Pizza at home or do you prefer the Italian? Since the end of the lockdown, consumers have again had a choice. Anyone who thinks that the demand for delivery services is now collapsing is mistaken.
The restaurants and pubs have been well frequented for months – but there is no end in sight to the order boom for delivery services. “The trend towards online orders continues, even after the catering trade has reopened,” said the market leader, Lieferando, on request.
Accordingly, consumers would have placed around ten million additional orders via the platform in the summer between July and September. “This corresponds to a growth of 35 percent compared to the Corona summer 2020 and a doubling of orders compared to the pre-crisis level in the third quarter of 2019,” it said.
The competitor Wolt also assumes that demand will continue to be high. In many other countries, the company observed in the past year that people continued to order after the catering trade opened. “We are therefore not expecting any noticeable decline in orders,” the company said on request.
Boom during lockdowns
The services had grown rapidly, especially during the repeated lockdowns. For months, restaurateurs had to close their interiors and were only allowed to sell for out-of-home consumption. Many used platforms such as the Lieferando brand belonging to the Dutch Just Eat Takeaway Group in order to reach as many customers as possible.
In the meantime, the situation for the industry has improved somewhat. “Thanks to the relaxation of the Corona and the strong tourist demand, the summer and autumn have so far been a success for many companies in the hospitality industry,” said the Hotel and Restaurant Association Dehoga on request. “In hotels and restaurants with predominantly tourist and private demand, sales are in parts even higher than in the pre-crisis year 2019.”
But apparently many consumers still like to order online. “The expectation that after the end of the lockdown everyone will flow into the restaurant again and no one will order has apparently not been 100 percent true,” said Christoph Schink, head of the hospitality division at the food-gourmet-restaurants union (NGG). “We have noticed that drivers are still being sought and that the order volume is still high.”
Numerous providers
For a long time, Lieferando was almost the only supplier of restaurant deliveries in Germany. The market for ready-meal deliveries is now more competitive. In addition to Wolt, the Berlin-based company Delivery Hero is back on the home market under its Foodpanda brand. He had only sold his entire German business in 2019.
Delivery Hero offers both restaurant and daily grocery deliveries. Lieferando has not yet been active in this market segment. Competitors such as Gorillas, Flink and Getir also cavort there. Wolt is also planning to expand its range of dishes beyond prepared dishes: “Wolt should soon become the” app for everything “in Germany,” it said.
NGG and Dehoga view this development with mixed feelings. The union emphasizes its successes at Lieferando, where there is now a works council and the company announced in August that it would expire all contracts. But the NGG continues to criticize a bonus system according to which drivers get more money after a certain number of deliveries per month.
The Dehoga association, in turn, is particularly bothered by the commission for the participating restaurants and warns of economic dependencies. «The big online platforms are tapping into a lot of added value. It is the restaurants that own the product and bear the economic responsibility for their operations and their employees – and not the portals. “
Source From: Stern
Jane Stock is a technology author, who has written for 24 Hours World. She writes about the latest in technology news and trends, and is always on the lookout for new and innovative ways to improve his audience’s experience.
