The proliferation of food delivery apps is not hurting on-premise dining numbers, according to a newly released study. The report by ChangeUp found that 58 percent of US consumers dine-in as often or even more often after delivery.
“Delivery services like DoorDash, Grubhub and Uber Eats are opportunities to build incremental sales and do not negatively impact dine-in occasions,” the report said. “It appears that these apps have the potential to convert guests into ‘super customers’ that will increase total share of occasions for restaurants who provide great restaurant experiences while simultaneously refining their off-premise execution.”
The findings match up with Technomic’s Consumer Brand Metrics data, which found that delivery orders increased 16 percent in frequent customers of any given chain, and increased 25 percent in consumers who described themselves as ‘moderate to light’ consumers of those chains.
However, the report is at odds with the findings of the Restaurant Association of New Zealand, which last month released a report which showed that while the restaurant industry is experiencing record growth, UberEats is pulling in the big bucks.
"We can basically have five, seven, 10 brands coming out of one kitchen that's basically pretending like they're all individual brands," said business owner Tyler Kerlin, who started New Zealand’s first ‘ghost restaurant’ – a restaurant which operates entirely via UberEats.
"It seems the sector is moving forward and making more money, but in actuality it's harder to make a dollar."
Resaurant Assocation CEO Marisa Bidois agreed.
"The profit margins that Uber is taking from the industry are extremely high, and we've made it perfectly clear that we feel it's too high for the industry," she said. "The hospitality business is a game of tight margins, and it can be a balancing act."
