Delivery and takeaway sales through Britain’s top managed restaurants were 3% lower in March 2023 compared to March 2022, according to CGA by NIQ’s latest Hospitality at Home Tracker.
Year-on-year delivery and takeaway sales fell for the 16th month in a row, with the value of sales falling significantly further in real terms when accounting for inflation.
The tracker also indicates a sharper drop in volumes – a sign that menu prices are stemming year-on-year losses.
Groups saw a 9.5% dip in their number of delivery orders compared to March 2022, along with a 12.7% contraction in takeaway and click-and-collect orders.
Sales nevertheless remain well above pre-Covid levels and account for 14.9p in every pound spent with the managed restaurant groups contributing to the tracker in March.
However, the figures are further evidence of a softening of the delivery and takeaway market as customers revert to eating out and reducing discretionary spend, according to CGA.
Karl Chessell, CGA’s business unit director - hospitality operators and food, EMEA, said: “Sixteen months of year-on-year decline in delivery and takeaway sales have shown how the cost of living crisis has impacted consumers’ discretionary spending.
“More positively, it’s an indication that some consumers have switched back from ordering in to going out, and our Coffer CGA Business Tracker has shown modest increases in in-venue sales this year. However, sales in both channels remain well down year-on-year in real terms, and with little respite on inflation in sight trading conditions will remain very challenging for some time to come.”
