December 9, 2024 • 33 mins
In this episode of the Restaurant Technology Guys podcast, host Jeremy Julian is joined by Brandi Villareal, head of Uber Direct's online food delivery for the U.S. and Canada. They explore the advantages of Uber Direct's first-party delivery solution, which allows restaurant brands to maintain control over customer data and enhance customer loyalty, unlike third-party marketplaces. Brandi shares her extensive background in the food and beverage industry, including technology and operations, and provides insights on how Uber Direct can help restaurants of all sizes easily integrate delivery services through APIs, partnerships with point of sale systems, and other technology providers. The discussion also touches on the benefits of hybrid delivery models and the growing importance of digital sales for restaurant success. Featured case studies, such as the Salad House, demonstrate significant growth and enhanced customer experiences through Uber Direct.
00:00 Audio Uber Direct
01:06 Introduction and Guest Welcome
01:27 Brandi Villareal's Background
02:18 Overview of Uber Direct
04:25 Benefits of Uber Direct for Restaurants
10:40 Success Stories and Case Studies
21:12 Hybrid Delivery Models
27:24 Getting Started with Uber Direct
29:46 Future of Uber Direct and Conclusion
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:02):
This is the RestaurantTechnology Guys podcast.
Helping you run your restaurantbetter.
Jeremy Julian (00:11):
In today's episode, we are joined by Brandi
from Uber direct longtimelisteners have probably heard
Uber direct advertising on theshow, but I really wanted to
have them come on and sharetheir solution with our
audience.
They do a fantastic job ofhelping enable first party
delivery ordering.
So you don't have to use thethird party marketplace.
(00:31):
If that's something your brandis looking to do.
please join us to listen tobrainy.
And I talk about all thedifferent ways that you can
enable your restaurant todeliver food to your guests,
whether it be through a thirdparty marketplace or through
Uber direct and partnering withthem.
If you don't know me, my name isJeremy Julian.
I've been in the restaurant techspace for 30 years.
(00:52):
And I happen to work for anorganization called CBS north
star.
We delivered the north star on asell product to multi-unit
restaurants.
If you haven't already checkedus out, check us
www.Cbsnorthstar.com and nowonto the show.
Welcome back to the restauranttechnology guys podcast.
I think everyone out there forjoining us, as I say, each and
every time I know that, you guysgot lots of choices.
(01:12):
So thanks for hanging out today.
I am joined by a very specialguest and it's somewhat ironic
that Brandi and I haven't metbecause we've crossed paths for
a while in the restaurantindustry.
But, Brandi, why don't youintroduce yourself here for a
second?
We can talk a little bit aboutyour history and then, we'll go
ahead.
Brandi Villarreal (01:27):
Thank you, Jeremy.
Excited to be here.
My name is Brandi Villareal, andI'm the head of Uber Direct
online food delivery for the U.
S.
And Canada.
I've been on the Uber team forfive years, but have a long
history in food and beverageoperations and technology before
that, starting with mygrandparents Tex Mex restaurant
in Dallas, which I had a chanceto visit.
to work within as well as dyingat.
(01:48):
Hospitality to me was my grandmawelcoming people into the
restaurant at the front doorevery single day.
And it's been fun to see howthat's grown and changed
involved over time since then.
but in addition to that, I'veworked in food and beverage
technology and POS analytics,but I'm really excited by the
growth opportunities I'vediscovered through Uber Eats as
well as our white label deliverysystem, Uber Direct.
Jeremy Julian (02:08):
it.
Um, I'm gonna have to findgrandma and go find a picture of
you and like a little apron whenyou're eight or nine years old
that I can post as part of thethumbnail.
but, but yeah, Randy, talk tome.
I know that we partneredtogether for a while on the
direct side, but quite frankly,until your team had reached out,
I didn't even know that Uber wasdoing a direct.
Type of, type of solution.
(02:28):
So talk to me, I think everybodyknows what Uber Eats is.
Obviously they compete in thatsame space for, third party
delivery where you guys are amarketplace and you're sending
people there so we can talk alittle bit about, but I'm pretty
sure most of our listeners aregoing to know what that is, but
the ZuberDirect thing.
blew me away when I heard aboutit.
And I literally had no idea thatthis was even an option.
So talk to me a little bit aboutwhat it is, and then we can talk
about why you're so excitedabout what growth opportunities
(02:50):
it is for restaurants.
Brandi Villarreal (02:52):
course, as you mentioned, a lot of people
are familiar with themarketplaces.
Uber Eats, someone logs inhungry, finds a restaurant
nearby that they can order fromfor themselves or for their
families.
But Uber Direct has actuallybeen around for quite a few
years and it's Uber using ourvast courier network to power
delivery for restaurant brandsthat have their own websites or
apps.
(03:13):
So it used to be we built customintegrations for a few large
industry giants.
but we had a chance to reallyevolve and scale that technology
and ensure that we can bring itto not only enterprise and mid
market restaurant groups, butalso small and independent
restaurants because restaurantsof all sizes should be able to
leverage digital presence inorder to grow customer loyalty
(03:34):
as well as acquisition.
And so what we do is we provideAPIs that connect our vast
delivery network to arestaurant's delivery needs.
So a customer that wants toorder from you, but isn't
available to pick up that order,or perhaps you don't have a
driver in house can be connecteddirectly to an Uber driver who
arrives at the restaurant, getsthe contents of that order and
(03:56):
then delivers it to the rightlocation all within a timely
amount.
Because we know customers aresearching for convenience.
All of the data that we've seenshows that delivery isn't going
away.
And while in the past, thedelivery used to be for maybe
your pizza restaurants, yourChinese restaurants and then
independent owners, perhaps youwere driving large orders out to
(04:16):
spaces yourself.
instead, now that we know thatcustomers are choosing to access
delivery via a lot of means,might as well provide them with
accessibility to those options.
Jeremy Julian (04:25):
Yeah.
And so talk to me a little bit,because if I'm a restaurant
owner, I love that idea, I lovebeing able to control that
experience and capture the guestdata, one of the big complaints
about UberEats, and I'm notnecessarily looking to bash
that, but it is one of thecomplaints that I hear from
restaurant operators is that.
Whether it's Uber or any of theother larger competitors or
large ish competitors that youguys have, DoorDash, GrubHub,
(04:45):
all of them, it's, I losecontrol of the customer.
And so it feels like this Uberdirect is a hybrid.
I'm using your guys's tech.
I'm using your guys's ability toget to that guest and establish
that career network.
But I still know who my guest isand I can still interact with
them.
is that kind of the Deltabetween what it is that you guys
have been doing and this, Idon't say new offering, cause it
sounds like you guys have beendoing it for a while, but.
(05:06):
lesser known option that youguys have out there.
brandi-villarreal_1_10-25- (05:09):
Yes, that is one of the most
significant differences.
So because a customer is goingdirectly to a restaurant to
order from them the cus therestaurant retains the customer
data related to thattransaction, you know that
Jeremy is ordering from you thathe typically orders, let's call
it every three to four weeks.
Your favorite plate might be thefish tacos and you can
(05:29):
personalize.
You can reach out to thatindividual and say, actually,
Jeremy, we haven't seen you in awhile.
Come back in.
Or was there anything wrong withyour last experience?
You also get the guest feedbackrelated to that transaction so
that you understand, did yourstore prepare the order
correctly?
Was it delivered in a timelyamount?
And you're given the opportunityfor guest recovery as well.
(05:50):
But we do see a lot of So thesynergy between the marketplace
products as well as what you canaccess through Uber Direct.
I think the marketplace isreally where you find someone
that might be less familiar withyour brand or who has no idea
what's for dinner.
Our statistics show that 2 outof 3 eaters who come into the
Uber Eats app don't know what'sgoing to happen on that meal
occasion.
And we know they're not going toscroll endlessly in order to
(06:13):
find their favorite restaurant.
So you're usually bringingsomeone new to you or less
familiar with your brand.
I can't tell you the number ofrestaurants I've found within
days.
driving distance of my own housethat just because I never used
to drive along that route, Ididn't know they existed.
And now I'm a customer oftheirs.
But if you have brand loyalist,you have someone that's familiar
with you and actively seekingyou out, they should be able to
(06:35):
access the same convenientoptions that they are on a
delivery marketplace, whetherthat's pickup, whether that's
delivery for the order.
And we really see it as anopportunity for you to meet your
customers wherever they may be.
Thank you.
Jeremy Julian (06:46):
Yeah, no.
And I think it's a huge piecebecause ironically, my wife
ordered food recently and hadnever heard of this brand.
Ultimately it ended up being avirtual brand, but she was on
Uber.
She was on, the Uber Eats appand she's Hey, this, I wanted
tacos.
She ultimately got some Beriatacos from somewhere and found
out that it was a virtual brandfrom a brand that was local to
us, but it was cool.
Cause for her, she was feelinglike Mexican food, but didn't
(07:07):
really care whether she got itfrom this brand or that brand
or, and ultimately This brandand now has been a bit more of
a, that, that goes to thatdiscovery.
