On-trade

Takeaway orders earn online food delivery companies €75m claims flipdish

Online food delivery marketplaces in Ireland captured over €75 million in fees from Irish restaurants and takeaways last year.

 

 

“We would hope to see a shift in people ordering directly from their local restaurants to actually support them and make sure they receive the maximum amount of their hard-earned revenue." - (from left): Flipdish Co-Founders Conor and Dave McCarthy.

“We would hope to see a shift in people ordering directly from their local restaurants to actually support them and make sure they receive the maximum amount of their hard-earned revenue.” – (from left): Flipdish Co-Founders Conor and Dave McCarthy.

New Amárach research, commissioned by Irish digital food-ordering solution flipdish, reveals that over half of all people (53%) who ordered meals from an online food delivery marketplace during Covid did so believing they’d be supporting a local restaurant and were unaware that up to 30% of the order value went to the marketplace app they ordered from and not the restaurant itself.

During the pandemic, thousands of closed restaurants and pubs across Ireland pivoted from dine-in businesses to re-open as takeaway and delivery food businesses.

Over 60% of the Irish population ordered food from restaurants and takeaways during lockdown but this number is even higher amongst weekly consumers of takeaway food, with 72% of people who ordered food online more than once a week during lockdown believing they were supporting local takeaways and restaurants.

Three out of four ‘Irish dine-out’ consumers (77%) were unaware that restaurants are charged up to 30% commission per order by online food delivery marketplaces such as Deliveroo and JustEat according to Amárach Consulting.

“It’s very easy for people to go online and order from an online marketplace with the understanding that in addition to getting a delicious meal served to them at home, that they’re supporting a local business,” explained Chief Executive and Co-Founder of flipdish Conor McCarthy, “But as the research shows, the majority of people in Ireland are unaware that these marketplaces can charge restaurants up to 30% commission per order.
“Armed with this knowledge we would hope to see a shift in people ordering directly from their local restaurants to actually support them and make sure they receive the maximum amount of their hard-earned revenue,” he added.

With a branded website, app or self-service kiosk powered by flipdish’s technology, restaurant owners can, within hours of signing-up, directly accept digital orders without having to list on aggregator platforms, at a lower cost and with more control over the customer experience, he claimed.

Restaurants having control over their digital ordering system also allows them to control customer data – allowing them to directly target return customers with marketing promotions and loyalty programmes,” he added.

Of those surveyed, more than four out of five (84%) believe that the fees restaurants have to pay to online marketplaces are unfair.

With the newfound knowledge of the fees restaurants face, almost nine in 10 (89%) said they’d order directly from the restaurant as opposed to using an online marketplace. 92% of people who order from an online marketplace more than once a week would now order directly from restaurants.
The Amárach research also found that three in five (61%) of those surveyed order food online at least once a month. One in three (33%) order takeaways once a week. More Dubs order food online, with one-third (33%) ordering takeaways at least once per month compared to 13% of those in the Northwest.

 

 


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