New trends that will change the future of food delivery business

Food delivery players such as UberEats, Zomato, Swiggy, Eat24, Just Eat and others have been dominating the market, one delivery at a time. But with the growing competition and changing consumer demands, the service providers are keen on adopting unique innovations to cater to market requirements.

The following are the top new trends that food delivery service providers should be aware of.

Food delivery via drone, robot, and parachute

• Drone: Yes, you read it right! Food delivery player, Zomato, recently tested its custom hybrid drone delivery technology to help cut short the current delivery time from 30.5 minutes to 15 minutes. A smart solution to beat traffic blues and deliver on time.

• Robot: Eat24, in collaboration with startups like Yelp and Marble, created a custom delivery robot about the size of an office table. The robot on wheels utilizes advanced cameras, sensors, and a 3D city map to determine the route and deliver food on time. By selecting the most accurate route, the robot on wheels avoids bumps, humans, cycles, pets, and other delivery machines.

• Parachute: Melbourne witnessed the first ever float-down eatery from Jafflechutes. They deliver toasted sandwiches by mini parachute. Customers are asked to wait in the drop location marked with a visible X. At the established time, customers can see and catch the small package floating down the sky.

Millennial - the key driving force

The millennial is crowned as the highest spenders on prepared food and deliveries. Leading studies suggest generation Y are more willing to eat at quick-service restaurants and order food online via apps. No wonder in 3 out of 5 events, millennial satisfy their hunger by ordering food delivery or visit their favorite restaurants for takeouts.  

Multi-delivery channel

User-friendly service has now become a necessity to retain customers. Customers facing poor experience abandon food delivery apps and takeout services. Food delivery platforms are expected to simplify the food ordering process and enhance the user experience by infusing new delivery channels.

• Food ordering via Tweet

Restaurant giant Domino’s pizza captured the social media platform, Twitter by enabling customers to order pizza by tweeting a pizza emoji. Before people can access the specialized online delivery service, they are required to make a custom “pizza profile” on the company’s online delivery service and save their default order, called “Easy order.” And finally, users should link their twitter account to their pizza profile.

• Food ordering via Smartwatch

With smartwatches clocking sales of 141 million units in the year 2018, it is the most ideal platform for food delivery companies to link their dedicated iOS and Android apps. Customers can order meals with just a few taps on their wearable devices. Domino’s first launched a dedicated Android smartwatch app that boasted easy ordering.

• Food ordering via Car

People can order food while driving to work or home. By partnering with Accenture and Visa, Pizza Hut developed an in-car food ordering system allowing drivers to buy pizzas while on the road. The secure medium lets customers order food by voice, thus eliminating the need to check the screen.

• Food ordering via Smart TV

With smart TVs, people can order food while relaxing on their bed or during a movie marathon.  Pizza pioneer Papa John’s with Apple TV lets customers browse its entire menu, customize the pizza, view order history and place the final order. To boost sales, the pizza giant offers exclusive discounts for Apple TV users. A smart move, ain't it?

Adopting new niches

Being in the niche helps food delivery businesses break through the competitive barriers and thrive. Many service providers are focussing on delivering vegan-friendly,  farm-grown food or health shakes. By keeping an eye for new niches, startups can make a visible dent in the market.

Big data

Information via big data helps food delivery businesses to determine customers emotions, delivery time, respond to complaints, customize offers, and much more. With big data, food providers gather and analyze data such as:

• Temperate impact on food
• Real-time road traffic
• Food purchase history
• Customers reviews on social media
• Food items on the cart
• Comments on social networks and more

Ordering food using Crypto

With the growing popularity of blockchain technology, Crypto has carved a big piece of the niche pie. Customers across the world can place orders for deliveries or takeaways with any acceptable cryptocurrency. The process helps eliminate fraudulent actions and enhance the ordering experience with a convenient payment platform.  

Summing up

Customers are becoming more demanding, thanks to the growing reach of smart devices and the internet. Existing food delivery players are working round the clock to boost their delivery and enhance user experience. If you wish to ride the success wave with a food delivery app like Zomato, I suggest you integrate the above trends seamlessly.