Now that she knows who they areand where it comes from, to your
point, that conversion step,talk to me a little bit, Brandi,
about are you guys finding thatpeople are converting once they
discover on the reads happen,then.
Do they then jump to Uberdirect?
(07:28):
Is it, cause what I've seenstatistically is it often comes
down to convenience andconsistency of the product that
people are looking for.
And so if they get a greatexperience on Uber Eats, they're
going to continue to go there.
If they know the product isgood, they know the timing is
good.
They know the pricing is good.
If they go direct and it's agood process, process, it helped
me understand from your guys'sperspective, are you guys seeing
people converting or is the UberEats customer, the Uber Eats
(07:50):
customer and the Uber directcustomers, the Uber direct
customer?
Brandi Villarreal (07:53):
Of course, we think there's a unique member,
of course, especially someonethat uses something like our
uber one membership programwhere they're getting discounts
across both rides and eats.
The discount on the delivery feecan speak miles to them, but
most consumers also understandthey might access prices more
related to in store if theyorder via someone's own channel.
And so that's something that iscertainly sought out.
(08:15):
We see a lot of variation in theindustry.
I think across the U.
S.
Generally, we might see about 10percent of digital sales coming
from someone's first partychannels.
But the best in class playersthat I work with across a
variety of industries are seeingupwards of 50 percent of their
digital transactions come fromtheir own channels.
And I think those are the peoplethat are doing it well.
(08:36):
Understand the value and areable to convert because they're
providing a great experiencewhen someone orders via a
marketplace.
So now when this individualseeks them out at a later date
and finds those same optionsavailable, they trust the brand
and want to order through them
Jeremy Julian (08:50):
I love that.
I love that idea.
I'm going to ask anotherquestion.
I know we didn't prep you forthis.
We were teasing about, about,I'm gonna throw some random
questions at you.
Have you seen strategicallybecause I've talked to some
restaurant owners where theyoffer certain things on the
third party marketplaces thatthey offer a different product
offering.
Maybe a slimmed down productoffering their top 10, top 20
(09:10):
items on the third party, butfor first party, they offer
everything you can get in thedining room.
Are you seeing any of thatstatistically where they might
offer more to those guests, notjust pricing parody from in
store, but also some capabilityto get items that you might not
be able to get on a third partymarketplace because it's either
super custom the way you need tomodify it, or, you want to be
able to control the guestexperience and you know that
(09:31):
doesn't travel well.
And if it doesn't travel well,you may need to have a guest
recovery situation.
Brandi Villarreal (09:36):
I think most restaurants have the similar
products available, but thereare really unique opportunities.
So we find brands that, forexample, you have a limited time
item, something new or uniqueoffering and premiering that in
your own channel first is a waythat you can communicate to your
end customer, tell them aboutsomething appealing that might
increase their frequency andloyalty to your restaurant, as
(09:58):
well as ultimately brandaffinity and give them the first
option to try it out on your ownchannel and then add it to the
marketplace.
I think a difference that we seebetween marketplace versus
direct channels to it's justlike the user interface that
you're dealing with.
And when you're on a phone sizescreen, you know that customers
aren't likely going to scrollthrough multiple pages of menu
(10:18):
in order to find what they want.
And so I think that's where,whether it's independent or
enterprise, operators have beeninfluenced or perhaps tailor
their offerings to themarketplace in order to create a
less friction, more frictionfree experience.
Thanks.
Jeremy Julian (10:33):
that idea.
And that's, that's great.
Cause I do think even convertingfrom first party to third party,
to your point, let's make surethat we can execute really well.
I know in some of the stuff thatwe were doing pre show Brandi,
we talked about, there's a brandthat you wanted to talk about a
success story.
Ironically, I happen to know,and he was on the show recently.
Rev CNCO is the new CMO for thesalad house.
And talk to me a little bitabout salad house.
(10:53):
Cause I'd love to let some ofour listeners hear a great
success story.
You guys sent over thecollateral.
if you're good with that, I'dlove to just talk through where
were they prior to Uber directand how has it changed their
brand because it was prettysignificant, some of the stuff
you and the team sent over myway.
brandi-villarreal_1_10-25-20 (11:09):
Of course.
So salad house.
they're great and growingconcept.
I believe they just opened their19th location, but they do see
themselves continuing to expandinto the, 25 plus location
bucket.
But the brand started in 2011.
And so if you look, backwards,then the delivery apps as we
know them today didn't exist.
And so so many brands had anopportunity to try out an
(11:30):
initial market price.
the incrementality added anotherone behind it.
but most of these brands startedon marketplaces.
And then once you understand howseamless the delivery
integration can be with youroperation and the greater demand
that it brings you, why not turntowards like fine tuning and
increasing the loyalty via yourown channel?
And so salad house partners withus on both Uber eats and Uber
(11:53):
direct.
And what's really significant isthat 64 percent of their overall
sales are digital.
And so them choosing the righttechnology partners as well as
marketplaces and integrationproviders to partner with has
been really essential to theirbrand presence as well as
increasing customer acquisitionoverall.
And so we're really proud towork with them on uber direct
(12:14):
and uber eats.
Uber eats is where they'refinding someone who perhaps is
less familiar.
And then uber direct is offeringthe same convenience,
accessibility and fast deliverythat someone can gain via
marketplace channels.
And so we've had a closepartnership with Jared Bravo,
who's their director ofoperations over the past few
years and have some greatintegration providers that help
(12:34):
ensure that there's reallyseamless delivery touch points
between all of thoseexperiences.
Jeremy Julian (12:39):
And I want to dig into that because I think that's
probably the biggest thing that,that a lot of, a lot of people
get scared about is how do I doit?
And how do I go about it?
But before I jump into that,Brandi, help me understand 64%.
That sounds unfathomable.
that, so much of it would comein through digital.
And so what do you, what,sitting on the outside, Help me
understand because so many ofthe brands that I work with,
(13:00):
they're like, Hey, we're at 12.
We're trying to get to 13.
Hey, we're at 15.
We're trying to get to 17 thisyear.
That's like over 50 percent oftheir orders are all digital.
Is it because the product is itbecause of the type of consumer,
what are you, even if great.
And if you don't know, I'd loveeven just a guess, because I
think some of our brands, I justsaid, I just did an edit for the
guys that plays pizza and theirCTO was talking about digital
(13:23):
versus in store and how they'revery different guests and how
you have to create a differentexperience, quite frankly, as to
how the food is produced insalad houses case, do you have
any idea why or how they've beenable to grow so significantly in
the last, 15 years, the way thatthey have.
brandi-villarreal_1 (13:39):
Absolutely.
So I think when you think ofthat salad category and this
being well suited for lunchtimeas well as their traditional
presence in the northeast, itjust makes sense.
That customer is searching forsomething quick and convenient.
I think of times traveling toNew York City a few years ago,
and you're rushing from meetingto meeting and you're wondering,
can I make it down the elevator?
Can I make it across the blockand It's a great way to get to
(14:02):
know your brand.
And I think it's reallyimportant to stay at stand in
line in order to get the saladbowl or whatever item that I
want for lunch today.
And if time is not on your side,you need accessibility in other
manners, whether that's througha marketplace or whether that's
ordering through a branddirectly.
And the brands that are able tobring you a seamless experience
for ordering, you're only goingto repeat it.
You've already saved yourprofile information.
They know who you are.
(14:23):
Perhaps you're Gaining loyaltyrelated to those transactions as
well.
And you become a more frequentcustomer over time.
But I think that accessibility,especially in that lunch meal
period is very important.
And we know that's somethingpeople have really close eyes
for on the Uber eats app aswell.
When you log in and you'relooking at the delivery
estimates of restaurants aroundyou, someone 45 minutes later
(14:46):
may not win out on that eatingoccasion.
If you need that food in lessthan 15 minutes or have another
meeting coming up in 30 minutes.
Behind
Jeremy Julian (14:53):
Yeah, no, I have that problem from time to time.
I get stuck here at this deskand I'm like, okay, I'm gonna go
off video for this next callbecause I'm eating my lunch.
But to your point, I think, Ilove that the product itself,
the consumer that they'reserving where they're at,
because I think they'reprimarily in high density New
York City, type of places, thosesolid house concepts.
So it does make sense thatthey're able to do that.
And I would also say thatwithout making it easy for the
(15:17):
consumer, you fail.
So talk to me a little bit abouthow Uber direct makes it
something that's accessible forconsumers.
Because I think all too oftenoperators, whether it's a single
unit operator, your, your TexMex restaurant that you grew up
in.
They get overwhelmed.
They want to be able to do it.
They look at it and go, I can'thire my own people.
(15:37):
I need to be able to serve thismarketplace.
And I don't know how, help walkthrough what that process looks
like.
If I own, a couple ofrestaurants and I'm trying to
figure out how to get UberDirect going for my brand, Uber
Eats, I don't want to say it's,tried and true.
