Digital Order Volume for Restaurants Set to Triple by 2020, Fueled by Mobile Channel

Digital orders for restaurants are set to triple by the end of 2020, a new report from NPD has found. According to the report, titled Delivering Digital Convenience, digital orders for restaurants have grown at an annual average rate of 23 percent since 2013 but are set to explode this year. Sixty percent of digital orders for restaurants, the report found, are made by mobile apps, including branded restaurant apps and third-party delivery apps.

The report attributes the growing popularity of digital ordering via restaurant branded apps to consumer affection for rewards and savings programs, order customization, and frictionless ordering and payments. Third-party apps like DoorDash and UberEATS account for 40 percent of the 20 most-used apps for restaurant order, and offer consumers easier payments, price checking and wider search functions, the report found. For smaller, independent restaurateurs, third-party apps unlock access to the growing mobile order market without requiring expensive investments in technological infrastructure.

“Digital orders will remain an outsized source of growth for the restaurant industry over the next few years, and operators who desire to grow need to embrace a digital strategy,” said David Portalatin, NPD food industry advisor, in a press release about the report .“There are clear leaders in the digital ordering space, brands, and third-party providers who have achieved critical mass the fastest. To make the best decisions about digital strategies and potential partnerships, operators need to understand the key features that differentiate these companies from one another.”