Restaurants Shrink as Food Delivery Apps Get More Popular
By Sara Shaw • November 2, 2018
People are still eating restaurant food– they’re just not doing it at restaurants as much. The number of food delivery app downloads is up 380 percent compared with three years ago, according to market-data firm App Annie, and research firm Cowen and Co. predicts that U.S. restaurant delivery sales will rise an average of 12 percent a year to $76 billion in the next four years.
Firehouse Subs CEO Don Fox has seen revenue increase 7 percent this year, mainly from orders placed online and through delivery apps. Even large fast food chains like McDonalds are embracing the shift to pickup and delivery orders. “We’re continuing to see delivery orders of about double the size of the standard restaurant check,” Chief Executive Officer Stephen Easterbrook said in July.