Delivery and takeaway sales soar for restaurants and pubs
The combined sales were 130% higher than in September 2019, when businesses were trading as normal; and 35% higher than in September 2020, when they were operating under Covid restrictions.
Furthermore, 29p in every pound spent with top managed restaurants went towards takeaways and deliveries, with drinks accounting for just under 10% of total sales, the Tracker showed.
A bright future
CGA director Karl Chessell said: “Delivery and takeaway sales have dipped from the heights of lockdown, but September’s figures show they will stay a crucial part of restaurant and pub operations.
“It’s particularly pleasing to see that at-home sales seem to be complementing rather than cannibalising eat-out spending, even as restaurants and pubs settle back towards normality.
“While the post-Covid balance of the two sectors won’t be clear for a while yet, there’s no reason why businesses can’t thrive in both in the future.”
September’s growth in delivery sales was more than five times higher than takeaways, reflecting the popularity of third party delivery platforms.
However, ordering food and drink at home is not compromising consumers’ spending on eating and drinking out, CGA data suggested.
Evidence for this is that managed pubs, bars and restaurants grew their sales by 8% on September 2019, as revealed by the September edition of the separate CGA Coffer Business Tracker.
Consumer satisfaction
Slerp founder JP Then said: “The businesses that are thriving with off-premise sales are keeping things interesting for their customers.
“They are offering unique menu items that are exclusive through their own online channels, which are often only available for a limited time.
“Slerp partners are having particular success driving up the basket size by creating bundles – and most importantly, the customers are loving it.
“As we move into the last quarter of the year, the festive online offering can be a significant revenue contributor whilst the landscape remains uncertain.”
The CGA & Slerp Hospitality at Home Tracker provides monthly reports on the value on volume of sales for the delivery and takeaway market, with year-on-year comparisons and splits between food and drink revenue.
