Americans are favoring delivery over dining out.
That’s one takeawy from the most recent restaurant report from the American Customer Satisfaction Index indicates
It also comes as restaurants deal with decreasing foot traffic and competition from prepared foods at grocery and convenience stores. Guest checks have grown, the report says, but that’s probably due to restaurants raising prices.
For 2018, delivery made up about 37 percent of restaurant industry sales, the report says. Among full-service restaurants, diners who chose delivery were more satisfied than those who dined in. In the fast food segment, customer satisfaction decreased.
Recent research from The NPD Group has indicated the number of restaurant meals being eaten at home is on the rise as people opt to skip the experience of dining out. Food-service delivery sales in the U.S. hit $34 billion last year, which was a 13 percent increase over 2017, per The Wall Street Journal.
Food delivery services like DoorDash, Uber Eats, Grubhub and Postmates have grown in popularity in recent years, as Americans favor the ability to have food, groceries and more brought right to their doors.
DoorDash has overtaken Grubhub as the top online food delivery company in the U.S., per Yahoo Finance. Amid a crowded field, Amazon ended its Amazon Restaurants service this month.
“Millennials didn’t like cooking before Postmates was a thing. Now that they’ve got some money in their pocket, it’s no surprise they’re not cooking,” Kelly Goldsmith, associate professor of marketing at Vanderbilt University, told the Tennessean. “People are placing a higher premium on their time and convenience.”