25% citizens say they will order restaurant food once or more via food delivery apps in the next 30 days

21th May 2020, New Delhi: Although the India has still not been able to flatten the COVID-19 curve, the relaxations in lockdown 4.0 has brought in some happiness for people. Shops and offices will now open, along with markets and ecommerce activities. However, restaurants have still not been allowed to open again. Indians are known to be food lovers and eating out with colleagues, family & friends has been a fond part of our tradition. But it looks like the novel Coronavirus pandemic has led to people controlling their inner cravings for restaurant food.

LocalCircles conducted a survey to get a consumer pulse on how they would eat out or order from restaurants post the lockdown relaxations. The 3-poll survey received over 24,000 responses.

In the first question, citizens were asked once the lockdown is relaxed and restaurants are open, would they be visiting their favourite restaurant in the area or city for a meal in the next 30 days. It was not surprising that 74% respondents answered in a ‘no’ while only 20% answered in a ‘yes’.

74% citizens say they will not be visiting their favourite restaurant in the area/city in the next 30 days if it was open

When asked what the primary reason was for them not wanting to visit their favourite restaurant in their city for a meal in the next 30 days, 38% said they feared catching the virus from restaurant staff, other visitors or via food, while 12% they do not want to spend on eating out right now. 49% said both of these apply to them for not wanting to visit a restaurant.

87% don’t want to visit a restaurant in the next 30 days due to the fear of catching the virus; 61% also reluctant to spend on eating out

This means that 87% citizens do not want to visit a restaurant in the next 30 days due to the fear of catching the virus while 61% were also reluctant to spend on eating out.

An earlier LocalCircles survey showed that post the COVID-19 lockdown, people are more inclined to getting things delivered to their doorsteps, rather than going out to buy themselves, so that they could prevent themselves from getting infected.

25% citizens say they will order restaurant food once or more via food delivery apps in the next 30 days

When asked how would they be ordering restaurant food via food delivery apps in the next 30 days, 16% said they would order 1-2 times, 6% said 3-4 times, and 3% said more than 4 times. 65% said they will not order restaurant food for delivery, while 10% respondents were unsure of what they would do.

This means that 25% citizens will order restaurant food once or more via food delivery apps in the next 30 days, and these numbers will likely increase with time.

In the recent relaxations, restaurants have only been allowed to operate delivery services but dine-in options are still prohibited across most parts of India. Since the lockdown began, the dine in business of restaurant has been zero and food delivery orders from restaurants have seen orders plummet by almost 90%. The two major food delivery aggregators, Swiggy and Zomato have started delivering essentials to make up for some of the shortfall in the restaurant delivery business. However, revenues are down by over 75% for months of April and May for most players in the sector.

Per the Federation of Hotel and Restaurant Associations of India, almost 70% hotels and restaurants in India might close down in the next 30 to 45 days due to the strict Government regulations and reduced consumer interest. What was a booming sector just about 2 months ago is now fighting for its survival. The question however is, how can the aggregators as well as restaurants tweak their operating models to cut cost, deliver food with high standards of safety and still keep in touch with the consumers so that when things do improve, they are there to serve the pent up consumer demand.