Digital ordering and off-premises
services shine through the clouds and will drive future industry growth

Chicago, January 27, 2021 — Throughout one of the most challenging years for U.S. restaurants the industry demonstrated its resiliency against a variety of headwinds throughout 2020 by rising from a -35%  traffic decline in April to a -11% visit decrease in December compared to year ago, reports The NPD Group.  Although mandated
dine-in restrictions have held back all restaurant segments, particularly full
service, consumer demand for restaurant meals and the ability to serve the demand
with a host of off-premises services, like digital ordering, delivery,
drive-thru, and carry-out, are the silver linings that enable the industry to
persevere.

Restaurant digital orders, which were growing prior to the pandemic, increased by +19% in January of last year to +145% in December compared to year ago, according to NPD’s daily tracking of consumers’ use of restaurants and other foodservice outlets. Like digital ordering, carry-out, delivery, and drive-thru were also growing before the pandemic. Carry-out, which represents the largest share of off-premises modes, increased orders by +3% in January 2020 and by +10% in December versus year ago. Carry-out ended 2020 holding 46% of off-premises order share. Delivery, which was receiving a lot of attention before the pandemic even though carry-out and drive-thru have eight times more order volume, began 2020 with orders up by +1% and ended the year with a triple-digit gain of +137% in orders compared to year ago. Even with the triple-digit gain in orders, delivery still holds the smallest off-premises order share at 11%. Drive-thru, an ordering mode that was already well-developed at quick service restaurant chains when the pandemic hit, increased orders in 2020 from +4% in January to +22% in December versus year ago and ended the year with a 44% share of off-premises orders.        

“Digital orders for pick-up and all off-premises modes will be a growth engine for the U.S. restaurant industry moving forward,” says David
Portalatin, NPD food industry advisor and author of Eating Patterns in America. “Consumers, both new and former users, have now experienced the convenience of digital ordering, especially for carry-out and delivery, and will continue using these services long after the pandemic is over.”   

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