Restaurant deliveries enjoy bright August as takeaway sales stabilise  – London Business News | Londonlovesbusiness.com

Britain’s restaurant groups finished a strong summer of delivery sales with like-for-like sales growth of 7.3% in August, CGA by NIQ’s latest Hospitality at Home Tracker reveals.

Year-on-year increases in deliveries have been comfortably above the rate of inflation throughout 2024, falling below 7% only once since the start of the year.

August completes a buoyant summer for restaurants’ at-home orders, following the Tracker’s figures of 17.1% and 9.4% in June and July respectively.

CGA’s exclusive monitor of sales also reveals a 0.1% rise in takeaway and click-and-collect sales in August. This is the first year-on-year growth for 12 months, following consumers’ steady movement away from pick-up orders to deliveries. However, the positive performance was driven by increased prices, as the volume of takeaway orders continued a downward trajectory.

Combined deliveries, takeaways and click-and-collect sales in August were 4.6% ahead of the same month in 2023—the 15th month of like-for-like growth in a row. They attracted just over 14 pence in every pound spent with restaurants last month, against 86 pence for eat-in visits.

Karl Chessell, CGA by NIQ’s director – hospitality operators and food, EMEA said, “A generally cool and wet summer has been disappointing for consumers and hospitality alike, but with many people staying inside it’s worked to the advantage of restaurants’ deliveries.

“A buoyant August shows the ongoing appeal of ordering platforms, and it’s encouraging to see some stability in takeaways after a long-term slowdown. Less positively, it may also indicate that some consumers are opting to save money by eating restaurant food at home rather than going out. Growing eat-in sales without compromising deliveries will be a key challenge for restaurants as we enter Autumn.”