Analyze the data from your delivery restaurant: the 8 essential KPIs to track each week

Operating a delivery restaurant without data is like driving without a dashboard. Delivery platforms provide detailed reports, but many restaurateurs never consult them or don’t know what to do with them. Yet, 30 minutes of weekly analysis can identify problems before they become critical and opportunities before the competition seizes them.

KPI 1 - Gross Revenue by Platform: Tracking weekly revenue per platform (Uber Eats, Deliveroo, Just Eat) allows for the identification of trends and anomalies. A sudden 30% drop on Uber Eats on a Wednesday could indicate a tablet outage, an accidental pause, or an algorithmic visibility problem. KPI 2 - Number of Orders: Distinct from revenue as the number of orders can stagnate while the average order value increases (good sign) or vice versa (a warning sign).

KPI 3 - Average Basket: calculate gross revenue divided by the number of orders. Tracking its evolution week after week reveals the impact of your menu changes, price changes, and upselling strategies. KPI 4 - Cancellation Rate: aim for less than 1%. Beyond that, you incur a progressive algorithmic penalty. If your rate increases, identify the cause: unmanaged stock shortages, kitchen capacity issues, technical bugs. KPI 5 - Average Preparation Time: compare your actual time to the time promised on the platform. If you regularly exceed your promised time, negative reviews will follow.

KPI 6 - Average score (and its evolution): monitor not only the score but its trend. A score declining from 4.5 to 4.3 over 4 weeks is an early warning sign. Read the comments accompanying this decline to identify the specific problem. KPI 7 - Net revenue after commissions: this is the true figure that matters for your profitability. Some periods have the same gross revenue but a different net amount if commissions vary (platform promotions, etc.).

KPI 8 - Customer Retention Rate: if the platform provides it, the percentage of customers who order twice or more is the ultimate indicator of satisfaction. A retention rate above 25% means you are doing a good job of retaining customers. Below 15%, there is a loyalty issue even if the reviews are good. Some aggregators like Fooderise cross-reference data from all your platforms to provide a unified view of these KPIs, which is much more convenient than checking three separate dashboards.

Create a simple Excel file with these 8 KPIs, and fill them in each Monday morning for the previous week. After 4-6 weeks, you will have a valuable basis for comparison. Trends over 4 weeks are more significant than weekly variations that may be due to external factors (weather, holidays, local events). This weekly ritual of 30 minutes is one of the best investments a restaurateur can make.