Food delivery on recovery path, says Zomato report

The food delivery sector is on the recovery path, clocking 85 per cent of pre-Covid gross merchandise value, up from 75 per cent last month. However, in a number of large pockets of the country, the food delivery sector has recovered to pre-Covid levels and even grown beyond that, led by some affluent residential areas, says a report by Zomato.

While Delhi and Mumbai are nearing full recovery at 95 per cent of pre-Covid levels, other metros such as Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Chennai are still behind the curve at 80 per cent recovery. Cities such as Kolkata, Patna, Jamshedpur, Ranchi and Siliguri have recovered completely and have exceeded pre-Covid, the report claims.

Within most cities, the affluent parts are driving the recovery. For instance, in Delhi, Connaught Place bounced back to pre-Covid levels and South Delhi was back to 110 per cent of pre-Covid levels, witnessing an increase of 65 per cent in average order value, between February to September.

Group ordering, festival feasts

Overall spends on premium restaurants that have opened up to online delivery have grown by over 25 per cent over pre-Covid levels. As customers spend more time with their families, group ordering has become more relevant, where items per order have increased by 20 per cent over pre-Covid levels.

With lockdown restrictions, festivals and occasions such as Raksha Bandhan, Janmashtami, Teacher’s Day and Independence Day saw a massive spike in orders. Customers who had not ordered since the first day of lockdown are 20 per cent more likely to order for the first time during such festivals and occasions, the report added.

“With the ongoing IPL season and the subsequent festival season, we expect food delivery in both metros and smaller cities to make a full recovery soon — and resume growing over pre-Covid levels” said Deepinder Goyal, CEO of Zomato, in a blogpost.

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