Operational Metrics are essential for assessing your reliability with ezCater orders. These metrics also influence your Marketplace Ranking, which determines your visibility in search results. A higher Marketplace Ranking is crucial, as many customers choose caterers who appear on the first page of search results—resulting in a greater number of orders for your business.
It's important to note that Rejection and Cancellation Rates are the two most critical metrics in this framework, as they represent significant challenges for customers using ezCater. Consequently, if a store exceeds a specified threshold for Rejections or Cancellations within a 90-day period, it may face a temporary pause in operations. For more detailed information on Operational Accountability, please refer to this article.
REJECTION RATE
Definition: A rejected order is one that you do not accept and are unable to fulfill. An order is rejected by clicking “reject” when an order is submitted by a customer
Calculation: # of rejected orders/total orders
Goal: Under 0.5%
Best practices:
- Update your lead time to make sure you have enough notice for new orders. Keep in mind that our average order value is $400 and serving 23 people.
- Request ezDispatch when you can’t deliver yourself. ezDispatch can be requested up to 90 minutes before the delivery time!
- Set menu item lead times for anything that takes longer to prepare for i.e. lasagna or smoked brisket.
- Call Customer Service to see if we can help you keep the order by connecting with the customer and updating the order:
- Adjust delivery time, switch to takeout, adjust item selection, etc.
CANCELLATION RATE
Definition: A cancellation is an order that is accepted initially and then canceled prior to the order being due.
Calculation: # of canceled orders/total orders
Goal: 0%
Best Practices:
- Keep settings updated including temporary/holiday closures
- Change stores to have the order come out of another location
- Request ezDispatch when you can’t deliver yourself. ezDispatch can be requested up to 90 minutes before the delivery time!
- Be sure to review your orders when ordering product from your suppliers.
- Call Customer Service to see if we can help (adjust delivery time, switch to takeout, adjust item selection, etc)
ON-TIME DELIVERY
Definition: On-time delivery means the order is handed off to the customer within the 15 minute delivery window provided on the order.
- ezDispatch orders: You're only responsible for handing off the order to the driver on time. If the delivery is late because of traffic or any other reason thereafter, it won't count against your on-time delivery score.
Calculation: Number of orders delivered on-time/total number of orders for delivery
Goal: 98.5% or higher
Best Practices:
- When self-delivering, assign drivers to each order. Once assigned, drivers will receive a text which will include a link to a mobile web browser where they can:
- Access all of the order and delivery information
- Access one-touch navigation to help them get to the correct location.
- Call the customer from a masked phone number or ezCater for support
- Provide real-time delivery status updates.
- Have drivers aim for the beginning of the delivery window to take into account potential traffic, difficult parking or other unforeseen circumstances.
- Ensure drivers plan their routes ahead of time: know the area, potential issues/roadblocks and how long it takes to get there at that time of day.
- Drivers should use GPS navigation so they know their ETA and can report early/late deliveries
- Use ezDispatch if you’re ever worried about other deliveries affecting the timeliness of your ezCater orders.
- Reach out to Customer Service to adjust delivery time (customer approval necessary) if you have multiple orders due at the same time.
FOOD READY FOR EZDISPATCH
Definition: Percentage of orders that are ready for the ezDispatch driver at the time listed on the order.
Calculation: # of orders handed to ezD driver on-time/total number of ezDispatch orders
Goal: > 99%
Best Practices:
- Print your order sheet and provide it to both your kitchen staff and employees responsible for handing food to drivers, and circle or highlight the pickup time so everyone is aware of exactly when the food needs to be prepared and packaged.
- Enter your order in the POS prior to the pickup time on the day of the order so there is a ticket in your system in addition to the printout. Use this as a reminder that the order is due soon.
- Remember that the pickup time can change even the morning of the delivery, so be sure to check for updates and relay any changes to the order to your staff.
DELIVERY UPDATES
Definition: Percentage of orders where the customer receives delivery status updates from the delivery driver.
- For in-house deliveries this means that drivers are using our delivery management tools for providing status updates.
- 100% of ezDispatch orders provide delivery tracking to the customer
Goal: > 99%
Best Practices:
- When self-delivering, assign a driver to each order. If you don’t know who the driver is ahead of time then have the driver scan the QR code on the order printout to assign themselves to the order.
- Review your orders in the delivery management tab to ensure that a driver is assigned to each order
- Request ezDispatch when you don’t have a driver available and be confident that updates will automatically be provided.
- Have drivers download the ezManage - Delivery app from the iOs app store or Google Play store.
ON-TIME ACCEPTANCE
Definition: % of orders accepted within 15 minutes of order submission (within business operating hours).
- If orders are placed outside of your hours set on ezCater, the timer starts once your store opens the next day.
- Accepting orders quickly will help you boost your marketplace ranking.
- If you are unable to accept an order within 15 minutes it will affect your metric score however it won’t negatively impact your ranking.
- Also, no acceptance after 15 minutes will trigger our automated phone calls that will call the store and any contacts set up to receive notifications to accept orders. These automated phone calls advise that there is an order that needs to be accepted.
Calculation: % of orders accepted within 15 minutes
Goal: 100%
Best Practices:
- Provide ezManage access to anyone who is responsible for managing your orders on a daily basis. More access will increase the likeliness that orders will be accepted quickly.
- Make sure notifications are turned on for both email and SMS for all contacts and every store those contacts are attached to.
- Download our ezManage app from the iOs app store and have push notifications enabled.
- Don’t let too much time pass without accepting as the customer might get apprehensive and go with a different caterer.
ORDER ACCURACY
Definition: Measuring how accurate your orders are when arriving at the customer. This measurement reflects only customer reported delivery issues.
Calculation: Total % of orders for which no customer issues have been reported
Goal: > 99%
Best Practices:
- Be sure to check for order updates in ezManage and be aware of any order modifications sent through by the customer before your lead time cutoff.
- Utilize our order printout to ensure that everything is included in the delivery before it leaves the store or gets handed to the driver.
- Don’t rely on the order as it was entered into the POS especially if you are not using any integration. If there was any error inputting the order then these errors will be reflected in the delivery.
- Confirm the full order with the customer or on-site contact once at the delivery location. This shows that everything was delivered accurately and also gives the opportunity to rectify any issues should they arise.
- Ensure your packaging and means of delivery are helping to keep hot food hot and cold food cold. Aluminum containers and insulated bags can help keep your food at temperature.
- Don’t forget to include any beverages that were ordered as well as tableware such as plates, napkins and utensils. Many offices don’t have fully stocked kitchens with silverware and plates!
- Most common issues:
- Missing food
- Missing utensils
- Food bad or inedible
- Packaging bad or damaged
- Dietary requests not accommodated
STAR RATING
Definition: The average score from your ezCater customer reviews.
Calculation:Sum of all Star ratings from Reviews / Total number of orders
Goal: 4.8 or higher
Best Practices:
- Read all of your customer reviews so you can spot trends and see what leads to high scoring reviews and also what leads to any low scoring reviews.
- Share reviews internally so everyone on your team knows what you’re doing well and what you can do to improve your scores!
- Be accountable for any errors and always make things right with the customer by providing thoughtful resolutions and compensation when necessary.
- Our highest-rated restaurants tend to:
- Deliver orders on time
- Provide excellent service from receipt of the order through delivery
- Deliver exactly what the customer ordered
- Remember to include tableware
- Keep your menu up to date
- Have the right photos for products