It's either integrated with thepoint of sale or it's a tablet,
and I think everybody's talkedthrough a lot of that, but now
on the Uber Direct side, I'dlove to walk through what that
(15:59):
looks like from a guestexperience and then really even
from a product integration side.
brandi-villarreal_1 (16:03):
Absolutely.
So for a restaurant that'sbeginning the first party
delivery journey, your questionis, how am I going to do it?
And we have a range of solutionsthat really fit a variety of
operation types.
So the most simple, the simpleone that you could parallel to a
tablet is using an uber directdashboard.
Someone is going directly to awebsite to say, customer A has
(16:24):
ordered from me and I need thisto be delivered.
delivered from my location totheir end address.
In doing so, we're also able tosend that customer a
notification and tracking linkso that they can follow the
delivery request.
And then that operations managerin store can also see has a
courier accepted the order.
Are they already in route?
Has this delivery beencompleted?
So if a Customer calls in with aquestion.
(16:46):
They're able to provide ananswer to it.
Of course, we also work with avariety of integration partners,
and that might be point of salecompanies.
and you can work directlythrough point of sale
integrations to access deliveryservices or through online
ordering aggregators andproviders.
Whether you're thinking ofsomeone like an Olo, or perhaps
even a chow now, a deliver act.
(17:08):
There are a range of optionsthat restaurants are using for
technology.
And we truly believe in beingable to use best in class
technology across a variety ofimportant pillars for your
restaurant in order to gain thebest access for your end
customers.
But I mentioned that trackingleak, and that's a really big
part of it too, becausecustomers have expectations
about delivery.
Now, if you can log into our appand see exactly where someone
(17:30):
is, okay, they're around thecorner.
They're running a couple ofminutes.
late, you know what you're doingwith your schedule.
And so likewise, a customer thatis ordering from you expects
that same sort of conveniencebecause if you have no idea
where the delivery driver maybe, for me, I'm always in
meetings and I'm wondering, issomeone going to ring the
doorbell and my dogs are goingto go crazy while I'm on this
call?
if I can beat the driver to thedoor, I can usually avoid that
(17:52):
type of situation or even leavethem a note that says, Please
don't ring it.
Just leave it at door.
And we offer those convenienttypes of delivery options.
That was something reallyastounding to me is the
percentage of our Uber eats andUber direct deliveries that are
set to leave that door.
I was talking to a casual dininggroup that was beginning to on
board with us, and I asked them,Will you have an option for a
(18:13):
customer to either meet thecourier at the door or leave the
product at the door?
And they're like, Why would Iwant it left at doors?
Actually, Over 50 percent of ourorders are set to leave at door,
and that it's just like theconvenience and accessibility
that people expect now.
So why not use those data andtrends to influence the user
interface and the accessibilityyou're giving to your own guests
Jeremy Julian (18:34):
Well, I'm old enough to remember when Amazon
used to ring the doorbell andwait to hand you the package.
And now anymore, it just doesn'thappen.
They just leave it at the doorand the doorbell rings and the
dogs bark like crazy.
And then, eventually you go pickup your package.
But I think it's, I think it'san interesting paradigm shift
that I think a lot of peopledon't understand.
Talk to me, Brandi, about theopposite side of this.
(18:54):
We get a lot of.
A lot of restaurant operatorsthat are on the show or that I
talk with, they're like, I don'twant to, I don't want to leave
my brand into somebody else'shands.
Why is it that you think it'ssuch a compelling offer?
I know why I think it's, I thinkit's silly not to be in this
space because the consumers arelooking for it, but help.
Walk them through and ease theirmind that says you're not there.
(19:17):
You're your competitor next dooris there and is getting that
order for those fish tacos thatyou talked about earlier.
But what is it that, that, thatyou guys say to people when they
struggle with this, because Ithink a lot of people get to a
place where they don't trust itor they don't want to go that
route.
brandi-villarreal_1 (19:32):
absolutely.
So the first one is that you'releaving opportunity at the door
and leaving money on the table.
table.
If you're not providing thataccessibility, because as you
mentioned, if the restaurantnext door of someone within the
same category type is offeringthat form of convenience, that's
where the customer will navigateto or marketplace channels where
you don't gain the customer datarelated to that transaction.
(19:53):
So I think that's really a lotof the why for why a restaurant
brand should do it.
But brand experience is crucial,and that is built into this
product.
We recognize that when, UberDirect is delivering an order
for a restaurant brand.
It is their name and reputationbehind it.
And so it is absolutelyessential that we not only
provide the same level ofreliability that we would on
(20:14):
Uber Eats, but that we actuallygo above and beyond that.
So very important to us is thatwe would never prioritize our
own marketplace orders oversomeone's first party delivery
order, because that is yourreputation at stake.
And via us partnering with you,you're We need to be an
excellent brand partner andcommitted to the reliability of
that experience.
Customers are choosing betweenso many options and they have a
(20:36):
variety of, values that they'reanchoring towards, whether it's
value, which is your, price andaccessibility, whether it's
convenience, reliability, speed.
Feed related to it, and we wantrestaurants to be able to garner
the best of all of those things.
Why not use the lowest price foryour customer and the fastest
delivery time to provide themwith an excellent experience
that will bring Jeremy from aonce a month customer to perhaps
(20:59):
even ordering every single weekbecause you're finding something
new that you love every time youdo
Jeremy Julian (21:04):
Yeah, I think that's such a critical thing to
think about.
And I think it's all too oftenpeople don't consider that
because they have control issuesor whatever else.
And you do a hybrid?
Can I do self delivery and Uberdirect in the same environment?
help me understand.
So I'm a place that I want touse, I've got two delivery
drivers, but if I get a third, Iwant to dispatch Uber direct,
but I don't want always to haveUber direct to be my guy,
(21:25):
because you know what, on anormal Tuesday, Wednesday, I can
staff my pizza guy can leave togo drive stuff.
But on a Friday when we'regetting bombed and it's the
football game or whatever else,a little bit of a different
conversation.
Is that something you guys offerfor people?
brandi-villarreal_1_10-25-20 (21:38):
We absolutely believe in hybrid
delivery, and there are certainreasons that you might staff
your own delivery drivers,whether that's for catering or
large orders or time periodsthat you know there is going to
be a lot of demand.
But having worked in restaurantoperations myself, You always
have to deal with theunexpected, whether that's
someone calling in or any otherfire that can happen within the
(21:58):
four walls of the restaurant.
So we think it's reallyimportant to have a backup plan
when that happens, andintegrations and technology can
provide you with that.
So we work with a lot oforganizations, whether they're
in the world of pizza orsandwiches or other types of
food that have their owndelivery drivers, but also
leverage Uber direct.
an interesting concept is onethat's really popular in college
(22:19):
towns.
And so for them, summer is atime of somewhat weaker
staffing.
A lot of kids are going homeover the summer, but that
doesn't mean there aren't peoplestill there that want to access
their food.
So being able to leverage Uber'scourier network during that time
period helps them bring the bestexperience to their end
customer.
but there are a variety ofintegration partners that we
work with that can also helpwith that.
(22:40):
with this self delivery versus,outsourcing questions such as
cartwheel and ship day.
Many others out there, thatreally allow for someone to
balance and choose between whenyou're leveraging your own staff
or
Jeremy Julian (22:52):
Yeah, no, I think that's amazing.
And I think, in general, I thinkthere are people to your point
that want to do it themselveswhen they can, but when they
can't, they want to be able toleverage some third parties and
having to have people that areon part time, especially in
certain States with laws and allof those kinds of things that
makes it even more difficult.
Brandi, what else?
brandi-villarreal_1_10-25-2 (23:08):
And to me, the hybrid delivery, to
me, the world of hybriddelivery.
goes beyond that.
So rather than looking at, Ihave my own fleet and I also
want to leverage someone likeUber or another provider.
A lot of our integrations andaggregators allow for you to
leverage more than one deliveryservice provider.
And we know that, of course,strength and coverage can really
(23:28):
vary market price.
by market with a lot of thedelivery service providers.
So why not be able to use thebest in class of all of them?
And that's really where you alsoget to that question of Hey,
perhaps I'm partnered with threeservices and the one delivering
this order is the one that canget it most quickly to my end
customer or at the lowest cost.
We're using both of thosemeasures together to decide who
(23:50):
should do it.
And I think that's a reallygreat system.
if you have more than onedelivery service provider
competing for that order, itgives them All that reason and
attention to be even faster, tobe even more cost effective and
ultimately provide the best end
Jeremy Julian (24:04):
Yeah, no.
And I think, speak for myself.
I know I go look at Uber andLyft when I'm at an airport
trying to get somewhere.
I look at both apps and I go,which one's faster and which
one's cheaper.
And at the time, depending uponwhat my needs are, I will choose
them.
I have very little loyalty toUber versus Lyft when I'm trying
to get home from the airport.
after a business trip, cause Ijust want to get home to my wife
and kids at the same time.
