​Takeaway and Delivery Sales Start to Plateau

In March, takeaway and delivery sales among Britain's prominent managed restaurant groups showed little year-on-year growth, according to the latest Hospitality at Home Tracker by CGA by NIQ. Sales from deliveries and takeaways increased by just 0.8% compared to March 2023, suggesting a potential shift to dine-in experiences.

Chainwit., CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

This marks the 10th consecutive month of year-on-year growth, albeit much lower than the 4% and 3% increases in January and February 2024. This growth rate is also considerably slower than the 5.2% increase reported by the CGA RSM Hospitality Business Tracker for the same groups, which includes managed restaurants, pubs, and bars.

Interestingly, delivery sales have continued to climb, outperforming takeaways. Deliveries experienced a 5% growth in like-for-like sales last month, while takeaway and click-and-collect orders saw a 3% decline. Deliveries now represent 11 pence of every pound spent within these restaurant groups.

Karl Chessell, a director at CGA, commented, "The softening of at-home sales in March partly reflects moves by some consumers to eat in restaurants more often as pressure on their spending eases. With the Easter weekend falling in March this year, it may also indicate that people still prefer to enjoy food and drink on special occasions with others rather than at home."

Chessell added, "While we can be cautiously confident that general spending in hospitality will rise as we move towards summer, operators will have to work very hard to achieve sustained growth in both their at-home and eat-in channels."

We invite your thoughts on these evolving trends within the restaurant sector. Are you seeing similar changes in your area? What strategies do you think could help businesses adapt to these shifts? Please share your insights in the comments below.