Playbook

Make takeout & delivery profitable — Operations & Pricing Playbook

A practical, interactive workbook and checklist set to improve takeout & delivery margins while protecting order accuracy, speed, and quality. Includes a packaging & margin worksheet, pricing test template, pickup & staging and quality checklists, delivery-partner analysis fields, and a reconciliation checklist you can save and return to.

Interactive Tool

Takeout & Delivery Profitability Playbook — Workbook

How to use this workbook

This playbook helps you capture the numbers, run simple pricing experiments, standardize pickup & staging, and make reconciliation reliable. Gather a recent POS report (off-premise orders and average ticket), packaging invoices, and your delivery partner statements before you begin. Enter the values below, use the guidance field to estimate contribution per order, and record prioritized actions.

Sections in this workbook: a packaging & margin worksheet, a pricing-test template for representative items, pickup & staging & quality checklists, delivery-partner comparison fields, and a reconciliation checklist with action assignments. Save entries so your team can track changes over time.

Name to identify this entry (useful for multi-location groups).
Average gross ticket for off-premise orders (use POS data over the last 4 weeks).
Average ingredient cost per off-premise order (sum of item food costs divided by order count).
Include boxes, bags, liners, condiments, labels, and disposable utensils. Use recent supplier invoices or counts.
E.g., extra labor minutes to pack an order, printing, or last-mile bagging supplies.
Enter the percentage fee charged by your primary third-party platform (enter 0 if you do not use one).
If you collect a delivery fee on top of the ticket, enter the average amount here.
Use this formula to estimate contribution per order: Contribution = Avg order revenue - (Avg food cost + Packaging cost + Other variable costs + (Delivery commission % * Avg order revenue / 100)). Aim for a positive contribution margin that covers fixed overhead and delivers profit; a practical target for off-premise contribution is often >= 20% of order revenue, but your target may vary. If contribution is low or negative, consider pricing adjustments, packaging cost reduction, switching channels, or reduced commission agreements.
Pick a high-volume or important-margin item to test (e.g., 'Chicken Alfredo - large').
Consider covering packaging and commission. Small round-ups tend to be easier to sell (e.g., +$0.50–$1).
Examples: test price on delivery channel only, update menu description to emphasize 'keeps warm', bundle with sauce/condiments for perceived value.
Check the items you have standardized and assign owners in notes.
Be specific: e.g., 'Test raising item X by $1 on delivery for 2 weeks — Owner: Lisa — Due: 2026-05-07'
How confident are you in the entered numbers and planned actions?
1.0 10.0
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