After two years of pandemic-induced growth, delivery services are showing no sign of slowing down.
We have already outlined the welcome return to in-person dining in many regions, but the story of booming delivery services is also cause for cautious optimism for brands this year.
While the surge in ordering delivered meals in 2020 and 2021 may have seemed like a flash-in-the-pan increase because of covid restrictions, our 2022 data has shown that delivery services are still very much in demand. In fact, meal delivery services have added new buyers everywhere in the world compared to 2020 levels.
Areas less reliant on in-person dining such as Brazil, Thailand, Mainland China, and South Korea have all seen continuous year-on-year growth in market penetration for delivery services and these markets have been largely unaffected by the lifting of restrictions.
Nevertheless, in regions where foodservice is traditionally dependant on in-person dining such as Mexico and countries across Europe, delivery services are still struggling with market penetration as on-premises dining recovers.
We’re also seeing a universally upward trend in how frequently people are ordering delivered food, with total foodservice occasions up to 85.5 per year in average for 2022, 31% of which are delivery instances. In parts of Asia such as South Korea and Thailand, consumers are having meal delivery once per week on average, while in Mainland China and Indonesia people are using delivery services once every two weeks.
In Europe, however, this figure drops to an average of 16 purchases per year (or once every three weeks), meaning there is plenty of opportunity in the region to develop their presence, widen their scope and ultimately win consumer loyalty.
This global year-on-year growth suggests a consolidated habit of more frequent food delivery across the world, making it an attractive arena for brands to develop future strategies. So, who are the most valuable targets for brands to focus their efforts on?
Homing in on Heavy Buyers
As part of this upward trend in frequent buying, we are seeing an emergence of heavy meal delivery buyers across the world. We describe heavy buyers as someone who buys delivered food once a week or more, and we’re seeing this group grow by 54% in Asia (compared to 2020), 66% in Latin America and 114% in Europe.
This means around 40% of consumers in Asia are using meal delivery more than once a week, with this figure dropping to 25% in Latin America and 15% in Europe.
But who are these Heavy Buyers? How are they buying delivered food? And how can brands understand them better to develop strategies to deepen their loyalty?
Our research indicates that Heavy Buyers of delivery service have several common characteristics across markets. Usually ranging in age from 25 – 34 years old, Heavy Buyers tend to live in urban areas and key cities from higher socioeconomic backgrounds. They also take advantage of promotional opportunities with 75% purchasing with direct discounts or loyalty schemes. Heavy Buyers also lean towards using aggregators in place of ordering directly, with 66% ordering meals via an aggregator.
The good news for bricks and mortar restaurants, however, is that 75% of Heavy Buyers said that delivery services will never replace on-premise dining and these consumers choose delivery services as an add-on to other foodservices. For Heavy Buyers, the key motivator behind choosing delivery services is convenience, with 70% citing this as their demand moment. This year’s data also suggests that the majority of Heavy Buyers (55%), with their increased disposable income, also enjoy delivery services as they give the option to sample different cuisines and try new flavours.
Convenience wins out
We have seen how, for our Heavy Buyers, convenience is crucial in deciding to purchase delivered food, and this trend follows the wider global population with 55% of consumers indicating that convenience is the main reason they order in.
By contrast, the remaining 45% of consumers state that using delivery service is a reward or treat, with the UK and Spain presenting particularly marked increases on last year. These figures demonstrate a clear consumer mindset shift around meal delivery, as in 2020 only 41% cited convenience as their primary motivator, while 59% cited reward.
To succeed in this space, brands must harness the convenience motivator and understand the reasons why people are using delivery services in the first instance. This year, the leading reason for consumers to order in was that they “can’t be bothered to cook” (25%). Responses also revealed that “not having enough/ the right ingredients” accounted for 8% of delivery purchases.
This underlines that, for many, meal delivery services are being used to avoid the effort of cooking rather than for their inherent benefit.
With that in mind, it’s easy to see the opportunities that lie in delivery services for brands to leverage. But which cuisines are winning over the hearts and mouths of consumers across the world?
Post-pandemic palates
We all have our own unique tastes and preferences. From pizza to poké bowls, consumer choice is varied and unique dependent on region and culture. But data this year suggested that almost half (47%) of diners chose Western foods when using delivery services. This was followed by 35% choosing East Asian cuisines such as Chinese, Thai, Japanese and Korean and the remaining 18% choosing other local world foods including Mexican, Turkish, and Indian dishes.
Of course, to truly grasp the context of this data it is vital to look at the local popularity of different cuisines in different regions.
In Portugal, Spain, France, and Brazil we can see that Western foods including pizza, pasta and burgers are particularly dominant, while the UK and Mexico have a more balanced proportion of consumers choosing both Western and other local foods. In Asia, we see a much greater penetration of local foods.
It is unsurprising, therefore, that when looking at the number 1 choice of dish across the world, we see stir fried noodles taking the top spot in Mainland China, and Korean Fried Chicken leading the field in South Korea. And while there will certainly be local variations and adaptations to meet regional preferences, pizza continues to reign supreme in adding more buyers across Spain, Brazil, and France.
But we have seen year on year how dynamic the delivery sector really is. Taking the UK as an example: just three years ago 30% of delivered meals included a pizza, with 25% comprising Asian cuisines and 14% of meals including burgers. Now, burgers are the most ordered delivered meals in the UK, with over 27% of market penetration in 2022.
When looking at how people are buying burgers and pizzas in the UK, it is clear that ordering pizza is still very much connected with treat or occasion. While consumers choosing pizza delivery still constitute the largest base of buyers, they order less frequently (6 times per year on average) than those consumers choosing burgers (8 times per year).
Two factors to consider here is the disparity in average ticket price, and the average number of products included in these two meal options. For burgers we see an average spend per act of £10 with 4 products included in the order, this compares with an average spend of £21 for pizzas with 1 product included per order.
For consumers, versatility and affordability are affecting their purchase decisions. And with aggregators making ordering food even quicker and easier, the outlook is positive for burger brands going forward.
So, how are aggregators helping brands utilise this versatility and affordability formula to increase customer loyalty?
