It's no secret the food delivery service market is growing at a rapid pace thanks to technology and the digital boom. In fact, in Australia, the dial-a-dinner industry is on track to be worth a whopping $2.4 billion by 2025. While food delivery services like Uber Eats, Menulog and Deliveroo open up a whole new world of opportunity for restaurants and cafes, they’re causing the kitchens of Australia to rethink their service offerings to suit a different style of serving altogether.
As of last year, almost two million Australians were using some sort of delivery apps such as Menulog, Deliveroo, Uber Eats and Eatnow.com.au. The rise of food delivery services is due to consumers wanting convenience, tasty and nutritional meals at the comfort of their own home. Unsurprisingly, city-dwellers (12.6%) have been found to more likely order their meals online, compared to those in country areas (4.5%), according to a report by Australia’s best known market research company, Roy Morgan. Whereas, women are marginally more likely to use meal delivery services (10.2%) than men (9.4%). Since Menulog’s inception in 2006, they’ve delivered over 23 million meals to the residents of Australia and have partnered with over 11,000 restaurants. While Uber Eats have over 15,000 restaurants delivering meals to consumers across the nation.
Why are food delivery services so popular?
If there’s one thing to take from endless studies and research performed on food delivery services in Australia, it’s that people love to order food. The decision to go digital is becoming easier for restaurateurs and with good reason. Here’s why:
Building clientele
Going digital expands your customer base tenfold, by allowing those previously restricted by location and lack of transportation to give your place a try. It’s the revenue from these new customers which helps subsidise a decrease in revenue from particularly quieter days. So, your beer garden might clear out on a rainy day, but your funds won’t.
A new demographic
18 to 34-year-old consumers represent the biggest market for food delivery services in the country, spending roughly $100 a week on dining out or ordering in. This reliance can be attributed to a combination of lack of kitchen skills and ease of attainment through a simple phone application.
Minimising chance of error
You know very well what it feels like to be welcomed to work by a barrage of takeaway calls when the clock strikes 6pm. More restaurants are adapting to digitalisation, where app orders are consolidated on one easy-to-use interface without the risk of error – saving you time and many phone calls.
Not just for burgers and pizza
Delivery apps tend not to discriminate against restaurant styles or cuisines. Even major fine-dining establishments like Sydney’s Rockpool and Spice Temple are riding the delivery app wave. Whereas a decade ago, the customer’s only question was pineapple or no pineapple, today you can dine on Nobu on your living room couch.
From a consumer perspective, Australia has a wonderfully diverse range of cultures and our palate for international cuisine is broadening day-by-day. The meat and two veg scenario of the 1950s and 60s are all but a distant memory on suburban dinner tables today. More people are turning to less traditional ingredients like sesame oil, miso paste and curry leaves to replicate their favourite Asian dish. Busy schedules leave little opportunity for downtime.
So, slow-cooking a beef massaman for four hours on a Monday afternoon is becoming less of a reality. Food delivery services give the time-poor and income-rich people of Australia one less thing to think about in their busy days and are offering consumers more variety than ever before.
What people are ordering?
As a restauranteur, partnering with a delivery app is a plausible step to take. Competition is fierce and the possibility of losing loyal customers because they can’t order online is not a risk you’re willing to take. Lifestyle choices play a big role in helping customers decide how to feed themselves. As a chef or kitchen manager, knowing what they’re ordering will allow you to mould your menu accordingly.
With health consciousness on the rise, food delivery services have seen an enormous trend in favour of plant-based meal options. When Alistair Venn, Managing Director for Menulog told The Daily Telegraph: “We’re really seeing huge growth in healthier options. Vegetarian is our fastest growing category.” Meat, particularly red meat, is becoming less prevalent. In fact, vegetarian food represents the biggest growth area for Menulog, having consistently grown its order number by 1000% year on year since 2006.
But according to new research, many customers are still using it for not-so-health-conscious options. The report states almost a third of all orders are for pizza (with vegetarian being the most ordered topping). Following in second place is Indian, then Thai, Chinese and burgers. A study last year cited a spike in taco deliveries on Tuesdays, with the ever-popular Taco Tuesday offering customers three for one deal at bargain prices. Of the same study, popular working week dinners include meat and three veg options (69%), spaghetti Bolognese (67%) and stir-fry (64%).
The diversity of restaurants and food outlets on food delivery apps is immense, with even the most high-profile of establishments moulding their offerings to suit the growing market trend. Technology is propelling the food delivery industry forward at a rapid pace, current delivery models are continuously being enhanced and competition is becoming fiercer by the minute. All signs are pointing to an industry that is only going to grow larger. Integrating an online delivery system to your business model can turn out to be a lucrative task but it pays to do your research accordingly.
