Ah, order pickup time at last! The work in the kitchen is done and its time to meet your customers or set up a pickup spot for the prepared orders. Whether you’re baking from home, a commercial kitchen, or your own storefront, its worth putting some effort into creating a smooth, welcoming experience for your customers when they come to pick up their pre-orders. This is your chance to make a good impression before they even taste your food!
Hotplate chefs have gotten creative with their pickup spots and we’ve learned a lot from watching them. Here’s a few formats that have worked for our chefs, along with some tips for each.
Set up a porch pickup
If you have a front porch or area of your property that’s easy to access, this would be a great place to offer a pickup to your local community. Pop up a table or put up some easy shelves and maybe add a little decor to give the area some life. Be sure to clearly label bags and organize orders in an intuitive way so that customers can easily grab their goodies and head out.
We love this porch set up from Sarah’s Sourdough.
Worried about giving your address? It’s easy to hide the actual address on your Hotplate storefront and only reveal it to customers after they’ve ordered.
Personal hand offs
Depending on your business, pickup day may be your only opportunity to meet your customers face to face. This could mean popping up a table outside your kitchen and waiting around for customers to come by, installing a doorbell, or asking customers to call/text you when they arrive to pickup. This format may be more tedious (you can anticipate a lot of running in and out of your kitchen), it’s an opportunity for you to personally hand off each order and connect with your customer community. We find that this format is more common for chefs running cottage food operations out of an apartment building or complex.
Create a pickup counter
If you operate out of a brick and mortar that’s regularly open, consider creating a separate area or line for pre-order pickups. Add some signage so customers know where to go, and try to minimize the amount of time they have to wait in line. A great way to keep customers coming back to pre-order is by having it be the more convenient option – that means shorter lines and easier pickups.
Partner with local businesses
Many smaller food businesses, especially cottage operations working from apartments or commercial kitchens, don’t have a space they can use to set up a pickup area. Instead, they partner with cafes, boutiques, and small shops to function as their pickup location. Many chefs also offer a few pickup areas in different parts of town, partnering with several shops.
Doing this does take some networking and making connections. We recommend going in person to the stores you want to work with and asking to speak to the owner or manager. Let them know that you’re a local chef looking for a place for your customers to come pick up their orders. It never hurts to bring a sample of the goods to that first meeting!
Once you have a shop partner, be sure to add them as a pickup location to your Hotplate event and include any relevant pickup instructions. Since you won’t be there, be descriptive and help ensure your customer has an easy time picking up their order.
Here’s an example from a Hotplate business “Nish Noosh” who partners with local shop “The Canal Market”.
The bottom line
It makes a huge difference to customers when their pickup experience feels smooth and personal. Create a system or space that’s easy for your customers to follow, and you’ll surely see them order again.