Delivery to grow 17% over next two years: The NPD Group

Over the past decade, the delivery market has grown 73% to £4.2 billion as of February 2018.

The aggregators – such as Deliveroo, JUST EAT, hungryhouse and UberEATS – have been the catalyst for this growth. According to The NPD Group, they have levelled the playing field, allowing smaller independents to compete more effectively with the bigger foodservice chains. The NPD Group believes takeaway delivery will grow a further 17% in value over the next two years and could be worth as much as £5 billion by then.

NPD Group's head of foodservice UK Cyril Lavenant said, “Delivery is a big hit with consumers – thanks to the aggregators they now have a very large choice of restaurants at their fingertips. It is also a great marketing platform, especially for independent restaurants that can’t afford to spend on advertising. Phone apps and websites also make it easier for consumers to order full meals from a variety of cuisines. Just one aggregator could offer a choice from either burgers, or chicken, or Indian, or Chinese, and much more. It’s all there at the click of a button.”

In the year ending February 2018, there were 673 million deliveries, nearly 6.0% of the total British eat-out or out-of-home (OOH) market. This is equivalent to everybody in Britain ordering 10 pizza takeaway deliveries each year.

46% of delivery is still by phone: Although online is catching up, with 38% of orders, whilst apps make up the remaining 16%. 

Also whilst pizza delivery is in second place, it is not growing as quickly as the takeaway delivery market.

Pizza share has dropped three percentage points in 2017 versus 2016 and chips are making their way into many a delivery box as they are now present in nearly 16% of all delivery visits.

Cyril Lavenant added, “Larger foodservice operators are responding well to the takeaway delivery boom but know they need to manage the demand very carefully. With consumers spending around half as much as when they visit a restaurant in person – people typically cut out starters, desserts and drinks – a delivery order is potentially less lucrative to a large foodservice business and can reduce an operator’s profitability. Restaurants also must pay commission to the delivery company, and this impacts profits too. Whatever way you look at it, takeaway delivery is definitely changing the shape of Britain’s foodservice industry.”