Food Delivery Apps Take Over Restaurants

According to LiveMint, Delivery apps from DoorDash Inc., Postmates Inc., GrubHub Inc. and UberEats have made ordering in easier, and have changed the way food chains think about their business. The number of food delivery app downloads is up 380 per cent 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 per cent a year to $76 billion in the next four years.

Delivery apps from DoorDash, Postmates, GrubHub and UberEats have made ordering in easier, and have changed the way food chains think about their business. At Firehouse, revenue has increased 7 per cent this year, mainly from orders placed online and through delivery apps, Fox said. More than half of his sales are for food eaten elsewhere.

The Future Is Here

In July, all 1,102 Firehouse locations replaced some of their tables and chairs with shelves where delivery orders can be stacked. About 10 square feet that used to be seating is now a place for couriers to grab orders. Restaurants also want doors specifically for delivery workers as well as designated areas for them to wait to pick up orders, so they’re not hovering around the hostess stand. Some new restaurant owners are skipping tables and chairs altogether and just leasing kitchen space to prepare food for couriers. Those are called cloud kitchens or virtual restaurants because they have no dining rooms or wait staff and sell their meals through the internet and mobile apps like DoorDash or UberEats.