Delivery Maturity Model

How Today's Strategy Determines Tomorrow's Market Position

0 Years 2 Years 5 Years Ongoing Market Leader Time to Market Leadership → Basic Managed Optimized Advanced SKEPTIC OUTSOURCER ADOPTER LEADER
1 Local Delivery Skeptic 0–2 years

Hesitant to invest in delivery due to limited bandwidth or belief that in-store remains dominant. Some begin exploring first-party models as reliance on third-party platforms grows costly.

PROS
→ Simpler operations
→ Focus on core business
→ Low tech burden
RISKS OVER TIME
→ Misses delivery growth
→ Weak digital presence
→ Less relevance for convenience-driven shoppers
2 Local Delivery Outsourcer 2–5+ years

Typically leverages a single third-party platform and delivery provider to quickly meet customer expectations without internal build. Some begin exploring first-party models as reliance on third-party platforms can become costly.

PROS
→ Fast time to market
→ Low operational lift
→ Built-in delivery coverage
RISKS OVER TIME
→ Third party controls data, branding, and experience
→ Margins shrink from fees and lost media revenue
→ Hard to unwind after years of embedded processes
3 Simple Orchestration Adopter 2–5+ years

Uses basic rules to route orders based on cost or distance. Some flexibility, but little coordination.

PROS
→ Better provider control
→ Some operational optimization
→ Improved geographic coverage
RISKS OVER TIME
→ Reactive logic limits CX
→ Harder to scale intelligently
→ Long-term data gaps and inconsistent experience
4 Data-Driven Orchestration Leader Ongoing / evolving

Aligns delivery with business goals. Owns experience, data, and economics through orchestrated control.

PROS
→ Strong customer retention
→ Higher margins from owned data
→ Operational resilience and scale
RISKS OVER TIME
→ Requires strategic alignment and investment
→ Cross-functional coordination across teams

Ready to see where you land? Take the quiz below.

Where Are You on the Delivery Maturity Curve?

1. How do you currently handle delivery operations?

We focus on in-store only or are just starting to explore delivery options
We rely on a single third-party platform
We use multiple providers with basic routing rules
We have an orchestrated system that dynamically routes across providers

2. Who controls your delivery data and customer experience?

N/A - we don't offer delivery yet
Third-party platforms control our data and customer touchpoints
We have some control but data is fragmented across providers
We own all data and control the full customer experience

3. How do you make delivery routing decisions?

We don't do delivery today
Our third-party partner handles all routing
Basic rules based on cost or distance
AI-driven decisions based on multiple factors and business goals

4. What's your biggest delivery challenge?

Deciding if delivery is worth the investment
High fees and lack of control over customer experience
Managing multiple providers efficiently at scale
Continuous optimization and cross-functional alignment