BY ANDREA PALMER’
Spa City Menus is a new restaurant delivery
business in Saratoga Springs that allows customers
to order food and get delivery from places that
don’t deliver themselves.
Spa City Menus receives technology, tablet
and marketing support from Zuppler, a Chicago based
company that integrates its software into
individual restaurant websites to allow customers
to order online, according to company president
Erica Kelley.
The Spa City Menus website was officially
launched in April. The free mobile app was made
available mid-May.
“Right now we are relying on grass-roots advertising.
With the limited resources we have, we
are utilizing boots on the ground and feet on the
street with our marketing and merchandising,”
Kelley said.
“We’ve had tremendous success with medical
and office buildings, with people who routinely
need to order lunch in, but can’t go out for very
long, or who have regular lunch meetings. We’ve
also been successful with students and outlying
residents who do not necessarily want to go into
town to pick up food.”
Kelley has worked with Zuppler on projects
prior to Spa City Menus.
“I started working on this in December. At the
time, it was more of a restaurant-integration database.
Then I learned of another Zuppler-supported
client in Jacksonville, Fla.,was using an ‘Ãœber-like’
delivery system, for various restaurants. So we took
12 different restaurants from this area, and put
them all on one website in January of this year.
We’re still adding more.”
Kelley compares the delivery system to massively
successful ride-sharing startup Ãœber. Customers
place their orders online via PC, tablet or
smart-phone. Orders come up in the restaurant
on a tablet provided by Spa City Menus. Delivery
drivers are notified of the order and dispatched to
the restaurant. Upon leaving the restaurant with
the order, drivers notify Spa City Menus of their
departure via GPS-coded smartphones.
Customers are sent an estimated time of delivery
as well as a photo of the driver, and are able to
track their delivery on a map visible on their PC or
personal computer device. Customers are notified
one last time when their delivery is within 500 feet
of them. Drivers are rated by customers, similar to
Ãœber. Higher rated drivers get preferential treatment
for deliveries.
“It’s very seamless. It never takes the customer
away from the restaurant’s menu. They don’t need
to enter their information until the end, when
they’re done ordering,” said Kelley.
“We provide all the drivers. We handle the
background check and driver wages. We assume
all liability–insurance, etc. Some restaurants
are simply not set up for delivery, so they’re
missing out on a huge market. Since we are a
performance-based business, we don’t charge
the restaurant until we bring them business. Now
restaurants previously not set up for delivery can
tap into that part of the business, through us. It’s
great for them.”
Spa City Menus accepts only one restaurant per
cuisine category. “We felt it would cannibalize the
market to choose only one per food type. Instead
of splitting up business, why not focus on growing
just a handful of great restaurants? It’s a perk of
being part of the business. It is a benefit to both
the consumer and the restaurant,” she said.
Participating restaurant sites and menus are
integrated into the Spa City Menus website and
mobile app. Menus are mobile-interactive and
optimized. This is included in the membership,
at no additional charge.
“Every item, every dish–customers can just
click on it and add it to their cart. Payment is
taken at the end of the order. We have designed
a delivery system that has made things very hot,
fresh and effective,” Kelley stated.
“There’s a buzz around town about the delivery
service. People think it’s cool, it’s genius, it’s great.
There’s nothing like it anywhere nearby. Until
now, unless you live in a big city, it’s hard to get
something delivered other than pizza or Chinese.
There’s nothing wrong with either of those, but this
service provides customers with a lot more options.
We’re really pushing these restaurants to the top
and making them much more visible,” Kelley said.
Spa City Menus is currently doing “Lunch &
Learn” seminars for area office buildings. Lunch
is sponsored in part or in whole by a participating
restaurant while the ins and outs of the app are explained.
Meals for working lunches and meetings
can be ordered from Spa City Menus early in the
day, and will be delivered at the appointed time.
“We send a group order feature that sends email
to everyone in a group and prompts them to order
their meal. Orders can be paid by individuals or by
the company. Names are greenlighted as orders are
placed. It takes away from someone having to run
around an office taking lunch orders all morning.
It makes lunch meetings much more efficient.”
Kelley graduated from the College of St. Rose.
She has a long history in the restaurant consulting
industry and is a trained sommelier.
“This is by far one of the services I am proudest
of in my career. I feel it is good for the restaurant,
not just good for me. I think it’s helping the local
restaurants I grew up with, and that is something
I am very proud of.”
The website is www.spacitymenus.com.
Photo Courtesy Spa City Menus