As the food delivery marketplace keeps crawling towards hyper-growth, the number of apps is also experiencing a sharp hike. Well, analyzing the trends in the food delivery industry and the meal delivery trends will be the core of this blog, along with a few insights into the stats related to the ordering preferences of customers. Dive in!
An in-depth evaluation of the food delivery business in the form of stats
- We can witness that Millennials occupy the major portion of customers who prefer online ordering. Other than that, key findings show that people aged 35-44 are high on online ordering.
- Another key finding states that the rate of online ordering will take some time to bounce back as some restrict online ordering due to the pandemic.
- As per a survey conducted among Americans, 52% of people say that they have ordered food online on average one to four times, 29% have said that they placed five to nine orders, and 8% have said that they placed more than 15 orders during the pandemic.
- A survey conducted to know whether customers prefer door delivery or takeout states that 82% preferred takeout, and 30% said that they prefer door delivery.
The platform delivery apps are constantly holding the top position as they list many restaurants. If you are starting a restaurant business and are bothered about how to get users, then there are different ways to do so. Some of the best ways to attract customers to order through a restaurant app are facilitating numerous payment gateways, surprising them with offers, providing order takeout and delivery services.
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Notable trends in the marketplace of food delivery apps
We all have been witnessing the quick change in the pattern of food delivery businesses. In fact, food delivery businesses are vulnerable to environmental changes, and business owners must learn to adapt to such changes. Alright! Know the trends in the food delivery marketplace and make your business flexible as per the needs of your customers.
A surge in third-party delivery applications
It is not surprising that third-party delivery applications are on the rise. The best way for eateries to expand their brand awareness is to join hands with popular third-party delivery apps. Another great advantage for restaurants is that they don’t have to worry about the logistics facilities as the delivery app owner will look after the logistics.
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Usage of in-house delivery fleets
Though the benefits of partnering with third-party apps are immense, there are drawbacks too that prevent some restaurants from tying up with third-party apps. The drawbacks include less control over the deliveries, fewer opportunities for interacting with customers, and high commission fees.
In order to operate independently, restaurants started investing in employing delivery agents and fleets. So, restaurants that are determined to stand alone are high on using their in-house delivery fleets.
Grocery delivery services
Any business that directly serves end-users is susceptible to changes that the environment brings in. In this regard, restaurant businesses were one of the highest affected businesses due to the pandemic. So, as the food business started seeing a decline and the grocery businesses started seeing a surge, food business owners indulged in grocery delivery services.
As stated in the beginning, it is needed to be flexible so that you can keep sustaining. So, you can always consider pairing your food delivery services with grocery delivery services. All you need to do is choose a business model for supplying grocery items to customers.
If you own a restaurant, then you can easily stock the groceries in your kitchen area and check them out for delivery. Else, you can make a deal with grocery providers and deliver them to the customers.
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Use of order and delivery management software
So, we have been discussing how independent restaurants are employing their own delivery fleets to take more advantage of the marketplace and customers. Likewise, the investment in order and delivery management software has also increased.
The most familiar food order and delivery management software is the UberEats clone. Ready-made food ordering app like UberEats are the best and instant app development solutions.
Back to square one, restaurants are stubborn on standing on their own feet rather than mingling their services with third-party apps. So, for those restaurants, the order and delivery management software is a prerequisite. They can have a greater possession over the orders, deliveries, and customers.
For example, with the management software, you can accurately track the delivery agent, the time of delivery, payments received, etc.
That’s a wrap regarding the trends in the food delivery space. Next to this, we will learn about the dark kitchen, a picking up trend, and revenue channels.
Dark kitchens – Unveiling the advantages
Dark kitchens take up different names like cloud kitchens, delivery-only kitchens, or even ghost kitchens. The concept of these dark kitchens has been making a storm on the internet in recent times. Right from large restaurants to smaller ones, the pandemic gave a huge loss as visiting restaurants were restricted. In those times, restaurants were forced to take up orders only online.
Restaurants were able to compensate for their loss as the number of online orders started scaling up. So, the point here is that it is not that you need to invest in a spacious restaurant to enter the food delivery business. Instead, you can just start a dark kitchen, take online orders, and deliver to customers or facilitate takeouts. Simple!
With the model of dark kitchens, you can cut down operational costs to a greater extent. You can simply rent/own kitchen space and carry out your delivery services.
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Finishing lines
We have taken a detailed tour of the food delivery marketplace and its trends. We saw the trends that have popped up as a result of the pandemic. So, more such trends are yet to occupy the food delivery marketplace and you must be ready to include them in your business. The more trends you add to your business, the more you can move closer to your customers. Rock this space!