I think that's a great pointthat I hadn't even considered is
(24:26):
that it doesn't have to be a onesize fits all.
It doesn't have to be, in thestore, in the Dallas store, it
might be different than thestore in Chicago.
It might be different than thestore in, in new Orleans that,
they've just got differentcustomers.
They've got different times,they've got different staffing
levels.
Help me understand what thestaffing levels look like.
Cause one of the other problemsthat I see, whether it's,
direct, Uber direct and, or, thethird party marketplaces is a
(24:48):
lot of people struggle to managethe driver communication driver.
we've all been places where thedrivers are there and they're
waiting for their food.
I had an experience recently ata large wing concept that
happens to be based here inDallas, where it didn't go as
well as I would have liked it tohave, on the app.
Side of things.
And which I know, it happens tobe wing stop and they're working
(25:08):
on trying to tighten that up thecommunication back to the
guests.
And typically they're one of thebetter ones, but help me
understand what are those thingsthat you would recommend people
consider?
Because I do think that createssome branding problems.
When I got six drivers sittingthere waiting, some of them are
direct, some of them are goingthrough the third party
marketplaces and reallystruggling to manage it as a
restaurant brand.
brandi-villarreal_1 (25:28):
Absolutely.
So we really look at that as afew components.
So like first, what is the preptime for the order?
And on average, how long does ittake once an order is received
for you to have that packagedand ready for someone to pick
up?
Having that as a starting pointis really important, but that's
also where integrations comeinto play because they're
constantly learning about thatactual experience.
(25:49):
So you may think your prep timeis actually 15 minutes, but
perhaps one of your locations isa lot more efficient and perhaps
lower volume and they're drivingthose orders out the door in 10
minutes.
We don't want the courier toarrive too late for that food
because that's something that'sgoing to get soggy or cold items
are going to not end up at theright temperature.
And so continuously.
Optimizing that prep time viaintegrations, I think, is
(26:11):
absolutely essential.
And then the next part you'rereferring to is what we call
courier wait time.
So once that order is ready oronce a courier has been
dispatched, how long are theyactually in store waiting for
that order?
And we know that for the peopleon the road, time is money, and
they're not going to wait aroundfor an endless amount of time in
order to get that order and takeit to another place.
They'll look at another earningopportunity and perhaps cancel,
(26:34):
which means now you have to waitfor a second driver to show up
at the And then that's alsowhere sometimes you can have
interactions between employees,questions about order issues.
I think it's really importantthat restaurants view couriers
as guests.
Ultimately, they are, they're anindividual that may or may not
already be familiar with yourbrand, but they have walked in
your own four doors.
They're smelling your food.
(26:54):
They're having an opportunity toencounter the hospitality that
your own customers are.
So treat them like a customerand they are ultimately an
extension of your brand.
And one that if you treat in agreat manner will be a strong
representative for you as well.
Jeremy Julian (27:06):
wish more people treated them like that because I
think all too often they don'ttreat them well and they don't
ever get that gas, which isunfortunate because those same
people are going to go out toeat.
And if you treat them well, whenthey're coming in to pick up
food, I promise you, they'regoing to want to come patronize
your establishment.
And when you treat them, notsuper well, it hurts.
How do people get started?
Talk to me a little bit about,so again, I'm this restaurant.
(27:27):
I want to go, I'm already on thethird party marketplaces.
I've got it integrated.
My point of sale, which I wouldsay is, better than 50 percent
of the restaurants out there.
I know some still have thetablets, but a large percentage
of them.
But now I say, you know what?
I'm coming into, the wintertime.
I want to get on Uber direct.
Help me understand.
What does it look like?
How do they get signed up?
Where do they go?
What are those steps look like?
brandi-villarreal_1 (27:47):
Absolutely.
So the easiest way to getstarted is by going to uber.
com backslash direct.
That is a landing page thattells you all about the Uber
direct product as well as sharesome of the case studies and
testimonials like the one thatwe talked about for salad house,
but you can sign up for Uberdirect.
directly within that dashboard.
So if you plan on using thewebsite to call for deliveries,
(28:09):
whether that's large cateringorders or whether that's
standard order fulfillment, youcan get started just within a
couple of days via that process.
You sign up, you enter yourrestaurant information, you'll
be approved and you'll havestandard pricing related to
that.
Now, if you Partner with a pointof sale or an aggregator
provider.
You can also likely get set updirectly through them.
(28:29):
So square customers, as anexample, can go directly within
your square back end andactivate uber direct as a
delivery service.
and you can begin deliveringorders right away.
Likewise, we just launched apartnership with toast P.
O.
S.
And via toast delivery services,customers can now leverage uber
direct for their on demanddelivery orders.
there's also an avenue ofGetting consultation and making
(28:52):
sure you're working closely withour team to optimize that
experience so you can reach outto your Uber eats account
manager, and they will eitherwalk you through the various
options that we have availableor work directly with my team to
provide consultation and aclient partner who can help you
determine the best options,because even when you look at.
Small restaurant groups,especially the emerging ones.
(29:13):
Each of them are prioritizingtechnology in a different
manner.
So if you're someone who hasbuilt to an API before, has a
technology team that would liketo customize an experience for
you, that is something that wecan help work with on
Jeremy Julian (29:25):
Yeah.
And I think all too often, or Ifind brands think of these
things differently, some want tooffer it, some don't want to
offer it.
we talked about salad house, 60plus percent of their sales are
going digital, whereas otherbrands are like, you know what,
I want to partner with just one,DSP and they do it that way.
And so it's been interestingphilosophically to hear, what's
(29:45):
next.
What's next for Uber Direct?
is it, is it, I know that wetease in the news about drones
and all, robots deliver andstuff, but, is it, is that
what's next?
help me understand what the, ifyou were to put your crystal
ball out there and say three tofive years from now, what does
it look like?
brandi-villarreal_1_10-25 (30:00):
three to five years from now.
I'm often thinking what's aroundthe corner.
However, I think there's so muchopportunity for us.
There is also a lot ofinvestment in new verticals.
So just as within Uber eats,you've seen the addition of
grocery convenience, evenpharmacies.
Those are also partners that wework with directly through uber
direct, and they're all thingsthat make our ecosystem
stronger.
(30:20):
We need reliable delivery,Especially if you're taking
someone's medicine from point Ato B, or Apple is one of our
largest customers.
If you're trusting someone withthousands of dollars worth of
MacBooks and iPads, you need tomake sure that it's delivered to
the right person at the righttime and that there aren't
refunds related to that request.
So us continuing to optimizereliability is critical.
absolutely essential toeverything we do.
(30:42):
But one of the biggest spacesthat we're investing in, and I
see a lot of growth in for usover the next 2 to 3 years is
catering and large orderfulfillment.
We understand how essentialthese large orders are for
restaurant groups, whether it'san enterprise restaurant group
or an independent one.
For an independent, a largeorder could likely make and
break, make or break your P.
N.
L.
For the week.
So you want to make sure it isabsolutely right, and we've been
(31:05):
putting the appropriateguardrails in place.
We've been doing large orderfulfillment for a while, but
understanding the uptick incatering deliveries have been
doing a lot to make sure thoseair even more reliable in the
future.
And there are things that wewant to add to that in the
future to whether it's actuallyhaving a courier be able to go
in and do some light set up,taking, sandwich boxes out of
the bags as an example to makeyour office lunch or special
(31:29):
occasion even more special andsomething that's Less, less
friction for the person who wasrunning that event.
so I think that's a really bigarea for us and one that we see
a lot of further improvement andinvestment
Jeremy Julian (31:39):
Yeah, no, it's been amazing to watch how
catering obviously died throughthe pandemic because we weren't
meeting, nobody was meeting inlarge groups, but more and more
nowadays, especially, a lot ofpeople are doing the work from
home, but in the office a coupleof days a week, I was just
talking to my neighbor.
He's Oh yeah, I had coffeeyesterday because they catered
it to the office.
And, but to your point, Withoutit being done properly, you can
hurt that guest experience andhurt that brand promise.
(32:01):
Whereas as you guys arecontinuing to grow that and
we're continuing to, brands arecontinuing to explore that
avenue.
I think it's a huge opportunityfor all restaurants to be
considering because I think alltoo often people don't think
about it and it's a huge revenueboost.
And quite frankly, it'softentimes way more profitable
than the people sitting in thedining room when you go deliver
it, deliver a catering order.
Brandi, how do people get intouch with you?
(32:21):
How do people stay up with thelatest things that you guys have
got going on?
is there a newsletter?
Is there, a social page thatthey should be following?
Help people stay connected towhat you guys have got going on,
whether or not they, they decidethey want to jump into.
Uber directs and start to offerit for their guests.
Brandi.
brandi-villarreal_1_10-25-20 (32:36):
of course.
So we will always mention thosenew offerings on the uber.
com backslash direct.
And I also recommend followingme on LinkedIn.
certainly have, we have a lot ofpartnerships and relationships
with others in the tech industryand are constantly talking about
what's new, what's out there andthe latest trends and
innovations that we see as well.
