The home delivery sector, also known as food delivery, has seen exponential growth in recent years thanks to technological evolution and the introduction of numerous platforms and startups dedicated to delivering ready meals. This phenomenon has also led to a change in the available offerings on the market: food delivery is no longer synonymous with junk food, but offers a wide range of cuisines and dishes, from Vietnamese to macrobiotic, through Italian, Japanese, and vegan cuisine.
According to the 2021 data from Coldiretti/Censis, about 6 million Italians have food delivered to their homes at least once a month, and it is estimated that by 2025, food delivery platforms could generate a turnover of over 3.5 billion euros. This habit mainly involves consumers aged 25 to 34 who have little time to dedicate to cooking, want to impress their guests, or seek new dishes from distant countries.
But food delivery is not just a phenomenon linked to young people: it is also winning over Generation X, who no longer have the time to shop or cook and take advantage of numerous opportunities to have food delivered by a courier. Digital food delivery platforms are also expanding from urban centers to local areas, offering growth opportunities to many catering businesses.
For a catering business, it becomes interesting to offer customers the take-away service through the numerous food delivery platforms available in the market that provide various advantages in terms of logistics, organization, and visibility. For example, the main strength is the speed of order transmission, which occurs with any internet-connected device, via website or app.
Food delivery platforms also offer the possibility to check the status of the order in real-time until delivery thanks to geolocation, reducing delivery times and allowing the restaurateur not to worry about managing delivery personnel on their own. Furthermore, being a partner of food delivery platforms increases the visibility of the catering business and allows it to introduce its reality and menu dishes to new customers.
The restaurant can benefit from collaborating with different food delivery platforms to obtain detailed information about users, understand tastes and eating habits, and better customize the offer and service.
Thanks to the opportunities offered by digital food delivery, the restaurant can improve its visibility, organization, and reach a higher number of potential customers compared to traditional forms of service.
