The Growth and Downside of Restaurant Food Delivery

How Has Restaurant Food Delivery Grown?

Restaurant food delivery takes the food to the diners rather than the diners coming to the restaurant. While the concept's been around for years, it's never really caught on outside of a few niches. That's changing.

Third-party apps and other technologies were making it easier for restaurants to deliver meals to their customers. Then came the COVID-19 pandemic and the government restrictions that forced dining facilities to close. Without their dine-in business, many restaurants had to offer food delivery services in order to stay in business.

As a result of the pandemic, a new restaurant concept called a ghost kitchen started gaining in popularity. Ghost kitchens are restaurant brands that offer delivery-only menu items. Without the need for real estate or service staff, running a delivery-only restaurant can be very cost-effective.

Why is restaurant food delivery becoming so popular? Well, for a while, it was the only way to get restaurant food. However, restaurant food delivery provides many advantages to the consumer, including-

• Safety - contactless delivery lowers the risk of infection.
• Convenience - delivery saves customers the time and trouble of going out to get a meal.
• Variety - delivery offers customers a wide variety of foods to choose from.

Why Restaurant Food Delivery is Growing Like it Is:

• Restaurant food delivery is an old concept that's growing in popularity.
• Third-party food apps and the COVID-19 pandemic are two of the reasons why the restaurant food delivery market is growing.
• Restaurant food delivery provides many benefits for consumers.
• A delivery-only restaurant is often cheaper to operate than a dine-in establishment.
• 60% of U.S. consumers order delivery or takeout once a week.
  

Some Reasons for the Growth of Restaurant Food Delivery

Restaurant food delivery is hardly a new concept. Restaurants have been offering takeout items since the early 1900s. However, it's only been during the last several years that restaurant food delivery has really taken off.

There have been many factors limiting the growth of restaurant delivery services. For one thing, restaurants were required to hire their own delivery staff. Another was the difficulty of processing take-out orders for delivery over the phone.

So what's changed? What's fueling the recent growth in restaurant food delivery? One of the main reasons is the rise in third-party food delivery apps like uber eats.

Third-party food apps have made it much easier for restaurants to process delivery orders. Ordering and payment are handled through the app. Not only has this eliminated the need for delivery staff, but it has also expanded their delivery range.

The restaurant food delivery market was already on the grow when the COVID-19 pandemic hit. Restaurant dining rooms around the world were closed by government order. Many restaurants turned to take out delivery in order to survive.

What are Some of the Downsides of Restaurant Food Delivery?

It seems everyone is talking about how restaurant delivery service food is the wave of the future. While it's true the food delivery service sector is experiencing rapid growth, it's not for every restaurant. Believe it or not, there's a downside to restaurant food delivery.

Let's start with the downsides for the customer. Using uber eats and other food delivery service apps add delivery fees to the orders they process. This makes the food items more expensive.

Dining out is an experience that eating at home just doesn't match. In some cases, it takes longer for a meal to be delivered than it would be to pick it up. Food delivery isn't good for the environment because of all the waste it generates.

One of the biggest problems restaurants have with uber eats and others is the high fees they charge restaurants to deliver meals. Restaurants often have no choice but to pass along these costs to the customer.

Restaurants have also had problems with the menus that appear on the apps. Menus aren't always as accurate as they need to be. They sometimes display menu items that the restaurant no longer serves.

Restaurant Food Delivery is Here to Stay

Restaurants have been offering take-out delivery items for over a century. However, only a handful of restaurants offered food delivery services. That was because of the added time, expenses, and resources needed to run even a modest food delivery service.

The arrival of third-party dining apps like uber eats allowed customers to easily order food online. They could enjoy a restaurant-quality meal at home or in the office. And restaurants didn't have to hassle with hiring delivery staff or dealing with delivery transactions.

Third-party food delivery was already a growing segment of the market when COVID-19 struck. Governments shut down dining rooms all over the world. Take-out and delivery-only menu items were the only way a lot of restaurants survived.

The rise in this segment of the market has led to a new restaurant niche- the ghost kitchen. Ghost kitchens are virtual brands that cater to a delivery-only customer base. Without the need for real estate or service staff, they're a lot less expensive to operate than traditional restaurants.

Some restaurants have seen some downsides to food delivery services. High fees and menu glitches are a few of the problems restaurants have encountered using delivery apps. Location is another problem - these delivery options are only profitable in large urban centers like New York or London.

However, for a lot of restaurants, the pros of food delivery services outweigh the cons. Food delivery allows restaurants to expand their customer base as well as their revenue stream. So, as long as the customers are happy restaurant food delivery is here to stay.