Jeremy Julian (32:55):
to reconnect and to tell you, not that we knew
each other, but we did know eachother or knew a lot of the same
mutual people.
So it's great to hear what youguys have going on.
to our listeners guys, as I say,each and every time I love
getting the chance to get on theair and share with you guys,
some of the new cool things thatwe've got going on.
Brandi.
for what you guys do and make ita great day.
Thanks for listening to theRestaurant Technology Guys
(33:16):
podcast.
Visit www.
RestaurantTechnologyGuys.
com for tips, industry insights,and more to help you run your
restaurant better.
This is the RestaurantTechnology Guys podcast.
Helping you run your restaurantbetter.
Jeremy Julian (00:11):
In today's episode, we are joined by Brandi
from Uber direct longtimelisteners have probably heard
Uber direct advertising on theshow, but I really wanted to
have them come on and sharetheir solution with our
audience.
They do a fantastic job ofhelping enable first party
delivery ordering.
So you don't have to use thethird party marketplace.
(00:31):
If that's something your brandis looking to do.
please join us to listen tobrainy.
And I talk about all thedifferent ways that you can
enable your restaurant todeliver food to your guests,
whether it be through a thirdparty marketplace or through
Uber direct and partnering withthem.
If you don't know me, my name isJeremy Julian.
I've been in the restaurant techspace for 30 years.
(00:52):
And I happen to work for anorganization called CBS north
star.
We delivered the north star on asell product to multi-unit
restaurants.
If you haven't already checkedus out, check us
www.Cbsnorthstar.com and nowonto the show.
Welcome back to the restauranttechnology guys podcast.
I think everyone out there forjoining us, as I say, each and
every time I know that, you guysgot lots of choices.
(01:12):
So thanks for hanging out today.
I am joined by a very specialguest and it's somewhat ironic
that Brandi and I haven't metbecause we've crossed paths for
a while in the restaurantindustry.
But, Brandi, why don't youintroduce yourself here for a
second?
We can talk a little bit aboutyour history and then, we'll go
ahead.
Brandi Villarreal (01:27):
Thank you, Jeremy.
Excited to be here.
My name is Brandi Villareal, andI'm the head of Uber Direct
online food delivery for the U.
S.
And Canada.
I've been on the Uber team forfive years, but have a long
history in food and beverageoperations and technology before
that, starting with mygrandparents Tex Mex restaurant
in Dallas, which I had a chanceto visit.
to work within as well as dyingat.
(01:48):
Hospitality to me was my grandmawelcoming people into the
restaurant at the front doorevery single day.
And it's been fun to see howthat's grown and changed
involved over time since then.
but in addition to that, I'veworked in food and beverage
technology and POS analytics,but I'm really excited by the
growth opportunities I'vediscovered through Uber Eats as
well as our white label deliverysystem, Uber Direct.
Jeremy Julian (02:08):
it.
Um, I'm gonna have to findgrandma and go find a picture of
you and like a little apron whenyou're eight or nine years old
that I can post as part of thethumbnail.
but, but yeah, Randy, talk tome.
I know that we partneredtogether for a while on the
direct side, but quite frankly,until your team had reached out,
I didn't even know that Uber wasdoing a direct.
Type of, type of solution.
(02:28):
So talk to me, I think everybodyknows what Uber Eats is.
Obviously they compete in thatsame space for, third party
delivery where you guys are amarketplace and you're sending
people there so we can talk alittle bit about, but I'm pretty
sure most of our listeners aregoing to know what that is, but
the ZuberDirect thing.
blew me away when I heard aboutit.
And I literally had no idea thatthis was even an option.
So talk to me a little bit aboutwhat it is, and then we can talk
about why you're so excitedabout what growth opportunities
(02:50):
it is for restaurants.
Brandi Villarreal (02:52):
course, as you mentioned, a lot of people
are familiar with themarketplaces.
Uber Eats, someone logs inhungry, finds a restaurant
nearby that they can order fromfor themselves or for their
families.
But Uber Direct has actuallybeen around for quite a few
years and it's Uber using ourvast courier network to power
delivery for restaurant brandsthat have their own websites or
apps.
(03:13):
So it used to be we built customintegrations for a few large
industry giants.
but we had a chance to reallyevolve and scale that technology
and ensure that we can bring itto not only enterprise and mid
market restaurant groups, butalso small and independent
restaurants because restaurantsof all sizes should be able to
leverage digital presence inorder to grow customer loyalty
(03:34):
as well as acquisition.
And so what we do is we provideAPIs that connect our vast
delivery network to arestaurant's delivery needs.
So a customer that wants toorder from you, but isn't
available to pick up that order,or perhaps you don't have a
driver in house can be connecteddirectly to an Uber driver who
arrives at the restaurant, getsthe contents of that order and
(03:56):
then delivers it to the rightlocation all within a timely
amount.
Because we know customers aresearching for convenience.
All of the data that we've seenshows that delivery isn't going
away.
And while in the past, thedelivery used to be for maybe
your pizza restaurants, yourChinese restaurants and then
independent owners, perhaps youwere driving large orders out to
(04:16):
spaces yourself.
instead, now that we know thatcustomers are choosing to access
delivery via a lot of means,might as well provide them with
accessibility to those options.
Jeremy Julian (04:25):
Yeah.
And so talk to me a little bit,because if I'm a restaurant
owner, I love that idea, I lovebeing able to control that
experience and capture the guestdata, one of the big complaints
about UberEats, and I'm notnecessarily looking to bash
that, but it is one of thecomplaints that I hear from
restaurant operators is that.
Whether it's Uber or any of theother larger competitors or
large ish competitors that youguys have, DoorDash, GrubHub,
(04:45):
all of them, it's, I losecontrol of the customer.
And so it feels like this Uberdirect is a hybrid.
I'm using your guys's tech.
I'm using your guys's ability toget to that guest and establish
that career network.
But I still know who my guest isand I can still interact with
them.
is that kind of the Deltabetween what it is that you guys
have been doing and this, Idon't say new offering, cause it
sounds like you guys have beendoing it for a while, but.
(05:06):
lesser known option that youguys have out there.
brandi-villarreal_1_10-25- (05:09):
Yes, that is one of the most
significant differences.
So because a customer is goingdirectly to a restaurant to
order from them the cus therestaurant retains the customer
data related to thattransaction, you know that
Jeremy is ordering from you thathe typically orders, let's call
it every three to four weeks.
Your favorite plate might be thefish tacos and you can
(05:29):
personalize.
You can reach out to thatindividual and say, actually,
Jeremy, we haven't seen you in awhile.
Come back in.
Or was there anything wrong withyour last experience?
You also get the guest feedbackrelated to that transaction so
that you understand, did yourstore prepare the order
correctly?
Was it delivered in a timelyamount?
And you're given the opportunityfor guest recovery as well.
(05:50):
But we do see a lot of So thesynergy between the marketplace
products as well as what you canaccess through Uber Direct.
I think the marketplace isreally where you find someone
that might be less familiar withyour brand or who has no idea
what's for dinner.
Our statistics show that 2 outof 3 eaters who come into the
Uber Eats app don't know what'sgoing to happen on that meal
occasion.
And we know they're not going toscroll endlessly in order to
(06:13):
find their favorite restaurant.
So you're usually bringingsomeone new to you or less
familiar with your brand.
I can't tell you the number ofrestaurants I've found within
days.
driving distance of my own housethat just because I never used
to drive along that route, Ididn't know they existed.
And now I'm a customer oftheirs.
But if you have brand loyalist,you have someone that's familiar
with you and actively seekingyou out, they should be able to
(06:35):
access the same convenientoptions that they are on a
delivery marketplace, whetherthat's pickup, whether that's
delivery for the order.
And we really see it as anopportunity for you to meet your
customers wherever they may be.
Thank you.
Jeremy Julian (06:46):
Yeah, no.
And I think it's a huge piecebecause ironically, my wife
ordered food recently and hadnever heard of this brand.
Ultimately it ended up being avirtual brand, but she was on
Uber.
She was on, the Uber Eats appand she's Hey, this, I wanted
tacos.
She ultimately got some Beriatacos from somewhere and found
out that it was a virtual brandfrom a brand that was local to
us, but it was cool.
Cause for her, she was feelinglike Mexican food, but didn't
(07:07):
really care whether she got itfrom this brand or that brand
or, and ultimately This brandand now has been a bit more of
a, that, that goes to thatdiscovery.
Now that she knows who they areand where it comes from, to your
point, that conversion step,talk to me a little bit, Brandi,
about are you guys finding thatpeople are converting once they
discover on the reads happen,then.
Do they then jump to Uberdirect?
(07:28):
Is it, cause what I've seenstatistically is it often comes
down to convenience andconsistency of the product that
people are looking for.
And so if they get a greatexperience on Uber Eats, they're
going to continue to go there.
If they know the product isgood, they know the timing is
good.
They know the pricing is good.
