The Most Up-to-date Food Service Industry Glossary

The back of the house is all the restaurant action customers do not see. We’re talking of everything behind the scenes, like everything that happens in the kitchen, breakrooms, and offices, but also everyone in those spaces: cooks and stewards, for example.

Removing an order from the cook’s kitchen display system screen once it’s made or sizzling in the oven. You can use “Bumping an order” to describe the same action.

"Brick and mortar" refers to the traditional business operating in a building and having a physical location to serve customers.

The concept of dark kitchens revolves around selling meals exclusively through delivery. Thus, they are kitchens optimized for food delivery and are fully equipped with everything the staff needs to produce food. Typically, these kitchens are located where there is high demand for food delivery but don’t provide dine-in services. 

Note that there are other forms to call this business model: cloud kitchens, ghost kitchens, or virtual kitchens, all referring to the same.

Do you want to explore Dark Kitchens, their pros and cons, and the best ways to start one? We have you covered! Check out our complete Guide to Dark Kitchens: Everything You Need to Know here.

Deliverect is a fast-growing SAAS scale-up that connects third-party delivery platforms and food businesses around the globe. It is neither a delivery provider nor a POS system - Deliverect bridges the gap between them by integrating third-party food ordering platforms into the restaurant’s point-of-sale system. Deliverect turns rekeying orders and costly errors into operational efficiency, saving restaurants time and money and ramping up customer satisfaction.

Get to know the full power of Deliverect and what it can do for your business here!

Deliverect's Dispatch empowers restaurants to scale their delivery operations effortlessly while providing customers a great experience. It connects any order, whether from a large channel (ex., Uber Eats, GrubHub) or a direct online ordering channel, and matches the best delivery option by comparing offers from several providers to select one for an order. Deliverect Dispatch reduces the manual work needed to communicate with third-party delivery providers, allowing restaurants or dark kitchens to grow their delivery footprint while reducing their effort.

Does your business need Deliverect Dispatch?Find everything you need to know about it right here.

Deliverect Kitchen Displayallows restaurants to quickly view and manage all online orders on a screen in the kitchen. Acting as a single source of truth eliminates miscommunication and errors and ensures food is ready for pick up when the drivers arrive.

This Deliverect solution enables your customers to order online directly from your website. Deliverect Online Ordering allows you to create a seamless online ordering experience for pickup and delivery, so your customer can easily order and pay directly from your online store. It gives you control of the customer experience by selling direct-to-consumer (D2C) to generate additional revenue streams and eliminate third parties’ commission fees.

This is a first-of-its-kind online ecosystem of food industry partners. It connects hospitality players such as stock management, kiosks, POS, pay and order, and now virtual brands so restaurants can streamline costs and efficiencies, generate incoming leads, boost sales, and more. 

Deliverect Marketplace brings together the best tools and digital-only providers in the industry, allowing you to build your restaurant’s interconnected system. 

You find what you need or discover valuable alternatives, license them, and use them. 

Try Deliverect Marketplace here.

Deliverect’s way to ease communication between your business and delivery drivers to avoid interruptions, save time, and speed up delivery times.

Increase your restaurant's efficiency with Deliverect Pickup Manager.

Delivery is the transfer of something from one place to another. But it is also our industry’s quick way to refer to food delivery, a fast-growing sector where a restaurant, store, or third-party courier service delivers food on demand.

A delivery driver is responsible for collecting, transporting, and safely delivering an order.

It is a tool used to streamline online orders. It helps to plan, manage, optimize, and execute delivery operations.

It refers to the online business acting as an intermediary between consumers and multiple food facilities to submit food orders from a consumer.

Direct-to-consumer or D2C is a business model that sells a manufacturer’s products to the end customer without intermediaries, both offline channels and in e-commerce.

Learn how you can use D2C delivery to grow your business with the help of Deliverect Online Ordering.

