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The United Kingdom always has shown great affinity in welcoming different cultures to it over the years. Natives of the UK were never hesitant to mingle with these cultures, they interact, and they shared good food. The good foods shared opened up a new market later, they transformed into restaurants or eateries. Now you can see almost all cuisines from different corner of the globe available in the UK. As a result, the food service market has been one of the most profitable businesses across the country for years.
With the introduction of takeaways and online food ordering services, food services industry has grown significantly. The growth was exceptional over the years, according to the latest studies the UK has spent close to 10 billion on Chinese, Indian and other takeaway food like pizza last year. Now the UK stands at 4th place after the US, Japan and Italy in revenue generation from food delivery business.
The emergence of online food ordering services contributed heavily to place the UK in fourth place on the revenue generation list. In 2017 we witnessed accelerated growth in online food ordering accounting £6.2 billion worth. Further, the food delivery market itself has shown an increase of 13.1% and thus making a contribution of £8.1 billion in 2018 and it is contributed to 8% of the total foodservice market. Another importance fact revealed from this survey is 60% of adults in the UK are active in any of the online food ordering applications available and does at least two orders per month and spends at least £9.47 per head. According to the market study it is expected, the food delivery market itself grows up to £10 billion by 2021. By 2024 the online food order market is expected to grow beyond £15 billion and never showing any chances of slowing down the growth.
Focus on personalization, driven by Millennials
Though the market experts forecasted great percentage of growth for food delivery industry, ever wondered how could online ordering apps attract more people into it? The answer is simple data analytics. As a result of the digital revolution happened, the data produced to become a valuable sub-product. By analyzing it one can get valuable insights about ordering pattern, customer taste and preferences etc. A personalized menu will be the next big thing in food delivery and take-out industry. With past order history, Feedbacks and previous menu customization details in hand restaurants can offer personalized food menus to their customers ensuring no two customers see the same menu. Imagine how pleasing it is from a customer point of view to get dishes personalized to cater to individual tastes and dietary needs. This will surely delight the customers, isn’t it?
Now the next question is who will be targeted to achieve this phenomenal growth? It’s none other than the millennial. They are going to be the driving force to achieve this exponential growth. Millennials are the group which spends largely on prepared foods, hence they rely more on delivery services more than other generations. In a recent generation report by Technomic, it is revealed that they (millennials) love to have fast delivery of foods and they order food or visit eateries for takeout 3 out of 5 times. Though Millennials are primarily targeted audience, it is expected to bring more and more people into online ordering through the effortless ordering and instant delivery. With the help of social media platforms, smart devices and virtual assistance, food delivery firms are looking for alternative channels to simplify online ordering system. Some of the experimental channels that can change the entire concept of online ordering are given below.
Virtual Assistants
Online order via virtual assistants is one of the methods tried by online food delivery firms recently. They incorporated a chatbot to facebook messenger, with a simple word or food emoji customers can place their order. The chatbot will respond to your inquiries and will inform you regarding the current deals.
Order by tweet
Order by tweet is another interesting method implemented as an experiment. Customers can tweet food emojis or food name on restaurants twitter handle to order food. This was an instrumental success and expected to adapt by other eateries very soon.
Order with Smartwatch
Smartwatch sales have been on high in 2018, close 150 million smartwatches sold in 2018 all over the world. This staggering number has caught the attention of online ordering industry as well. Food delivery platforms have already started integrating with android and IOS smartwatch devices so that they can order their meal from their wrist.
Order with Smart TV
Ordering food from your TV while watching your interesting television show seems to be a fair affair, isnÂ’t it? Now, this is possible and many of our latest smart TVs have this facility. Interestingly the Samsung smart TVs sold in the UK have takeaway services available from 2012 onwards.
Order with Eye Movements
It is an interesting move in increasing order. The digital menu released by some of the restaurants has the power to analyze your eye movements and detect your eye focus and thus suggests the best possible combinations of foods for you.
So far we have discussed some of the interesting online ordering options implemented by the online ordering firms and eateries. Now itÂ’s time to move on to some of the latest delivery method advancements that are expected to cut the operational costs.
Delivery with Robots
You have probably seen moving pavement droids or delivery robots on the streets of the UK. With the advancements in artificial intelligence, you are going to see more of these robotics food deliveries in future as more delivery firms are armouring its delivery departments with the AI.
Delivery with Drones
Though delivery with drones is on the experiment from 2012, it is expected to have drone deliveries are common in the coming years. Drone deliveries can considerably reduce delivery time and distance as they directly travel to the customer address.
Delivery with Parachutes
In Australia, sandwiches have been successfully delivered using parachutes and it is expected to deliver much more dishes very soon. We can expect this technology to reach other parts of the world in the coming years.
Virtual Brands and Dark Kitchens
The prediction of the exponential growth of the food delivery market has one more reason – Virtual brands and Dark Kitchens. Virtual brands are the online adaption of the existing physical restaurants under a whole new branding. Since they already established themselves over the years, it is comparatively easy for these physical restaurants to go online. The already existing customers will get the luxury of online ordering from their houses or office spaces plus this will surely help in bringing new customers.
The dark kitchen cooks only for the delivery purpose, with no consumer restaurant. The concept is fairly new and can be implemented at low cost. In such situations, online ordering is the only option to bring business. With the introduction of Dark Kitchens, online food ordering is expected to touch new heights.
Shared platforms or your own online ordering system is good for the future?
If you are an already restaurateur wants to go online or somebody waiting to start a Dark Kitchen, this question must go through your mind at least once. To build your own customer base and to provide personalized food customization or personalized offers for your customers, it is always good to partner with service providers like takeaway max. Unlike shared platforms no need to provide commissions from your daily orders here. You can have your own branded websites and mobile apps plus POS integration.
What to expect next?
Certainly, AI and Google voice is the future of the online food ordering industry. Though the experiments with Google voice may take up to 10 years to implement successfully, no doubt that it is the technology that is going to re-inventing the entire online ordering process. It seems the revolution of online food ordering industry is endless with the successful integration of these concepts.
