Bright August for deliveries as takeaway sales stabilise

Britain's restaurant groups finished a strong summer of delivery sales with like-for-like sales growth of 7.3% in August, CGA by NIQ's latest Hospitality at Home Tracker reveals. 

Year-on-year increases in deliveries have been comfortably above the rate of inflation throughout 2024, falling below 7% just once since the start of the year. August completes a buoyant summer for restaurants' at-home orders, following the tracker's figures of 17.1% and 9.4% in June and July respectively. 

CGA's exclusive sales monitor also revealed a 0.1% rise in takeaway and click-and-collect sales in August. This is the first year-on-year growth for 12 months, following consumers' steady movement away from pick-up orders to deliveries. However, the positive performance was driven by increased prices, as the volume of takeaway orders continued a downward trajectory. 

Combined deliveries, takeaways and click-and-collect sales in August were 4.6% ahead of the same month in 2023 – the 15th month of like-for-like growth in a row. They attracted just over 14 pence in every pound spent with restaurants last month, against 86 pence for eat-in visits. 

Karl Chessell, CGA by NIQ's director of hospitality operators and food, comments: "A generally cool and wet summer has been disappointing for consumers and hospitality alike, but with many people staying inside, it's worked to the advantage of restaurants' deliveries. A buoyant August shows the ongoing appeal of ordering platforms and it's encouraging to see some stability in takeaways after a long-term slowdown. Less positively, it may also indicate that some consumers are opting to save money by eating restaurant food at home rather than going out. Growing eat-on sales without compromising deliveries will be a key challenge for restaurants as we enter August."

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