If they go direct and it's agood process, process, it helped
me understand from your guys'sperspective, are you guys seeing
people converting or is the UberEats customer, the Uber Eats
(07:50):
customer and the Uber directcustomers, the Uber direct
customer?
Brandi Villarreal (07:53):
Of course, we think there's a unique member,
of course, especially someonethat uses something like our
uber one membership programwhere they're getting discounts
across both rides and eats.
The discount on the delivery feecan speak miles to them, but
most consumers also understandthey might access prices more
related to in store if theyorder via someone's own channel.
And so that's something that iscertainly sought out.
(08:15):
We see a lot of variation in theindustry.
I think across the U.
S.
Generally, we might see about 10percent of digital sales coming
from someone's first partychannels.
But the best in class playersthat I work with across a
variety of industries are seeingupwards of 50 percent of their
digital transactions come fromtheir own channels.
And I think those are the peoplethat are doing it well.
(08:36):
Understand the value and areable to convert because they're
providing a great experiencewhen someone orders via a
marketplace.
So now when this individualseeks them out at a later date
and finds those same optionsavailable, they trust the brand
and want to order through them
Jeremy Julian (08:50):
I love that.
I love that idea.
I'm going to ask anotherquestion.
I know we didn't prep you forthis.
We were teasing about, about,I'm gonna throw some random
questions at you.
Have you seen strategicallybecause I've talked to some
restaurant owners where theyoffer certain things on the
third party marketplaces thatthey offer a different product
offering.
Maybe a slimmed down productoffering their top 10, top 20
(09:10):
items on the third party, butfor first party, they offer
everything you can get in thedining room.
Are you seeing any of thatstatistically where they might
offer more to those guests, notjust pricing parody from in
store, but also some capabilityto get items that you might not
be able to get on a third partymarketplace because it's either
super custom the way you need tomodify it, or, you want to be
able to control the guestexperience and you know that
(09:31):
doesn't travel well.
And if it doesn't travel well,you may need to have a guest
recovery situation.
Brandi Villarreal (09:36):
I think most restaurants have the similar
products available, but thereare really unique opportunities.
So we find brands that, forexample, you have a limited time
item, something new or uniqueoffering and premiering that in
your own channel first is a waythat you can communicate to your
end customer, tell them aboutsomething appealing that might
increase their frequency andloyalty to your restaurant, as
(09:58):
well as ultimately brandaffinity and give them the first
option to try it out on your ownchannel and then add it to the
marketplace.
I think a difference that we seebetween marketplace versus
direct channels to it's justlike the user interface that
you're dealing with.
And when you're on a phone sizescreen, you know that customers
aren't likely going to scrollthrough multiple pages of menu
(10:18):
in order to find what they want.
And so I think that's where,whether it's independent or
enterprise, operators have beeninfluenced or perhaps tailor
their offerings to themarketplace in order to create a
less friction, more frictionfree experience.
Thanks.
Jeremy Julian (10:33):
that idea.
And that's, that's great.
Cause I do think even convertingfrom first party to third party,
to your point, let's make surethat we can execute really well.
I know in some of the stuff thatwe were doing pre show Brandi,
we talked about, there's a brandthat you wanted to talk about a
success story.
Ironically, I happen to know,and he was on the show recently.
Rev CNCO is the new CMO for thesalad house.
And talk to me a little bitabout salad house.
(10:53):
Cause I'd love to let some ofour listeners hear a great
success story.
You guys sent over thecollateral.
if you're good with that, I'dlove to just talk through where
were they prior to Uber directand how has it changed their
brand because it was prettysignificant, some of the stuff
you and the team sent over myway.
brandi-villarreal_1_10-25-20 (11:09):
Of course.
So salad house.
they're great and growingconcept.
I believe they just opened their19th location, but they do see
themselves continuing to expandinto the, 25 plus location
bucket.
But the brand started in 2011.
And so if you look, backwards,then the delivery apps as we
know them today didn't exist.
And so so many brands had anopportunity to try out an
(11:30):
initial market price.
the incrementality added anotherone behind it.
but most of these brands startedon marketplaces.
And then once you understand howseamless the delivery
integration can be with youroperation and the greater demand
that it brings you, why not turntowards like fine tuning and
increasing the loyalty via yourown channel?
And so salad house partners withus on both Uber eats and Uber
(11:53):
direct.
And what's really significant isthat 64 percent of their overall
sales are digital.
And so them choosing the righttechnology partners as well as
marketplaces and integrationproviders to partner with has
been really essential to theirbrand presence as well as
increasing customer acquisitionoverall.
And so we're really proud towork with them on uber direct
(12:14):
and uber eats.
Uber eats is where they'refinding someone who perhaps is
less familiar.
And then uber direct is offeringthe same convenience,
accessibility and fast deliverythat someone can gain via
marketplace channels.
And so we've had a closepartnership with Jared Bravo,
who's their director ofoperations over the past few
years and have some greatintegration providers that help
(12:34):
ensure that there's reallyseamless delivery touch points
between all of thoseexperiences.
Jeremy Julian (12:39):
And I want to dig into that because I think that's
probably the biggest thing that,that a lot of, a lot of people
get scared about is how do I doit?
And how do I go about it?
But before I jump into that,Brandi, help me understand 64%.
That sounds unfathomable.
that, so much of it would comein through digital.
And so what do you, what,sitting on the outside, Help me
understand because so many ofthe brands that I work with,
(13:00):
they're like, Hey, we're at 12.
We're trying to get to 13.
Hey, we're at 15.
We're trying to get to 17 thisyear.
That's like over 50 percent oftheir orders are all digital.
Is it because the product is itbecause of the type of consumer,
what are you, even if great.
And if you don't know, I'd loveeven just a guess, because I
think some of our brands, I justsaid, I just did an edit for the
guys that plays pizza and theirCTO was talking about digital
(13:23):
versus in store and how they'revery different guests and how
you have to create a differentexperience, quite frankly, as to
how the food is produced insalad houses case, do you have
any idea why or how they've beenable to grow so significantly in
the last, 15 years, the way thatthey have.
brandi-villarreal_1 (13:39):
Absolutely.
So I think when you think ofthat salad category and this
being well suited for lunchtimeas well as their traditional
presence in the northeast, itjust makes sense.
That customer is searching forsomething quick and convenient.
I think of times traveling toNew York City a few years ago,
and you're rushing from meetingto meeting and you're wondering,
can I make it down the elevator?
Can I make it across the blockand It's a great way to get to
(14:02):
know your brand.
And I think it's reallyimportant to stay at stand in
line in order to get the saladbowl or whatever item that I
want for lunch today.
And if time is not on your side,you need accessibility in other
manners, whether that's througha marketplace or whether that's
ordering through a branddirectly.
And the brands that are able tobring you a seamless experience
for ordering, you're only goingto repeat it.
You've already saved yourprofile information.
They know who you are.
(14:23):
Perhaps you're Gaining loyaltyrelated to those transactions as
well.
And you become a more frequentcustomer over time.
But I think that accessibility,especially in that lunch meal
period is very important.
And we know that's somethingpeople have really close eyes
for on the Uber eats app aswell.
When you log in and you'relooking at the delivery
estimates of restaurants aroundyou, someone 45 minutes later
(14:46):
may not win out on that eatingoccasion.
If you need that food in lessthan 15 minutes or have another
meeting coming up in 30 minutes.
Behind
Jeremy Julian (14:53):
Yeah, no, I have that problem from time to time.
I get stuck here at this deskand I'm like, okay, I'm gonna go
off video for this next callbecause I'm eating my lunch.
But to your point, I think, Ilove that the product itself,
the consumer that they'reserving where they're at,
because I think they'reprimarily in high density New
York City, type of places, thosesolid house concepts.
So it does make sense thatthey're able to do that.
And I would also say thatwithout making it easy for the
(15:17):
consumer, you fail.
So talk to me a little bit abouthow Uber direct makes it
something that's accessible forconsumers.
Because I think all too oftenoperators, whether it's a single
unit operator, your, your TexMex restaurant that you grew up
in.
They get overwhelmed.
They want to be able to do it.
They look at it and go, I can'thire my own people.
(15:37):
I need to be able to serve thismarketplace.
And I don't know how, help walkthrough what that process looks
like.
If I own, a couple ofrestaurants and I'm trying to
figure out how to get UberDirect going for my brand, Uber
Eats, I don't want to say it's,tried and true.
It's either integrated with thepoint of sale or it's a tablet,
and I think everybody's talkedthrough a lot of that, but now
on the Uber Direct side, I'dlove to walk through what that
(15:59):
looks like from a guestexperience and then really even
from a product integration side.
brandi-villarreal_1 (16:03):
Absolutely.
So for a restaurant that'sbeginning the first party
delivery journey, your questionis, how am I going to do it?
And we have a range of solutionsthat really fit a variety of
operation types.
So the most simple, the simpleone that you could parallel to a
tablet is using an uber directdashboard.
