To understand the development of Home Meal Delivery globally, we need to look closely at how people place their orders.
In Asia, the prominence of third party aggregators that serve both organised and independent restaurants – is clear, with at least 80% of consumers using this format. In Latam and Europe the percentage of people using third party aggregators s is half what it is in Asia. Consumers in France, Mexico, Brazil and Portugal still prefer to order by phone, while restaurants’ own websites or apps have the highest penetration in Spain and the UK.
This gap illustrates how much potential exists for this type of Food Tech, and indicates that it may well prove to be the key driver that will turn light Home Meal Delivery users into heavy ones.
In Vietnam, the main reason for the popularity of Food Tech is low price and good value. People appreciate the promotions and free or discounted delivery offered by platforms, and believe them to be cheaper than going directly to the food provider. Lessons can be learnt from Vietnam in how to drive frequency of use by leveraging value. This will be key in the next six to 12 months as recessionary pressures impact household expenditure.
When looking at how many meal deliveries also included a non-alcoholic beverage, we unearthed a huge cross-purchase opportunity for this sector. Looking at Mainland China, where Home Meal Delivery is most established, 85% of buyers also ordered a drink with their meal.
Across most other markets, however, the proportion of buyers ordering meals without a drink was over 50%, highlighting an opportunity for delivery platforms and food providers to upgrade meals.
There is also an opportunity to drive Beverages-only delivery, which is particularly popular in Vietnam. Companies that are already well-established in this area, such as Phuc Long, have invested heavily in growing the use of their service through an array of offers such as free delivery, free upsizing ad loyalty schemes.
