A surprising 40% of Gen Z diners say restaurant availability on their delivery app is more important than positive reviews or proprietary ordering platforms. This marks a major shift in how younger consumers experience foodservice: convenience and tech-enabled access now outweigh traditional trust signals.
As food prices climb, especially for proteins and staples, consumers are reassessing the value of takeout and delivery. For some, rising costs at grocery stores make foodservice feel more worthwhile; for others, it’s a reason to cut back. This uneven inflation is reshaping both ordering habits and home cooking decisions.
The biggest opportunity for restaurants lies in strengthening direct ordering channels. With 67% of diners still choosing to order directly, there’s room to improve digital access, transparency and emotional appeal, especially around indulgence and reward, not just convenience.
Yet the threat of losing control to third-party platforms remains. While they offer ease, they also distance restaurants from their customers and data. Without a strong direct strategy, operators risk becoming invisible in the off-premise experience.
This report looks at the following areas:
- Reasons why consumers order in, and reasons why they don’t
- How diners choose restaurants for takeout/delivery
- Takeout/delivery innovations that appeal to diners
- Occasions that invite off-premise orders
- The role of convenience and impulse in off-premise ordering
Consumers balance practical needs like price and convenience with emotional ones like trust, control and the occasional treat when ordering takeout and delivery. Earning their loyalty means delivering on both.
Varchasvi, Research Analyst
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
- What you need to know
- Market predictions
- What consumers want & why
- Opportunities
- Strengthen direct ordering channels
- Simplify digital access for younger diners
- Market emotional value, not just convenience
- Boost delivery trust with transparency
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MARKET DYNAMICS
- Market context
- Tariffs accelerated inflation in June
- Graph 1: headline CPI and core CPI, 2021-25
- Price hikes will shift the value perception of food AH and AFH
- Graph 2: consumer price index for all urban consumers, not seasonally adjusted, June 2024-25
- Market drivers
- Small declines signal a need to re-engage off-premise diners
- Graph 3: restaurant ordering methods – Net, 2021-25
- Policy changes tip the scales in favor of big chains
- Operators face trade-offs between delivering speed or spectacle
- Starbucks’ shift signals a reassessment of transactional formats in foodservice
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CONSUMER INSIGHTS
- Consumer fast facts
- Ordering methods
- Direct ordering dominates
- Graph 4: restaurant ordering methods, 2025
- Off-premise habits are holding; operators must lead on value
- Graph 5: restaurant ordering methods – Net, 2025
- Convenience is a constant, even if value varies
- Graph 6: restaurant ordering methods – Net, by financial situation, 2025
- The restaurant is no longer a place, it’s a service
- Graph 7: restaurant ordering methods – Net, by generation, 2025
- Ordering takeout/delivery: drivers and barriers
- Convenience enables, but emotion drives off-premise ordering
- Graph 8: reasons for ordering takeout/delivery, 2025
- Cravings drive takeout/delivery orders across generations
- Graph 9: reasons for ordering takeout/delivery, by generation, 2025
- Takeout/delivery is emotional for some, routine for others
- Graph 10: reasons for ordering takeout/delivery, by area, 2025
- Graph 11: select reasons for ordering takeout/delivery, by gender, 2025
- Delivery doesn’t compete when budgets are tight
- Graph 12: reasons for NOT ordering takeout/delivery, 2025
- Cooking is still the default for women and suburbanites
- Graph 13: select reasons for NOT ordering takeout/delivery, by gender, 2025
- Graph 14: select reasons for NOT ordering takeout/delivery, by select areas, 2025
- Ordering takeout/delivery: choosing a restaurant
- Accessibility and great reviews are key decision drivers
- Graph 15: restaurant choice factors, ranked, 2025
- Customization, rewards and ease can drive direct ordering
- Graph 16: restaurant choice factors – net – any rank, 2025
- Convenience is the new credibility in restaurant selection
- Graph 17: restaurant choice factors – net – any rank, by generation, 2025
- Urban diners order with their phones, rural ones with their cars
- Graph 18: restaurant choice factors – net – any rank, by area, 2025
- Interest in takeout/delivery innovation
- Tech improvements alone won’t win over takeout/delivery consumers
- Graph 19: interest in takeout/delivery innovations, 2025
- Promises of personalization, exclusivity still beat high-tech features
- Graph 20: interest in takeout/delivery innovations, by generation, 2025
- Innovation resonates where takeout/delivery is routine
- Graph 21: interest in takeout/delivery innovations, by area, 2025
- Ordering methods per dining occasion
- Diners save dining on-premise for meaningful moments
- Graph 22: ordering method choice by dining occasion, 2025
- Convenience is catching up to dine-in
- Graph 23: ordering method choice by occasion – net 1 – any ordering method, 2025
- Graph 24: ordering method choice by occasion – net 2 – any occasion, 2025
- Drive-thru vs dining in: occasions matter more to older diners
- Graph 25: ordering method choice by occasion – dining in, by generation, 2025
- Graph 26: ordering method choice by occasion – drive-thru, by generation, 2025
- Delivery vs pickup: Gen Z uses off-premise dining more flexibly
- Graph 27: ordering method choice by occasion – pickup, by generation, 2025
- Graph 28: ordering method choice by occasion – delivery, by generation, 2025
- Ordering methods serve distinct dining roles
- Correspondence analysis: How to read
- Behaviors and preferences
- Takeout/delivery needs are shaped by practicality, reliability
- Graph 29: takeout/delivery behaviors, 2025
- High delivery fees = high expectations
- Graph 30: takeout/delivery behaviors, 2025
- Parents need ordering done quickly and done right
- Graph 31: takeout/delivery behaviors, by parental status 2025
- Attitudes
- Convenience alone doesn’t win the off-premise game: consumers expect more
- Graph 32: attitudes toward restaurant takeout/delivery, 2025
- Amidst rising prices, foodservice value perception is cloudy, but not negative
- Graph 33: select attitudes toward restaurant takeout/delivery – value, 2025
- Convenience trumps cost for younger generations
- Graph 34: select attitudes toward restaurant takeout/delivery – value – net, by generation, 2025
- Convenience can lose its appeal if it starts to feel intrusive
- Graph 35: select attitudes toward restaurant takeout/delivery – platform experience, 2025
- Tech enhances the dining experience for Gen Z, Millennials
- Graph 36: select attitudes toward restaurant takeout/delivery – platform experience – net, by generation, 2025
- Urban areas lead in digital dining adoption
- Graph 37: select attitudes toward restaurant takeout/delivery – platform experience – net, by area, 2025
- Off-premise dining must feel just as personal and trustworthy
- Graph 38: select attitudes toward restaurant takeout/delivery – restaurant expectations, 2025
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INNOVATION AND MARKETING STRATEGIES
- Launch activity and innovation
- McDonald’s meal launch taps into emotions, nostalgia
- Little Caesars, White Castle dabble in autonomous delivery
- Peter Piper Pizza adds voice AI ordering
- Marketing and advertising
- Papa John’s and Denny’s bet on AI personalization
- Bojangles makes ordering in Spanish seamless
- Taco Bell invites fans to design the menu
- DoorDash’s partnership with Klarna highlights the tradeoffs of convenience
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APPENDIX
- Consumer research questions
- Consumer research methodology
- Generations
- Abbreviations and terms
- Methodology: correspondence analysis
- Ordering methods: netted responses
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