QSR February 2023

SHORT ORDER

The top five influencers:

Inflation remains an ever-pressing concern. By now, it’s no mystery prices have climbed industry-wide. Customers are paying more for many of the quick-service meals they’ve ordered for years. And there’s not much to suggest that’s going to subside any time soon, even if it might have peaked during 2021. All said, though, how are consumers reacting? Specifically, we’ll focus on one positive reflection from a study by global scale-up company Deliverect, which serves more than 27,000 locations across 40 markets. The company surveyed over 7,000 global consumers to identify preferences and changing habits when it comes to restaurant o erings. One point that emerged on the U.S. side—delivery consumers don’t consider price a key factor in their delivery purchasing behavior. Simply, they’re willing to foot the bill for convenience.

30 % Quickest delivery time 28 % Convenient location

25 % Specific

17 % Sawon social media

The baseline: Guests, inflation and all, are still ordering more delivery: 42 percent of people in the U.S. get up to three deliveries a week. That’s 2 percent above pre-inflation habits. 42 % It’s not just a solo thing: Twenty percent of respondents in Deliverect’s study said they were ordering on a weekend evening with friends and family, which was 1.4X more than people ordering on a weekday with their crew. 20 % Ô 1.4 What do they care about (if not price)? A whopping 90 percent said quality ingredients were more important now than before the rise of inflation. Additionally, convenience was a major deciding factor for guests selecting a restaurant for takeout and delivery; 84 percent claimed how close a restaurant was and how fast their food could get to them was more important today than of people in the U.S. get up to three deliveries a week were ordering on a weekend evening with friends and family which was 1.4Xmore than people ordering onaweekday

menu item availability 19 % Appealing photos of the food

The classics: Just as restaurants witnessed out of the COVID gates, pizza remains a cuisine delivery customers gravitate toward—whether the reason is price or comfort. Forty seven percent of people said they’d order pizza any time, inflation or not. “Good ol’ American food” was next at 40 percent . 47 % The not-so-good, or why people are frustrated with delivery: of people said they’d order pizza any time, inflation or not

31 % Long delivery time 30 % Incorrect orders 26 % Delivery charges

25 % Incomplete orders 23 % Unexpected/

(such as itemsmissing)

miscommunicated delays with order

To circle: “overpriced”menu items didn’t appear in the list, “reinforcing that people arewilling topay more for high-quality food, ” Deliverect said.

it’s ever been. 90 % 84 %

said quality ingredientswere more important now than before the rise of inflation claimed how close a restaurantwas and howfast their food couldget to them was more important today than it’s ever been

Wait? In terms of wait times, here were consumers’ expectations:

10–20 minutes 23 %

21–30 minutes 34 %

31–40 minutes 23 %

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FEBRUARY 2023 | QSR | www.qsrmagazine.com