Fast-moving consumer goods, better known as FMCG, refers to highly demanded products that sell quickly and cost relatively low. Think of dairy products, fruits, bread, drinks, etc.

A fee is the price charged for a specific service. Fees are applied in various ways, such as delivery fees, costs, charges, commissions, and penalties.

Food + Technology = FoodTech. FoodTech is the use of cutting-edge technologies to develop, manufacture, or distribute food products. It is also a way to describe the companies and startups working within those areas. e.g., Deliverect is a Food Tech company.

FOH is the front of the restaurant, including the dining room, waiting area, and bar. This is where the customer-facing employees are: the servers, hostesses, bartenders, etc. 

It is when your business has an internal, dedicated delivery department, with staff and delivery vehicles, to get orders to customers. This is the opposite of third-party delivery.

Are you interested in in-house delivery? Learn more about Deliverect Dispatch and manage your own delivery experience without relying on a third-party delivery partner—that means increased margins and greater profits.

A clear and deep understanding of something that explains why a situation or behavior is happening the way it is.

Integration is when two or more systems or processes work together. For businesses, integration refers to software or system integration, which means bringing together multiple business systems to operate as a collaborative unit.

For example, Deliverect integrates with POS systems, DSPs, and other technology partners to help restaurants and dark kitchens everywhere streamline their operations.

We have over 500 partners.

Inventory management is the administration of stock that allows optimal management by considering storage, cost, usage, and availability of goods. It is a vital function in the supply chain.

A system that combines hardware and software to help you manage healthy and optimal stock management. An inventory management system can simplify ordering, storing, and using inventory by automating supply operations.

Last-mile logistics, also known as last-mile delivery, describes the transportation of goods from a distribution hub to their destination. In the restaurant business, it refers to the final miles of the delivery process, where the order travels from the restaurant to the customer's front door. These logistics aim to get that delicious dish to your customers as quickly, efficiently, affordably, and accurately as possible.

Location is where the restaurant or business is located physically. 

Off-premise: This is the shorthand for any order that isn’t prepared for in-house consumption. It includes curbside service, takeout, and delivery.

Online food ordering is ordering food through delivery apps, websites, or any other online service.

Are you looking for an Online Ordering solution? Check Deliverect Online Order and create a seamless online ordering experience for pickup and delivery, so your customer can easily order and pay directly from your online store. 

If your restaurant receives an order requested through a digital channel like your online store, a delivery app, or even WhatsApp, that’s an Online Order.

A managerial term about ensuring everything runs smoothly, from your FOH to your BOH.

Quick Commerce (Q-Commerce) takes speed and convenience to a new level, allowing retailers and FMCG brands to offer hyper-local, on-demand delivery. 
After ordering online, you don't have to wait a few days for products to arrive. Instead, you can expect them within half an hour—or as fast as 10 minutes. 

Want to learn more about Quick Commerce? Take a look at these resources:

1. How to Get Ahead of the Competition with Quick Commerce

2. How to Get Your FMCG Brand or Retailer Q-commerce Ready

A Quick Response Code or QR Code is a type of two-dimensional bar code that can be scanned by a digital device and stores information. In the restaurant industry, QR Codes are used to share digital menus, promotions, or customer experiences.

Read more on how QR Codes reinvent the customer journey in restaurants.

QSR stands for Quick Services Restaurant. It is a restaurant that offers certain food items that require minimal preparation time and are delivered fast and efficiently.

Deliverect works with hundreds of QSRs worldwide, such as Chipotle, Burger King, KFC, Taco Bell, etc.

A sales technique used to get customers to purchase more expensive items so that your average order basket increases.

“Do you want fries with that?”

“Do you want to upsize your meal?”

“Would you like wings and rings to start?”

That’s upselling.

86 or 86ing is restaurant slang. It is used when an item is no longer available (AKA out of stock) to be served to guests. A 86 command will indicate that a dish must be taken out of the POS and online order menus.