Table of Contents
1. Introduction
In the present times, if there seems an industry that is flourishing like anything and is highly promising, it is the restaurant industry. As the industry trends pick up pace, and growth appears imminent, few questions may often arrive in every food entrepreneur and a passionate restaurateur’s mind, viz a viz –
- How profitable can this industry be?
- Is it time to go all guns blazing for us to be dubbed as one of the industry-leading food businesses?
- How can our business make significant gains while contributing to the industry’s overall profit?
- By adopting what techniques and processes can our business become a market leader?
The list of such questions for perceptive businesses may be quite long. Addressing allied questions from time to time and working hard to finding solutions about it, makes businesses more forward looking and future oriented.
But the going is always not that easy as it may apparently appear, especially in an industry that faces really fast paced and cut throat competition every hour of the day. So, the question arises- Whether your business can make the most of the booming times in an industry that is characterized by intense competition?
2. Technology: Driving The Industry Changes
The world is witnessing a phenomenal shift in consumer buying. While technology has been the main cause behind it, restaurant industry has been one of the most impacted one, albeit for good. Technology has made everything so accessible that businesses everywhere around are witnessing a phenomenal shift in consumers’ buying ways and companies’ business conducting practices. To this statement, online food ordering can be considered no exception.
Increased internet penetration rate, quick and easy access to smartphones, simplified and hassle-free e-banking systems and processes, improved food service logistics and rapidly changing lifestyles have contributed primarily and majorly to online food delivery market growth. Perhaps, such a pressing need is the reason why food delivery app solutions are being offered by software companies.
Customers are rapidly heading online more than ever, a thing worth noticing and something which perhaps, has fueled rapid growth in the e-commerce industry over the previous few years. This shift in consumer shopping habits has been fueled by a variety of causes, some of which are industry or country-specific, while others are the product of global shifts. Most of it can be attributed to the availability of an increased number of online food delivery businesses, a better understanding by consumers of the developments of online e-commerce, a better, easy and secure option for online payments of services, disposable incomes of people on the rise and work from home like activities leaving less time for people to invest in making the food themselves.
The restaurant industry, as mentioned in the above statements, in the previous 10-12 years or so, has continued to evolve phenomenally which is why it becomes relevant and all the more important to take deeper insights about the growth trends in the industry and the statistics that may fascinate us to the limit, thereby leaving us well informed than ever for better business decision making.
The coming together of technology and food industry has allowed several restaurants and businesses to deliver food to consumers much faster than ever. It is this coming together that has given rise and prominence to various forms of restaurant delivery software and food delivery app solutions on offer, which has further resulted in mass digitalization of the restaurant industry.
A good restaurant delivery management software or a food delivery app development company is certainly capable of providing feasible and timely food/restaurant delivery solutions to businesses worldwide, which is why they are being widely preferred.
3. Food Delivery Apps: Reasons Galore For Restaurant Businesses To Smile
Digitalization has affected several domains of a business, one of which is online ordering. Online food ordering has become a fad in the recent few years. Put it on the pandemic that hit the world in 2020 or the increasingly sedentary lifestyle choices of consumers, there has been a massive surge in the way food is ordered online across the globe. Courtesy of companies offering food delivery app solutions, everything is just a few clicks away and the food is ready and delivered to your doorstep.
In a survey of consumers in the US market conducted in April 2020, it was reported that 53 percent of the adults between the age of 18 and 29 years stated that they ordered food online or through an app from a local restaurant during the coronavirus pandemic.
4. Accepting The Growing Reality Of Food Delivery Apps
“You don’t order food. You make a reservation for it.”
Food delivery apps have certainly changed the way a business is conducted. From selling delectable food items and sumptuous delicacies through traditional brick and mortar stores to delivering it to consumers through widespread online presence of several restaurants and food joints, the restaurant industry, in the recent few years, has witnessed some serious changes. Perhaps, changes that have come as a boon to many aspiring and future oriented businesses. Technology and the use of it has certainly helped many businesses scale up their processes and operations.
