Consumers are 31% more likely to buy meals for delivery or pickup than they are to dine on-site

According to a new survey conducted by PYMNTS and Carat from Fiserv, consumers are 31% more likely to order their food than dine on-site [1]. This makes takeout the single most common way restaurant customers now get their food.

The survey also found that 43% of consumers are ordering home delivery for their restaurant meals or groceries more often than before March 2020. 

Ordering food online for delivery or pickup is especially popular among Generation Z, millennials, and bridge millennials (those born between 1979 and 1988 who “bridge the gap” between millennials and Generation X). This has been attributed to these age groups being more comfortable using digital devices to shop and pay for all products, including restaurant orders. 

The findings from the survey of 5,266 U.S consumers were revealed in the How We Eat Playbook and aimed to identify how they use both online and brick-and-mortar features to manage their purchases.

The companies concluded that the pandemic completely shifted the landscape of the restaurant and grocery industry. “ Providing customers online meal and grocery ordering options, coupled with at-home delivery and pickup options, is no longer an option but rather a requirement. Restaurants and grocers must be able to offer both digital ordering options and a range of pickup and delivery features if they hope to convert the connected consumers who drive the bring-it-to-me economy.”