The Importance of Market Insights

Trevor Shimizu is CRO of Brizo FoodMetrics, a leading provider of foodservice market analytics to restaurant suppliers and vendors.

How many restaurants are using delivery marketplaces?

As we’re all aware, delivery is one of the biggest growth categories in recent years. Right now, of over 1.1M restaurants in the U.S. and Canada, 60% are using one or more delivery marketplaces, with Uber Eats, DoorDash and Grubhub capturing the lion’s share. And the growth is not surprising: Delivery allows operators to reach a huge number of customers they otherwise wouldn’t, and satisfy an increasingly on-demand consumer population.

What is delivery marketplace adoption like among independent operators?

Good question, because in fact, independent restaurants with 5 or fewer units actually make up the majority of the foodservice landscape. Right now, 55% of them using delivery marketplaces. Chain restaurants — i.e. 343,000 locations across North America — are a bit further along in their adoption: 72% of them use delivery marketplaces.

How important is an online presence for restaurants?

Today, with consumers’ current dining behaviour, being online — including social media — is pretty important. Our analytics show that close to 70% of restaurants have a website, over 732,000 (67%) are on Facebook, and 454,000+ (41%) are on Instagram. This clearly speaks to the need to not only be seen online, but have some kind of social presence that allows for a 2-way connection with customers.

To what extent are restaurants using online ordering technology?

In a similar vein to offering delivery and having an online presence, the ability to order online is key to a growing number of consumers today. Approximately 1/3 of all restaurants are now using online ordering, and those numbers are expected to rise over the year. Interestingly, of the operators that are online, over 200,000 are independent locations, a figure that outpaces chain locations.