Someone is going directly to awebsite to say, customer A has
(16:24):
ordered from me and I need thisto be delivered.
delivered from my location totheir end address.
In doing so, we're also able tosend that customer a
notification and tracking linkso that they can follow the
delivery request.
And then that operations managerin store can also see has a
courier accepted the order.
Are they already in route?
Has this delivery beencompleted?
So if a Customer calls in with aquestion.
(16:46):
They're able to provide ananswer to it.
Of course, we also work with avariety of integration partners,
and that might be point of salecompanies.
and you can work directlythrough point of sale
integrations to access deliveryservices or through online
ordering aggregators andproviders.
Whether you're thinking ofsomeone like an Olo, or perhaps
even a chow now, a deliver act.
(17:08):
There are a range of optionsthat restaurants are using for
technology.
And we truly believe in beingable to use best in class
technology across a variety ofimportant pillars for your
restaurant in order to gain thebest access for your end
customers.
But I mentioned that trackingleak, and that's a really big
part of it too, becausecustomers have expectations
about delivery.
Now, if you can log into our appand see exactly where someone
(17:30):
is, okay, they're around thecorner.
They're running a couple ofminutes.
late, you know what you're doingwith your schedule.
And so likewise, a customer thatis ordering from you expects
that same sort of conveniencebecause if you have no idea
where the delivery driver maybe, for me, I'm always in
meetings and I'm wondering, issomeone going to ring the
doorbell and my dogs are goingto go crazy while I'm on this
call?
if I can beat the driver to thedoor, I can usually avoid that
(17:52):
type of situation or even leavethem a note that says, Please
don't ring it.
Just leave it at door.
And we offer those convenienttypes of delivery options.
That was something reallyastounding to me is the
percentage of our Uber eats andUber direct deliveries that are
set to leave that door.
I was talking to a casual dininggroup that was beginning to on
board with us, and I asked them,Will you have an option for a
(18:13):
customer to either meet thecourier at the door or leave the
product at the door?
And they're like, Why would Iwant it left at doors?
Actually, Over 50 percent of ourorders are set to leave at door,
and that it's just like theconvenience and accessibility
that people expect now.
So why not use those data andtrends to influence the user
interface and the accessibilityyou're giving to your own guests
Jeremy Julian (18:34):
Well, I'm old enough to remember when Amazon
used to ring the doorbell andwait to hand you the package.
And now anymore, it just doesn'thappen.
They just leave it at the doorand the doorbell rings and the
dogs bark like crazy.
And then, eventually you go pickup your package.
But I think it's, I think it'san interesting paradigm shift
that I think a lot of peopledon't understand.
Talk to me, Brandi, about theopposite side of this.
(18:54):
We get a lot of.
A lot of restaurant operatorsthat are on the show or that I
talk with, they're like, I don'twant to, I don't want to leave
my brand into somebody else'shands.
Why is it that you think it'ssuch a compelling offer?
I know why I think it's, I thinkit's silly not to be in this
space because the consumers arelooking for it, but help.
Walk them through and ease theirmind that says you're not there.
(19:17):
You're your competitor next dooris there and is getting that
order for those fish tacos thatyou talked about earlier.
But what is it that, that, thatyou guys say to people when they
struggle with this, because Ithink a lot of people get to a
place where they don't trust itor they don't want to go that
route.
brandi-villarreal_1 (19:32):
absolutely.
So the first one is that you'releaving opportunity at the door
and leaving money on the table.
table.
If you're not providing thataccessibility, because as you
mentioned, if the restaurantnext door of someone within the
same category type is offeringthat form of convenience, that's
where the customer will navigateto or marketplace channels where
you don't gain the customer datarelated to that transaction.
(19:53):
So I think that's really a lotof the why for why a restaurant
brand should do it.
But brand experience is crucial,and that is built into this
product.
We recognize that when, UberDirect is delivering an order
for a restaurant brand.
It is their name and reputationbehind it.
And so it is absolutelyessential that we not only
provide the same level ofreliability that we would on
(20:14):
Uber Eats, but that we actuallygo above and beyond that.
So very important to us is thatwe would never prioritize our
own marketplace orders oversomeone's first party delivery
order, because that is yourreputation at stake.
And via us partnering with you,you're We need to be an
excellent brand partner andcommitted to the reliability of
that experience.
Customers are choosing betweenso many options and they have a
(20:36):
variety of, values that they'reanchoring towards, whether it's
value, which is your, price andaccessibility, whether it's
convenience, reliability, speed.
Feed related to it, and we wantrestaurants to be able to garner
the best of all of those things.
Why not use the lowest price foryour customer and the fastest
delivery time to provide themwith an excellent experience
that will bring Jeremy from aonce a month customer to perhaps
(20:59):
even ordering every single weekbecause you're finding something
new that you love every time youdo
Jeremy Julian (21:04):
Yeah, I think that's such a critical thing to
think about.
And I think it's all too oftenpeople don't consider that
because they have control issuesor whatever else.
And you do a hybrid?
Can I do self delivery and Uberdirect in the same environment?
help me understand.
So I'm a place that I want touse, I've got two delivery
drivers, but if I get a third, Iwant to dispatch Uber direct,
but I don't want always to haveUber direct to be my guy,
(21:25):
because you know what, on anormal Tuesday, Wednesday, I can
staff my pizza guy can leave togo drive stuff.
But on a Friday when we'regetting bombed and it's the
football game or whatever else,a little bit of a different
conversation.
Is that something you guys offerfor people?
brandi-villarreal_1_10-25-20 (21:38):
We absolutely believe in hybrid
delivery, and there are certainreasons that you might staff
your own delivery drivers,whether that's for catering or
large orders or time periodsthat you know there is going to
be a lot of demand.
But having worked in restaurantoperations myself, You always
have to deal with theunexpected, whether that's
someone calling in or any otherfire that can happen within the
(21:58):
four walls of the restaurant.
So we think it's reallyimportant to have a backup plan
when that happens, andintegrations and technology can
provide you with that.
So we work with a lot oforganizations, whether they're
in the world of pizza orsandwiches or other types of
food that have their owndelivery drivers, but also
leverage Uber direct.
an interesting concept is onethat's really popular in college
(22:19):
towns.
And so for them, summer is atime of somewhat weaker
staffing.
A lot of kids are going homeover the summer, but that
doesn't mean there aren't peoplestill there that want to access
their food.
So being able to leverage Uber'scourier network during that time
period helps them bring the bestexperience to their end
customer.
but there are a variety ofintegration partners that we
work with that can also helpwith that.
(22:40):
with this self delivery versus,outsourcing questions such as
cartwheel and ship day.
Many others out there, thatreally allow for someone to
balance and choose between whenyou're leveraging your own staff
or
Jeremy Julian (22:52):
Yeah, no, I think that's amazing.
And I think, in general, I thinkthere are people to your point
that want to do it themselveswhen they can, but when they
can't, they want to be able toleverage some third parties and
having to have people that areon part time, especially in
certain States with laws and allof those kinds of things that
makes it even more difficult.
Brandi, what else?
brandi-villarreal_1_10-25-2 (23:08):
And to me, the hybrid delivery, to
me, the world of hybriddelivery.
goes beyond that.
So rather than looking at, Ihave my own fleet and I also
want to leverage someone likeUber or another provider.
A lot of our integrations andaggregators allow for you to
leverage more than one deliveryservice provider.
And we know that, of course,strength and coverage can really
(23:28):
vary market price.
by market with a lot of thedelivery service providers.
So why not be able to use thebest in class of all of them?
And that's really where you alsoget to that question of Hey,
perhaps I'm partnered with threeservices and the one delivering
this order is the one that canget it most quickly to my end
customer or at the lowest cost.
We're using both of thosemeasures together to decide who
(23:50):
should do it.
And I think that's a reallygreat system.
if you have more than onedelivery service provider
competing for that order, itgives them All that reason and
attention to be even faster, tobe even more cost effective and
ultimately provide the best end
Jeremy Julian (24:04):
Yeah, no.
And I think, speak for myself.
I know I go look at Uber andLyft when I'm at an airport
trying to get somewhere.
I look at both apps and I go,which one's faster and which
one's cheaper.
And at the time, depending uponwhat my needs are, I will choose
them.
I have very little loyalty toUber versus Lyft when I'm trying
to get home from the airport.
after a business trip, cause Ijust want to get home to my wife
and kids at the same time.
I think that's a great pointthat I hadn't even considered is
(24:26):
that it doesn't have to be a onesize fits all.
It doesn't have to be, in thestore, in the Dallas store, it
might be different than thestore in Chicago.
It might be different than thestore in, in new Orleans that,
they've just got differentcustomers.
They've got different times,they've got different staffing
levels.
Help me understand what thestaffing levels look like.
Cause one of the other problemsthat I see, whether it's,
direct, Uber direct and, or, thethird party marketplaces is a
(24:48):
lot of people struggle to managethe driver communication driver.
we've all been places where thedrivers are there and they're
waiting for their food.
