Everything you need to know about food delivery in one place
Over the past few weeks, we’ve made a lot of posts about food delivery. That’s because we believe that food delivery is one of the most important aspects of food delivery, especially while we’re in the midst of a global pandemic. Food companies know this, which is why food delivery services have skyrocketed in the past few years.
If you’re interested in the world of food delivery (and a bit of pickup too), then you’ve come to the right place. In this blog, we’re going to summarise everything we’ve covered previously in one neat summary. We’ll be looking at things such as:
- Why food delivery is so popular
- The impact that Covid-19 had on the world of food delivery
- The different types of food delivery services
- Different food delivery companies in the world
- Whether you should offer pickup or delivery
Whether you’re a restaurant, café or grocery store owner looking at offering a delivery service, or simply a food junkie looking to learn all about food delivery and food tech, there’s bound to be something you can learn here.
If you see something you’re interested in, links will be placed to the original articles as appropriate so that you can take a look at things in a bit more detail.
Why is food delivery so popular?
High-speed delivery is no longer an advantage in the USA and Europe, but rather is the new norm.
Elena Ivanova, SberMarket
Food delivery has recently seen a massive surge in popularity, and in 2021, it’s a service that’s never been so important.
Elena Ivanova of SberMarket, the number one grocery e-company in Russia, explained that ‘high-speed delivery is no longer an advantage in the USA and Europe, but rather is the new norm.’ And as we explored ourselves, if a restaurant or store doesn’t adhere to norms like this, people are less likely to shop there if there’s a more convenient and modern option.
The fact that so many stores are now offering delivery, and that high-speed delivery is a must, highlights just how popular the service is.
Ultimately, people are becoming more and more reliant on food delivery. Igor Rozhkov, CMO of Samokat, explains that ‘after 10-20 purchases online, the average check starts to change – it’s smaller, but the frequency of orders increases.’ Even if the amount of food being delivered at once dies down, the overall amount of food people are ordering is going up with their more frequent purchases, as are the delivery fees being paid. Furthermore, as people aren’t bulk buying, they’re ordering more frequently to top up on the things they’re missing, and might purchase something extra while they’re at it, increasing profit made by grocery stores.
Delivery pros and cons
Of course, there’s a reason why so many people are becoming more reliant on food delivery. The service offers a huge number of benefits and advantages over visiting a store or restaurant yourself. Here’s a quick rundown of some advantages:
- Ordering food is more convenient than visiting a store or restaurant.
- You can easily order for a larger group.
- If multiple people are present and want different food, it’s easy to order from different places.
- Food delivery can be scheduled for an appropriate time.
- You can easily order food to another person’s house if desired.
Naturally, there are also some disadvantages such as couriers being stuck in traffic or wrong orders, but these issues are few and far between and shouldn’t impact whether a restaurant decides to offer delivery.
Additionally, there are several benefits for restaurants, such as:
- Increased exposure as more people can order from your store or restaurant.
- Increased check size for restaurants as people order more food at once.
- An increased competition that is healthy for the market.
A full list of the pros and cons of food delivery can be found here.
What impact has Covid-19 had on the world of food delivery?
Even if there was no covid, then in two years the sphere would be digitised.
Oleg Khaustov, Delivery Club
Even before the pandemic, food delivery has been ramping up massively in popularity. As we’ve mentioned previously, Delivery Club, one of the leading delivery services in Russia, believes that the pandemic has only accelerated an inevitable result: ‘even if there was no covid, then in two years the sphere would be digitised.’ This means that regardless of the pandemic’s impact, in two years we’d be right where we are now.
Needless to say, however, Covid-19 has had a massive impact on food delivery in the present. Since the beginning of lockdown, search popularity for delivery services such as Just Eat and Deliveroo went up by about 50%! The lockdown (and no doubt the surge in delivery popularity) caused several restaurants and grocery stores to partner up with third-party companies such as Uber Eats. This meant that they could still operate their stores even in lockdown, and this is likely a permanent change we can see going forward into the future.
The different types of food delivery services
When the phrase “food delivery” is mentioned, it’s a good bet that the first thing you’ll think of is restaurant delivery. That’s the case for me anyway. The reality of the situation is that there are a few different types of food delivery, consisting of:
- Restaurant, fast food and café deliveries.
- Grocery deliveries.
- Subscription services.
As you might have guessed, there are leading delivery services based on whatever you might be looking to order, such as Deliveroo and Uber Eats for fast food and takeaways (as well as some grocery stores), HelloFresh and Mindful Chef subscription services if you’re looking to cook some healthy and interesting meals yourself, as well as general grocery stores such as Asda or Tesco if you’re looking to order groceries online. If you’re interested in reading more about these services, check out our article on the top five UK operating delivery services that are unique.
It doesn’t quite end there, though. There are even different ways for restaurants to operate their delivery services, such as being a fully functional restaurant with a takeout option or as a ghost restaurant or kitchen. As many cafes and restaurants have reopened during lockdowns throughout the pandemic, many of them operated just like ghost restaurants where food is made specifically for delivery, with dine-in options being unavailable. Any information about the pros and cons of the service can be found on the specific blog post.
Should you use pickup or delivery?
Pickup seems like the complete antithesis of delivery, so why does it have a spot in a blog focused on food delivery?
Recently, third-party delivery apps have continued to add pickup services to their products. Now, if you’re ordering food using something such as Uber Eats, you have the option to have it delivered for a fee or to go pick it up when it’s ready. Even restaurants such as McDonald’s are getting in on the action with a pickup and delivery feature on the MyMcDonald’s app. But why would anybody want to pick up their food if they can have it delivered?
Simply put, pickup offers many of the benefits of delivery but without the cons. You can wait in the luxury of your home (or wherever you are) until your order is ready, then go grab it without having to wait in the store or restaurant. Delivery Club’s Oleg Khaustov described it like this: ‘you can preorder and pay for your coffee, and just take it from the barista – not standing in line, not even wasting time paying at the venue.’ This shows how you can carry on with your day without having to go out of your way just to order your drink, food, or groceries. No wasted time, no extra hassle.
Unfortunately, the pickup option on some apps is limited to certain locations. It’s worth noting, however, that as the option becomes more and more popular, accessibility is also increasing rapidly.
A full list of pros and cons can be found over on our food delivery vs pickup article.
In conclusion
Food delivery is a massive piece of the food tech world and has played an especially big role in recent years. With delivery picking up the pace and gaining more popularity every passing day, it shows no signs of slowing down any time soon. We believe that if you’re a restaurant or grocery store owner (or deal with any kind of food services whatsoever), you should consider offering food delivery services to keep your business in the game.
And so concludes our deep dive into food delivery. We hope you’ve found these articles interesting and useful, just as we did writing them! Of course, there are so many other aspects of food delivery we’ve left uncovered. While our focus will be changing to another topic, we’ll still be checking back to food delivery blogs here and there, especially as big news appears such as Glovo’s purchase of Delivery Hero’s Balkans units.
If you’ve enjoyed these articles and want to keep in the know about more food technology events, consider subscribing to the Food Tech Digest weekly roundup! Every Friday, we’ll send you all of our articles for the week in one neat and easy-to-read newsletter.
Be sure to check back frequently to see if we’ve written anything that might interest you!
