NEWTON, Mass.—A new report by Paytronix Systems found that 58% of U.S. consumers skip aggregators when ordering from their favorite restaurants.
The research finds that 17% of consumers in the United States who regularly purchase food from restaurants used an aggregator to order from their favorite table-service restaurant or quick-service restaurant (QSR) at least once in the past three months.
“Brands today must own their digital ordering channel from start to finish,” said Paytronix CEO Andrew Robbins. “Guests clearly want to work directly with the brands they love, and the more control brands have over the full ordering process, the better and more personalized they can make it. Aggregators play a key role in this ecosystem, but brands need the tools and technologies in place to keep their guests happy and coming back.”
The report found that less than one-fifth of restaurant customers used an aggregator to order from their favorite eateries in the past three months. Ordering directly from the restaurant by phone or online remain much more popular options.
Approximately two-thirds of aggregator users say they select aggregators for convenience. More than one-third believe it is the only way to order delivery from their desired restaurant. Most of the other top reasons also center around convenience. Thirty-four percent of aggregator users say these platforms are the only way to get delivery from the restaurants of their choice, and 32% say ordering this way is faster.
More than half of restaurant customers who do not use aggregators point to the fees and menu mark-ups added by aggregators as a reason they go directly to restaurants. Those that use aggregators are less concerned about the cost factor.
When consumers do order food from restaurants via third party, DoorDash is the most popular, with 58% of aggregator users ordering through the platform at least once in the past 15 months. Uber Eats (46%), Grubhub (37%) and Postmates (20%) round out the top four, with less than 10% for other players.
Convenience stores face a dilemma when deciding whether or not to offer delivery services to their customers. NACS Magazine explored the trade-offs between own-staff versus third party in the mobile order and delivery landscape in the September issue.