Operations

How big is third-party restaurant delivery? About $5B big

Photograph: Shutterstock

Sales through third-party delivery services totaled $5 billion for the first two quarters of 2018, a 55% leap over their collective intake for the same period of 2017, according to research aired by Technomic at FSTEC.

If Grubhub, DoorDash and the other services were one company, that volume would make them the restaurant industry’s third-largest operation ranked by sales, or roughly the same size as the Subway sandwich chain, noted Sara Monnette, VP of innovation for the researcher.

But that business is not distributed equally, Monnette noted. The dominant force in that fast-growing marketplace is Grubhub, with a 52% market share, she revealed. Uber Eats is a distant second with an 18% share, followed by DoorDash at 12%, Postmates at 9% and Caviar at 4%. All others share the remaining 5%.

But that doesn’t mean those market shares hold across the nation, Monnette added. Grubhub’s stronghold is the Northeast, where it commands a market share exceeding 80% in high-population areas such as New York. Postmates and DoorDash are the powers on the West Coast, according to the Technomic data, albeit with much lower shares of 32% and 30%, respectively.

Technomic is the research sister of Restaurant Business. FSTEC, a conference for the users and suppliers of restaurant technology, is presented by their parent company, Winsight.

 

 

 

Members help make our journalism possible. Become a Restaurant Business member today and unlock exclusive benefits, including unlimited access to all of our content. Sign up here.

Multimedia

Exclusive Content

Financing

In the Fat Brands bankruptcy, CEO Andy Wiederhorn is front and center

The Bottom Line: The founder and majority owner of the restaurant chain operator has long been a controversial figure. That has not changed since the company filed for bankruptcy.

Financing

Sardar Biglari goes after the chairman of Jack in the Box

The Bottom Line: The longtime activist, the burger chain’s largest shareholder, is targeting David Goebel with a “vote no” campaign in one of the restaurant industry’s most unusual proxy fights.

Emerging Brands

A former REIT king's next chapter: saving independent restaurants

Nick Schorsch Sr.'s Heritage Restaurant Group in Newport, Rhode Island, is buying up historic restaurants. His goal is to raise the bar for the resort town's food scene.

Trending

More from our partners