The food delivery scene has changed radically in the last couple of decades, with food delivery services taking the market by storm and proving especially popular among tech-savvy Millennials.
Such services have numerous benefits over calling up your local restaurant and ordering from them directly – and that’s why they’ve taken over the market in such a short space of time – but these food delivery services are not without their own drawbacks.
We’ll outline some of the pros and cons of these services in this article to give you a good sense of how they compare to the more conventional alternatives.
Food Delivery Service Pros
Let’s start off with the many benefits of food delivery services which have contributed to their success in the US and beyond…
Variety
Food delivery services have greatly enhanced the variety of different cuisine and dishes that we can order to our homes in a matter of clicks. Whether you feel like having oriental food, a pizza from your local Italian restaurant, or American diner-style food, you’ll be spoilt for choice!
Convenience
Food delivery services are an unquestionably more convenient way to order food than calling up a takeaway or going over there and picking it up yourself. You simply need to download their app, find a restaurant which seems appealing to you, and place your order.
The best part is you can save your preferences to make ordering from the same takeaway again even easier.
Cost Savings for Restaurants
The advent of online food delivery services has meant that, for many restaurants, very few people are visiting their dining rooms and eating in. So, savvy business owners can relocate to a smaller location and save themselves a load of money on their rent bill.
Food Delivery Service Cons
As with all things, online food delivery services aren’t without their drawbacks.
Waiting Times
While ordering food from an app is certainly more convenient than visiting a restaurant and eating in, the long waiting time for the food to be prepared and delivered to your doorstep is far from ideal, especially when you’re hungry. Unless you live very close to the restaurant you’re ordering from, you should realistically expect a delivery time of at least 30 minutes.
However, this is also a drawback of ordering food over the phone, so it’s not exclusive to food delivery services.
Food Delivery Service Cost
Delivery fees unfortunately have and always will be a factor when it comes to ordering food – and, if you’re placing quite a small order, you can sometimes end up paying more for delivery than for the food itself.
However, many restaurants offer free delivery on orders above a certain threshold ($20 for example), so they’re not a problem if you were already planning on spending more than that.
A Quick Summary
- The advent of food delivery services has radically changed the food delivery scene – in positive and negative ways.
- These services are especially popular among Millennials, but even other generations, including Baby Boomers, are increasingly using food delivery apps and websites.
- Ordering food from these services is far more convenient than picking up your order yourself, and they also give you access to a much greater selection of restaurants and cuisine to choose from.
- However, there are some drawbacks, such as long waiting times and significant delivery fees.