I had an experience recently ata large wing concept that
happens to be based here inDallas, where it didn't go as
well as I would have liked it tohave, on the app.
Side of things.
And which I know, it happens tobe wing stop and they're working
(25:08):
on trying to tighten that up thecommunication back to the
guests.
And typically they're one of thebetter ones, but help me
understand what are those thingsthat you would recommend people
consider?
Because I do think that createssome branding problems.
When I got six drivers sittingthere waiting, some of them are
direct, some of them are goingthrough the third party
marketplaces and reallystruggling to manage it as a
restaurant brand.
brandi-villarreal_1 (25:28):
Absolutely.
So we really look at that as afew components.
So like first, what is the preptime for the order?
And on average, how long does ittake once an order is received
for you to have that packagedand ready for someone to pick
up?
Having that as a starting pointis really important, but that's
also where integrations comeinto play because they're
constantly learning about thatactual experience.
(25:49):
So you may think your prep timeis actually 15 minutes, but
perhaps one of your locations isa lot more efficient and perhaps
lower volume and they're drivingthose orders out the door in 10
minutes.
We don't want the courier toarrive too late for that food
because that's something that'sgoing to get soggy or cold items
are going to not end up at theright temperature.
And so continuously.
Optimizing that prep time viaintegrations, I think, is
(26:11):
absolutely essential.
And then the next part you'rereferring to is what we call
courier wait time.
So once that order is ready oronce a courier has been
dispatched, how long are theyactually in store waiting for
that order?
And we know that for the peopleon the road, time is money, and
they're not going to wait aroundfor an endless amount of time in
order to get that order and takeit to another place.
They'll look at another earningopportunity and perhaps cancel,
(26:34):
which means now you have to waitfor a second driver to show up
at the And then that's alsowhere sometimes you can have
interactions between employees,questions about order issues.
I think it's really importantthat restaurants view couriers
as guests.
Ultimately, they are, they're anindividual that may or may not
already be familiar with yourbrand, but they have walked in
your own four doors.
They're smelling your food.
(26:54):
They're having an opportunity toencounter the hospitality that
your own customers are.
So treat them like a customerand they are ultimately an
extension of your brand.
And one that if you treat in agreat manner will be a strong
representative for you as well.
Jeremy Julian (27:06):
wish more people treated them like that because I
think all too often they don'ttreat them well and they don't
ever get that gas, which isunfortunate because those same
people are going to go out toeat.
And if you treat them well, whenthey're coming in to pick up
food, I promise you, they'regoing to want to come patronize
your establishment.
And when you treat them, notsuper well, it hurts.
How do people get started?
Talk to me a little bit about,so again, I'm this restaurant.
(27:27):
I want to go, I'm already on thethird party marketplaces.
I've got it integrated.
My point of sale, which I wouldsay is, better than 50 percent
of the restaurants out there.
I know some still have thetablets, but a large percentage
of them.
But now I say, you know what?
I'm coming into, the wintertime.
I want to get on Uber direct.
Help me understand.
What does it look like?
How do they get signed up?
Where do they go?
What are those steps look like?
brandi-villarreal_1 (27:47):
Absolutely.
So the easiest way to getstarted is by going to uber.
com backslash direct.
That is a landing page thattells you all about the Uber
direct product as well as sharesome of the case studies and
testimonials like the one thatwe talked about for salad house,
but you can sign up for Uberdirect.
directly within that dashboard.
So if you plan on using thewebsite to call for deliveries,
(28:09):
whether that's large cateringorders or whether that's
standard order fulfillment, youcan get started just within a
couple of days via that process.
You sign up, you enter yourrestaurant information, you'll
be approved and you'll havestandard pricing related to
that.
Now, if you Partner with a pointof sale or an aggregator
provider.
You can also likely get set updirectly through them.
(28:29):
So square customers, as anexample, can go directly within
your square back end andactivate uber direct as a
delivery service.
and you can begin deliveringorders right away.
Likewise, we just launched apartnership with toast P.
O.
S.
And via toast delivery services,customers can now leverage uber
direct for their on demanddelivery orders.
there's also an avenue ofGetting consultation and making
(28:52):
sure you're working closely withour team to optimize that
experience so you can reach outto your Uber eats account
manager, and they will eitherwalk you through the various
options that we have availableor work directly with my team to
provide consultation and aclient partner who can help you
determine the best options,because even when you look at.
Small restaurant groups,especially the emerging ones.
(29:13):
Each of them are prioritizingtechnology in a different
manner.
So if you're someone who hasbuilt to an API before, has a
technology team that would liketo customize an experience for
you, that is something that wecan help work with on
Jeremy Julian (29:25):
Yeah.
And I think all too often, or Ifind brands think of these
things differently, some want tooffer it, some don't want to
offer it.
we talked about salad house, 60plus percent of their sales are
going digital, whereas otherbrands are like, you know what,
I want to partner with just one,DSP and they do it that way.
And so it's been interestingphilosophically to hear, what's
(29:45):
next.
What's next for Uber Direct?
is it, is it, I know that wetease in the news about drones
and all, robots deliver andstuff, but, is it, is that
what's next?
help me understand what the, ifyou were to put your crystal
ball out there and say three tofive years from now, what does
it look like?
brandi-villarreal_1_10-25 (30:00):
three to five years from now.
I'm often thinking what's aroundthe corner.
However, I think there's so muchopportunity for us.
There is also a lot ofinvestment in new verticals.
So just as within Uber eats,you've seen the addition of
grocery convenience, evenpharmacies.
Those are also partners that wework with directly through uber
direct, and they're all thingsthat make our ecosystem
stronger.
(30:20):
We need reliable delivery,Especially if you're taking
someone's medicine from point Ato B, or Apple is one of our
largest customers.
If you're trusting someone withthousands of dollars worth of
MacBooks and iPads, you need tomake sure that it's delivered to
the right person at the righttime and that there aren't
refunds related to that request.
So us continuing to optimizereliability is critical.
absolutely essential toeverything we do.
(30:42):
But one of the biggest spacesthat we're investing in, and I
see a lot of growth in for usover the next 2 to 3 years is
catering and large orderfulfillment.
We understand how essentialthese large orders are for
restaurant groups, whether it'san enterprise restaurant group
or an independent one.
For an independent, a largeorder could likely make and
break, make or break your P.
N.
L.
For the week.
So you want to make sure it isabsolutely right, and we've been
(31:05):
putting the appropriateguardrails in place.
We've been doing large orderfulfillment for a while, but
understanding the uptick incatering deliveries have been
doing a lot to make sure thoseair even more reliable in the
future.
And there are things that wewant to add to that in the
future to whether it's actuallyhaving a courier be able to go
in and do some light set up,taking, sandwich boxes out of
the bags as an example to makeyour office lunch or special
(31:29):
occasion even more special andsomething that's Less, less
friction for the person who wasrunning that event.
so I think that's a really bigarea for us and one that we see
a lot of further improvement andinvestment
Jeremy Julian (31:39):
Yeah, no, it's been amazing to watch how
catering obviously died throughthe pandemic because we weren't
meeting, nobody was meeting inlarge groups, but more and more
nowadays, especially, a lot ofpeople are doing the work from
home, but in the office a coupleof days a week, I was just
talking to my neighbor.
He's Oh yeah, I had coffeeyesterday because they catered
it to the office.
And, but to your point, Withoutit being done properly, you can
hurt that guest experience andhurt that brand promise.
(32:01):
Whereas as you guys arecontinuing to grow that and
we're continuing to, brands arecontinuing to explore that
avenue.
I think it's a huge opportunityfor all restaurants to be
considering because I think alltoo often people don't think
about it and it's a huge revenueboost.
And quite frankly, it'softentimes way more profitable
than the people sitting in thedining room when you go deliver
it, deliver a catering order.
Brandi, how do people get intouch with you?
(32:21):
How do people stay up with thelatest things that you guys have
got going on?
is there a newsletter?
Is there, a social page thatthey should be following?
Help people stay connected towhat you guys have got going on,
whether or not they, they decidethey want to jump into.
Uber directs and start to offerit for their guests.
Brandi.
brandi-villarreal_1_10-25-20 (32:36):
of course.
So we will always mention thosenew offerings on the uber.
com backslash direct.
And I also recommend followingme on LinkedIn.
certainly have, we have a lot ofpartnerships and relationships
with others in the tech industryand are constantly talking about
what's new, what's out there andthe latest trends and
innovations that we see as well.
Jeremy Julian (32:55):
to reconnect and to tell you, not that we knew
each other, but we did know eachother or knew a lot of the same
mutual people.
So it's great to hear what youguys have going on.
to our listeners guys, as I say,each and every time I love
getting the chance to get on theair and share with you guys,
some of the new cool things thatwe've got going on.
Brandi.
for what you guys do and make ita great day.
Thanks for listening to theRestaurant Technology Guys
(33:16):
podcast.
Visit www.
RestaurantTechnologyGuys.
com for tips, industry insights,and more to help you run your
restaurant better.
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