Companies working on food delivery apps and promising quick food delivery app solutions have not just simplified the process of online ordering but they have facilitated online ordering to a significant extent, too. Imagine ordering food online, without the use of technology and digitalization; you will find it to be an idea of no-good use. Perhaps an idea which is apparently absurd. And rightly so. The use of internet, technology and digitalization has become so ingrained and business-obvious that business processes would remain incomplete and inefficient without them, especially the restaurant industry.
It is the result of digitalization and technology incorporated processes that the global restaurant industry has transformed a lot over the past decade and food businesses have flourished enormously, courtesy to a number of food delivery apps and increasing sedentary consumer buying habits. Were there no food delivery app development services and software to satisfy the food cravings, restaurant industry, in this twenty first century would have traversed a very different path, albeit a difficult one.
Companies offering food delivery app solutions are on the rise more than ever. More and more restaurant businesses are seeking food delivery solutions in order to scale up their business and increase possibilities of generating sales and gaining profit. So much has been the reach and impact of online foo delivery that it is not just eating into the market share of traditional dine-in restaurants but is also replacing home cooking. People, in every country, more or less are frequently opting for online food delivery solutions/restaurant delivery solutions over and above traditional home cooking practices.
After all,
“Choosing online food delivery over cooking is choosing to spend more time with your family.”
Majority of food businesses too, are embracing technological advancements and digitalization to meet consumer demands more efficiently on a large scale. In view of this, a good restaurant delivery management software provides feasible food delivery app solutions to many businesses. In fact, many software development companies have made their delivery apps so robust and efficient, that several leading food joints and restaurants are left with little choice not to partner with them. Such has been the global spread and impact of food delivery apps.
Digitalization in restaurants can be witnessed in both, physical spaces and the online world. Moving with the flow of technology and adopting it has helped many restaurants run their physical spaces more efficiently. One of the ways is by using self-ordering kiosks, which can gather useful customer data, reduce labor costs, and lower the number of incorrect orders.
In 2020, the global interactive kiosk market value reached 26.63 billion U.S. dollars, a figure that was predicted to grow in the future years. This feature of restaurant services became important especially during the pandemic of covid due to health and hygiene concerns, making personal interaction between restaurant workers and customers less possible.
The same can be said for the use of contactless payments. The largest regional segment of the contactless payment market value worldwide was held by the Far East and China, which accounted for around half of the entire industry. The next highest market share was held by North America, followed by Europe.
5. Effect Of Digitalization On The Food And Restaurant Industry: Knowing The Figure
Online food ordering has witnessed a big growth around the globe, ever since the pandemic of covid hit the world. If the statistics are to be believed, the market size of the global online food delivery sector reached around 107.44 billion US dollars in the year 2019.
The global online food delivery market size reached 111.32 billion U.S dollars in the year 2020.
The market size of the global online food delivery sector was predicted to rise to as much as 154.34 billion by the end of the year 2023.
Moreover, as a leading contributor to the global restaurant market, the United States quick service restaurant (QSR) industry’s output has increased significantly by over 50 percent since 2007, thereby reaching an all-time high of more or less 283 billion US dollars in 2020.
Delving into the names of the biggest players and one of the most prominent ones in the online food delivery market worldwide, Chinese service -Meituan Waimai was reported to be the firm leader with revenues nearing 14 billion US dollars in 2020. The list of such prominent online food delivery players also includes the likes of Grub Hub, Delivery Hero and Uber Eats.
Moreover, Uber Eats, Deliveroo and Door Dash reported a massive acceleration in orders between the month of February and March, 2020 as the entire world went into lockdown. Now with the effect of covid gradually waning in several parts of the world, the surge in online food demand still doesn’t seem to cool off. Online food ordering is here to stay.
6. Increasing Popularity Of Cloud Kitchens
Also known as a ‘virtual kitchen’ or a ‘ghost kitchen’, a cloud kitchen is a kitchen space for commercial purpose that offers food businesses the facilities and services needed to prepare menu items for take-out and delivery. In stark contrast to traditional brick and mortar locations, cloud kitchens allow food businesses to create and deliver food products with minimal overhead.
Data from recent studies indicate that meal delivery orders increased by more than 150 percent from 2019 to 2020- and the food delivery market is anticipated to increase roughly ten times over a ten-year period from $35 billion per year to $365 billion.
