Food Delivery, Drive-Thru Continue Eye-Popping Performance

Food delivery continues its meteoric growth, with orders increasing by +128% in August compared to the same month two years ago, and now represents 10% of off-premises visits, according to data released by The NPD Group.

More broadly in the restaurant business, visits in August continued to recover from last year’s steep declines despite bad weather and the delta variant spread, consumer online and physical, reports The NPD Group.

US restaurant traffic increased by +5% over the -10% decline in August 2020 and declined by -5% compared to the pre-pandemic level in August 2019. Larger average check sizes drove a +13% increase in dollars compared to a year ago and a +3% gain in dollars over the same month two years ago, according to NPD’s daily tracking of the U.S. restaurant industry.

“Overall, the state of the US restaurant industry today reflects the steady-state of the home-centric lifestyle that has us eating more meals at home,” David Portalatin, NPD food industry advisor and author of Eating Patterns in America, said. “This behavior pre-dates the pandemic and will continue into the foreseeable future. To meet the needs of today’s restaurant consumers, restaurant operators need to think about getting meals and snacks into the home.”

Quick service restaurant visits, representing most US restaurant traffic, were down -3% in August compared to August 2019, up +2% versus last year’s same month. Visits to full-service restaurants declined by -9% this August compared to the same month two years ago, and increased by +20% versus a -25% decrease in August 2020.

While restaurant visits are improved overall, dine-in or on-premises traffic continues to struggle compared to pre-pandemic levels. 

Dine-in visits were down -34% in August compared to August 2019. Off-premises orders, which gained significant ground during the pandemic, represented the majority (73%) of all restaurant visits this August. 

Carry-out visits, which hold a 49% share of off-premises traffic, increased by +6% compared to pre-pandemic levels. 

Drive-Thru Literally and Figuratively

Drive-thru visits rose by +11% in August compared to August 2019 and represented 41% of off-premises visits in the month. 

As one illustration about the growing popularity—and related problems—of drive-thrus: long drive-thru lines at a Chick-fil-A restaurant in Fort Lauderdale are causing traffic problems. The line often stretches out to North Federal Highway near Northeast 26th Street and travelers are constantly beeping their horns. “It is an accident waiting to happen,” said one nearby business operator, according to television station Local10.com.

According to the Fort Lauderdale Police Department, there were seven vehicle-related incidents at the restaurant property last month, and there have also been three crashes related to the restaurant traffic. The only enforcement there right now is related to drivers who block the intersection.