Delivery in away from home: an evolving route to consumers

The delivery channel in the away from home market has evolved rapidly over the past twenty years and continues to do so as delivery becomes a more regular part of meal occasions. It has transformed from a survival tool during the pandemic to an essential, fast-evolving food service essential that is becoming a more important part of strategic growth.

Digital ordering and delivery have become ingrained consumer habits, with 43% of consumers in the UK ordering at least once a month. Delivery has given operators access to consumers wherever and whenever they want to order, opening up opportunities around daypart expansion and lower-cost delivery-only formats. However, operators face challenges in having a well-defined strategy in such a diverse and complex channel.

The dominance of delivery aggregators Deliveroo, Uber Eats and Just Eat offer operators broad reach and logistics support. However, this approach brings challenges around the level of control operators have over the consumer experience and profitability. To combat these challenges, more are exploring alternate models, such as direct to consumer to regain control of the consumer experience and the purchasing data, alongside dark kitchens to run at lower cost and improve profitability.

The lack of consumer data for operators can mask some of the key opportunities in the delivery channel, for example understanding how to attract more missions and brand interactions across different consumer groups. This is particularly the case amongst the most frequent users of the delivery channel. Understanding the habits and attitudes of this cohort of consumers will unlock new avenues of growth for operators.

Across all delivery users, no matter how frequent or infrequent, dinner is by far the biggest occasion for delivery. 91% of those who use the delivery channel use it for dinner, with the second-highest occasion (lunch) falling far behind at just 16%.

However, the most frequent delivery users – those using the channel at least once a week – are using it for so much more than dinner. These consumers complete an average of 3.5 orders per week, with a much more balanced split across different consumption occasions. Dinner still leads, but there is a much stronger case for operators looking to expand into more dayparts for delivery orders for this group.

For operators and suppliers, the opportunity lies in understanding growing consumer demand for convenience, speed and flexibility, and matching this with a route to market strategy that keeps them close to the consumer. The operators that embed delivery into their core business, likely with a mix of approaches and adapt to new technologies, will have the most successful and profitable delivery operations.

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