What’s more interesting about ‘virtual kitchens’ is the fact that there are delivery optimized ‘cloud kitchens’ which allow businesses to accommodate orders without any hassles or unnecessary overheads. Restaurants that are cloud kitchen based generally use online food delivery platforms to source orders thereby facilitating delivery orders, and finding easy food delivery app solutions.
Because the food delivery business is witnessing a meteoric rise, cloud kitchens, regardless of any regional or country specific reservations, are quickly gaining popularity among futuristic businesses.
The response of global consumers to such virtual kitchens has been pretty positive and encouraging. As a matter of fact, increasing number of food entrepreneurs and restaurant owners, both new and well-established ones around the world are resorting to cloud kitchens as an ideal business solution to capture this phenomenal increase in food delivery demand. In fact, many restaurants have turned to cloud kitchens as a low cost and low risk way to satisfy this galloping food demand.
Fasoos by Rebel Foods, Biryani by Kilo, and Freshmenu are some of the most popular cloud kitchen chains which are operating in this segment. In order to meet and cater to an increasing number of delivery orders, restaurant chains worldwide are appearing more inclined towards cloud kitchen outlets than dine-in outlets. In fact, they are picking up on this trend pretty fast.
Now, as the hunger for food overwhelms the dining experience, restaurants and food joints are changing their way of operations too. The food ordering and delivery app Swiggy, launched shared cloud kitchen spaces called Swiggy Access and enabled new and existing restaurants to operate delivery-only operations from these kitchen spaces.
All in all, the idea of a virtual kitchen is getting a wide acknowledgement from businesses globally, which is further leading to increased use of food delivery apps, thereby resulting in more online food deliveries placed every single minute around the world.
The following data and statistics provide a clear idea as to how big the online food delivery market is. As far as the food delivery revenues of countries are concerned, China topped the list at $27.3 billion as of the year 2021. It is worth mentioning that Meituan contributed near about $15 billion to China’s revenue, as the largest food delivery app in the world by revenue and usage. China was followed by the US at $22.4 billion. Then came Europe, UK, etc. in the list.
Seeing the whopping adoption rate of food delivery apps by different countries, the numbers and statistics to arrive appear pretty promising. A statistic in point, given below lets us know as to how big the food delivery market size around the world can be in the years to follow.
If research studies and projections are to be believed, the food delivery market size is expected to grow to $250 billion by the year 2027 and to a humongous $320 billion by 2029.
7. Few Recent Developments
- In 2021, Delivery Hero went on to acquire Hugo’s food and grocery delivery verticals and expanded its footprint in Central America and the Caribbean.
- In 2021, Southeast Asia’s biggest ride-hailing and food delivery firm Grab Holdings announced a merger with Altimeter Growth Corp. valued at USD 40 billion.
- In 2021, Uber Technologies Inc. completed its acquisition of Drizly, and the two companies will begin integrating their complementary delivery apps and services. The purchase consideration was near around USD 1.1 billion, consisting of roughly 18.7 million newly issued shares of Uber common stock plus cash.
8. Making Your Business Decode The Meaning Of Such Whopping Statistics
Making out from such statistics and seeing the developments the industry is making, the restaurant business is in for a big game. Or isn’t it?
Are food delivery apps the future of food and restaurant industry?
Is the future that is, only for food delivery app development companies?
Are restaurant management software companies the best destination for food businesses, whether new or established?
Are delivery optimized cloud kitchens going to stay competitive, upfront and for long?
Or, Are digitalized food businesses the future of the restaurant industry?
The answers to such questions should be immediately found and acted upon by prudent concerns, because given the pace of growth of the online food delivery businesses, a minute of delay can render your business to become a market laggard from being a market leader; a position a hard-working and prudent business wouldn’t ever like to get into.
So, is your business rightly software enabled and app ready to seek seamless food delivery app solutions and deliver easy and quick restaurant delivery solutions to customers that are looking for one or the other lip-smacking food item 24*7, in some part of this vast business world, or who knows pretty much near you.
The question here is, Can your food business satisfy their hunger pangs and capitalize on their hunger need? Afterall, online food delivery might just be the best and the most satisfying thing about living in the modern world.
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