Much is made of the perceived leverage third-party services have over the restaurants whose food they deliver, but in reality, “Operators have the real leverage because the third-party apps need you as much as you need them.”
Ninety-three percent of respondents said they already knew about the restaurant before ordering through a delivery platform, and 91 percent had visited in person, meaning delivery services aren’t the driver of customer acquisition for restaurants—it’s the other way around.
“Restaurants and brands are actually the customer acquisition tools for the apps,” said Portnoy, and partnerships with franchise and chain restaurants are driving growth for the likes of DoorDash and UberEats.