Like-for-like delivery sales rose 5% year-on-year for managed restaurants in March 2023, while takeaway and click-and-collect orders dropped 3%.
According to the latest Hospitality at Home Tracker from CGA by NIQ, this left overall at-home sales virtually flat year-on-year a 0.8% for March, compared to rises of 4% in January and 3% in February.
March is the tenth consecutive month of year-on-year growth, but below the like-for-like (lfl) sales growth of 5.2% for managed restaurant, pub, and bar groups as reported by the CGA RSM Hospitality Business Tracker.
The Hospitality at Home tracker indicates delivery sales continue to rise at the expense of takeaways.
Deliveries now account for 11p in every pound spend with restaurant groups in March.
Karl Chessell, a director at CGA, said: “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. 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.”
