Delivery and takeaway more popular with consumers following rise in inflation

More people are now ordering food for delivery and takeaway than they were last summer before UK inflation reached record highs, research from Deliverect has revealed.

The survey was conducted by Censuswide, which approached 7,000 global consumers to identify the changes in their restaurant spending behaviour between August 2021 and August 2022, when year-on-year inflation hit 9.9%.

It showed that 40% of UK consumers are now purchasing up to three takeaways a week compared to 33% last August.

Over a quarter (26%) of these individuals order on a weekend evening with friends and family.

Research also suggested that people were more likely to cut back on other activities, such as travelling (35%), buying clothes (44%), and going out for drinks and dinner (47%) amid the cost of living crisis.

The survey outlined several trends in the UK delivery sector. For example, customers are more likely to prioritise quality of ingredients, with 67% saying this has become more important amid higher inflation, while 69% were focused on how fast their food would arrive.

Almost a third (32%) of global customers would choose one restaurant over the other based on faster delivery, with 31% of people from the UK agreeing that 21-30 minutes is the maximum average waiting time.

Only 15% of consumers are likely to collect orders in-person from a restaurant, while 37% use delivery apps and 35% order directly from the restaurant.

Deliverect is a SaaS company that operates in over 40 markets worldwide.

Image: New Africa / Shutterstock