As the restaurant industry faces various ongoing challenges to their operations and consumers lacking the ability to go out and eat, a great many Brits have been turning to food delivery apps to help them alleviate the monotony of home cooking. It has been forecasted that the number of home food deliveries made by smartphone users will rise 25.2% to a total of 45.6 million in 2021.
That figure is expected to decrease somewhat towards the end of this year to around 44.1 million, as restaurants will be reopening in the coming months and numbers will increase in the high streets. It has also been anticipated that as people continue to adopt these apps all throughout the years to come given their popularity during lockdown that by 2023 the number of users may rise to 53.9 million.
Companies such as Grubhub, over in the States, and Uber Eats have seen a gigantic surge in user activity since lockdown begun. Grubhub has reported that the number of active diners has grown to 27.5 million in Q2 2021 from 20.3 million back in Q2 2019. A 35% increase.
Strong trends were observed last year which have persisted to the present day, where the daily amount spent of restaurant app related meals has accelerated month on month throughout lockdown. It is becoming clearer to those who observe such trends that the current environment has moved the dial of the restaurant apps market share in the right direction. Focusing on diner loyalty and meeting the increasing demands of restaurants. Following this method will grow the sustainable and a profitable manner.
Uber, however, have stated that the Q2 earnings in 2020 that more restaurants, including the likes of A&W Restaurants and Baskin Robbins, have joined their business platform.
How is it looking at present?
The COVID-19 pandemic has completely changed the world of the FMCG Industry as we know it. Consumers are living differently, they're buying differently and, in many ways, thinking about the products they consume differently. Retailers have closed their shops and restaurant supply chains have been tested to their brinks “ customers from the world over are looking at brands and products through different eyes.
Consumers have prioritised their most basic needs above all others. Hygiene and cleaning products are among them of course, the highest staple is the consumption of foods from supermarkets and from outside food retailers (or restaurants, as we commonly call them).
There are numerous factors that influence brand decisions that were not there 2 years ago, also the ˜buy local' trend accelerates as the months pass by. Digital commerce should also be mentioned, which has seen a boost as new customers have migrated online for their grocery shopping needs “ a rise that is likely to be sustained post-lockdown.
