Unique Digital Marketing Platform, Alcohol Delivery Fuel Future Growth
Contributed by
Michael Ares
FetchMeTM, the 4-year old Auburn-based restaurant marketing, takeout ordering and meal delivery company, announced a new package of digital marketing services for local restaurants to help build customer relations. By providing local restaurants and their customers with a variety of win-win marketing and meal delivery services, FetchMe continues to contribute to the survival and future success of these small businesses most severely impacted by COVID-19.
FetchMe offered local area restaurants a high-value, locally-based alternative to costly national conglomerates like Uber Eats, Grubhub and DoorDash. As COVID -19 restrictions drastically limited on-premises dining, local restaurants – already operating on thin margins – were forced to rely on take-out and delivery orders to stay afloat.
“We were already working closely with our restaurant partners to help market and drive off-premises sales before the pandemic,” said FetchMe Founder and CEO, Harrison Evola. “The relationships we’ve developed put us in the perfect position to help them even more when the pandemic hit through stepped-up digital marketing campaigns for take-out ordering and meal delivery. While we are beginning to see a return to on-premises dining, the value of take-out and delivery remains critical to local restaurant success.”
Agave Loco, an Auburn-based restaurant, has been working with FetchMe for years. Restaurant owner Jorge Escalera pointed to the increased orders from new customers, higher engagement with existing customers and larger average order sizes overall that have come from their partnership with FetchMe.
“We couldn’t be more pleased with the brand recognition and bottom-line ROI generated from our relationship with FetchMe,” Escalera said. “Harrison and his team deliver innovative marketing and operational value we would not be able to achieve on our own.”
Evola also pointed to Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey’s recent announcement that the state will allow take-out and delivery of alcohol beginning Oct. 1 as yet another way the company’s restaurant partners can expand off-premises consumption of the meals and beverages they serve on-site. FetchMe’s model of employing its own drivers, as opposed to using independent-contract drivers, makes it easy for restaurants to take advantage of this new – and highly profitable – revenue stream without concern for the secure delivery of the alcohol transported.
“Alcohol is a critical component of a restaurant’s profit generation model – a high margin contributor – and this profit was taken away when the majority of meal sales went to take-out and delivery,” Evola said. “The ability to expand that key profit component to takeout and delivery will be an important source of growth for restaurants as they emerge from the pandemic. We are positioning our restaurant partners to capitalize on this service offering.”
The company also revealed plans to expand their market presence beyond the Auburn-Opelika area. “We are looking to take the successful, local market business model that has been so successful here to other markets on a case-by-case basis, with new markets expected to be announced soon,” Evola said. “In addition, the legislation announced by Governor Ivey offers the potential to expand our planned alcohol delivery offering statewide.”
About FetchMe:
FetchMeTM is an Auburn-based restaurant marketing, takeout ordering and meal delivery services company dedicated to helping local area restaurants succeed by helping them engage more actively and effectively with their customers. The 4-year-old company is a model of customer-focused attention, providing local restaurants and their customers with a variety of win-win marketing, operations, take-out, and delivery alternatives that have become increasingly valuable in light of the tough challenges restaurants and their customers face as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The company’s high-value, cost-effective services have been extremely successful in helping supplement a challenging on-premises restaurant dining environment that is expected to remain for some time to come.