QSR December 2022

SHORT ORDER

Logic might suggest higher prices due to inflation would drive consumers away from already high-ticket restaurant delivery. But is that actually the case? Deliverect, a global scale-up that simplifies digital orders for more than 27,000 locations across 40 markets, surveyed over 7,000 global consumers to identify preferences and changing habits when it comes to restaurant o erings. And what it found was guests were ordering more delivery and food for takeaway, inflation and all. What this portends is delivery guests, generally, might be more resistant to some of the external hikes than other cohorts. The reason being, they were already conditioned to fork up extra funds in the name of convenience. In the end, it’s a conditioned habit that’s proving very di cult to crack. Here were some other findings from the survey:

While people are putting more thought behind how they spend their money, they are more likely to CUT BACK ON OTHER ACTIVITIES such as

49 PERCENT prior to the inflation increase. 57 %

Consumers who are now PURCHASING UP TO THREE TAKEAWAYS IN A WEEK now, in comparison to

BUYING CLOTHING (44 percent ) , going out for DRINKS AND DINNER (47 percent ) , and TRAVELING MORE (43 percent ) .

The old ways still matter: 69 % Customers are also looking for SOCIAL PROOF before selecting where to eat, with nearly three in five (59 percent ) saying RESTAURANT RATINGS/ CUSTOMER REVIEWS are now more important than ever. Overall, the top reason customers said they’d order from a restaurant again is because of its GOOD QUALITY of food (52 percent ) . Diners are also looking for a variety of great menu choices, with people selecting a restaurant for delivery or takeaway if it has a VARIETY OF MENU OFFERINGS (27 percent ) . People who said the TASTE OF FOOD is more important when watching their spending, as is the QUALITY OF RESTAURANT INGREDIENTS (67 percent ) .

Aggregators count: One-third (37 percent ) of respondents found ORDERING FOOD FROM A RESTAURANT VIA APPS such as Deliveroo, Uber Eats, JustEat, Grubhub, Seamless, DoorDash the most reliable, followed very closely by ORDERING DIRECTLY FROM THE RESTAURANT (35 percent ) . Just over one in seven (or 15 percent ) said they ONLY TRUST PICKING UP TAKEAWAY DIRECTLY from a restaurant.

Don’t forget the tech: FAST DELIVERY was likely to encourage people to order from a restaurant again (41 percent ) , as was food ARRIVING AT THE PROPER TEMPERATURE (31 percent ) . Thirty-two percent of customers were also likely to choose from one restaurant over another due to a quicker delivery time, and 25 percent of people noted they’d select a restaurant due to its proximity/ convenient location.

38 %

The percentage of people who AGREED 21–30 MINUTES

WAS THE MAXIMUM AVERAGE TIME TO WAIT for their order to arrive.

MOBILE FOOD APPLICATION ORDER: ADOBE STOCK / FOTOSPLASH, SCISSORS CUTTING MONEY ICON: ADOBE STOCK / PIXELALEX, RUNNING WITH TRAY OF FAST FOOD: ADOBE STOCK / TATIANASUN, ONLINE ORDER, DRIVE THRU: ADOBE STOCK / MARIIA, MOBILE ORDER: ADOBE STOCK / GRAPHIXMANIA

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DECEMBER 2022 | QSR | www.qsrmagazine.com