BentoBox, a website, e-commerce, and marketing platform for restaurants, in partnership with restaurant discovery platform The Infatuation, released the first installment of its Restaurant Delivery Consumer Trend Report.

This new report will be issued quarterly and act as part of a year-long study to track how U.S. consumers’ delivery and takeout habits evolve as restaurant traffic and in-person dining rebounds from the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Q1 survey features insights from more than 1,000 U.S. consumers, ages 18+, who dined out at least once per week prior to the pandemic. The report indicates that even as restaurants begin to reopen in-person dining, diners are not going to change their habits when it comes to ordering takeout and delivery.

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Other key takeaways include:

1. Supporting local restaurants is a major driver of continued delivery/takeout habits: Nearly one in two (50%) of diners cite a desire to support local eateries during this challenging industry climate as a factor in continuing delivery and takeout habits. Other factors for maintaining current habits include vaccine eligibility (25%), hesitancy to resume normal dining habits (34%), and overall convenience (74%).
   • This trend is more prominent among heavy delivery/takeout consumers, ordering 5x+ per week (61%), the most likely to continue ordering to support local restaurants.
2. High delivery frequencies will continue despite eases in restrictions: Despite more restaurants reopening and warmer weather returning, nearly eight in ten (79%) current delivery/takeout customers will continue to order at the same frequency they do now.
   • Nearly 6 in 10 (57%) are ordering delivery/takeout 1-2x per week, similar to pre-COVID ordering. This could be due to a leveling off from the peak of COVID-19 where there may have been a spike in frequency.
   • Diners ages 18-24 were more likely than any other age group to be ordering 2x per week, with 32% ordering delivery now, relative to 23% pre-COVID (+9 pts.).
   • The 25-34 segment led in ordering 3x per week (19%), while 35-49-year-olds were most likely to order delivery 5x per week or more (10%).
3. Diners will order directly from restaurants if it is easy: Nearly 1 in 2 (48%) diners will continue to order directly from restaurants if the process is convenient. Convenience is especially important for diners that order out most frequently, as 86% of consumers who order takeout or delivery 4x per week noted convenience as their main motivation. Ease of ordering was highest among the 35-49 (50%) and 50-64 (55%) age groups.