Delivery growth fails to lift flat sales in September

A fall in takeaway sales offset gains in deliveries to leave Britain’s leading restaurant groups with flat like-for-like sales in September, according to new figures from CGA by NIQ.

The latest Hospitality at Home Tracker showed combined deliveries and takeaways up just 0.4% on September 2024. It marks another month of trading below the rate of inflation, extending a “challenging” year in which restaurant dine-in sales have also stagnated or declined.

Delivery sales rose 4.1% year-on-year on a like-for-like basis, while takeaway and click-and-collect orders fell 8.7%. The data reflects a continued shift in consumer behaviour towards home delivery and away from food pick-ups.

Despite the flat performance, managed groups increased total at-home sales by 8.7% compared with last year, supported by new restaurant openings and the addition of delivery and takeaway options at existing sites.

According to CGA, takeaways and click-and-collect accounted for 5.1p in every pound spent with restaurants in September, while deliveries represented 13.1p, up by more than 2% since 2023.

Karl Chessell, director for hospitality operators and food, EMEA at CGA by NIQ, said: “The total increase in restaurants’ at-home sales is an encouraging sign of solid demand for deliveries and takeaways. But it’s clear that growth is being largely driven by new delivery provision and higher menu prices rather than order frequency, and inflation and third-party delivery fees are both sapping operators’ profit margins.

“They will be hoping for a Christmas bounce and some respite on costs in the government’s forthcoming Budget, but the environment for both eat-in and at-home trading is going to remain difficult for some time to come.”