trading shifts is also a necessary function, and there are tax implications for servers, who must report income from tips. |
| Food costing | Food costing features manage the value of the combined ingredients into a succinct menu item. Food costing capabilities enable restaurant operators to set appropriate costs that balance margins with reasonable prices. |
Restaurant Delivery Software Deployment Options
Here’s a detailed look at the three main restaurant delivery software options available to your business:
Restaurant POS system with food delivery functionality. Many restaurant POS systems offer integrated online ordering and food delivery capabilities. (You may not know this, if your restaurant falls into the 63 percent that aren’t currently using a POS system. If so, you should be exploring formal restaurant management systems instead.)
Stand-alone food delivery software. If you already have a POS system and only need to add delivery capabilities, there are specialized software options targeted solely toward restaurant deliveries.
As an alternative to these specialized software options, many restaurants are opting to surrender their delivery business to third-party online delivery platforms.
Third-party food delivery platforms. Over the past decade, third-party platforms have flooded the online ordering and food delivery space. We’ve written about the potentially egregious and inflated cost of partnering with online restaurant ordering systems such as GrubHub, Eat24 and others.
The decision boils down to either paying these food delivery platforms a percentage of every order (and even a service subscription fee) or purchasing and implementing your own food delivery software and hiring drivers.
While each has their own advantages depending on your specific needs, we’d strongly recommend building your food delivery platform out of a formal restaurant POS system. Such an integrated system will simplify management tasks such as reporting and analysis.
Benefits of Implementing a Food Delivery Platform
The benefits of implementing a food delivery platform mostly depend on your current software usage and which delivery platform option you choose.
For restaurants that already have an established POS system. Adding a food delivery system will bring you the benefits of having a systematic approach to your delivery business. Rather than managing delivery orders on an ad hoc basis, formal food delivery software will provide increased visibility into the status of your delivery orders. You’ll be able to track the order from the time of entry through preparation and driver pickup and delivery.
For restaurants without a POS system. You’ll benefit from the added delivery business mentioned above, but your overall restaurant business will also be elevated by automations, improved processes and increased visibility. With a proper implementation, you’ll see immediate returns from improved order accuracy, more efficient employee communications and detailed reporting and analysis.