Food delivery · 16-40 people · 100,000 tickets/mo · slow AHT · conservative

Food delivery support team: 21 agents for 100,000 tickets/month

Food delivery support is real-time and location-aware: a late order refund must arrive before the customer finishes their meal.

Verdict: Marginal — probably not

  • Payback is 34 months — defensible only if you expect this volume for years.
  • Headcount spans 25-43 agents across your industry's handle-time range. Measure your real AHT for two weeks before you budget - the band is usually wider than anyone expects.
  • We phased the saving in over 12 months via attrition. Cutting 6 people on day one would cost roughly $71,705 in severance and is usually worse than phasing it.
Agents needed
21
range 25–43
Monthly labour cost
$100,387
$119,508 – $205,554
Heads removable via automation
6
15 agents remain
Net monthly effect
$1,057
platform cost $27,625/mo
Payback
33.706430004163096 months
at this volume
Year-one cash effect
-$81,363
including setup and severance

Put your own numbers in

These figures come from one assumed volume. Change the ticket count, AHT or cost per hour and the answer moves.

Model v1. Figures are estimates from published benchmarks, not a quote.