COVID-19 has taught the world a lot more than just how important hand washing and social distancing are. Last year when the pandemic hit, the food industry had to undergo a complete change in how they work. Technology has always been the backbone for all kinds of industries and businesses, but restaurants have remained somewhat slow to adapt over the last few years. By just using reservation and POS systems, they were left far behind in conversion to aggressive digitalization of services.
But with lockdown being implemented around the world, we saw extreme changes in consumer behavior. For restaurants, it was either adapting or closing down the shop. Most restaurants chose to do the former and things had to become digital overnight but many businesses were not prepared for the change.
As for the consumers, we saw a major change in their behavior as well. Pre-covid, where millennials were the major online shoppers, post-covid we saw all kinds of people irrespective of the generation they belonged to, adapting themselves to this changing world. People had no choice, but to order essentials online. This introduced millions of people to the online delivery world who otherwise would not use or trust online platforms.
As a result, we saw a rise in various kinds of establishments that the many people were not aware of – cloud kitchens. Although, cloud kitchens have been on the scene for quite some time now, but Covid-19 made them essential during the last year. We saw all kinds of cloud kitchens popping up all around the world. Cloud kitchens, also known as virtual kitchens, were the perfect fit in this lockdown world where they don’t offer sit-down service.
Other trends which we saw last year were third-party delivery apps and an increase in users. We also saw how these apps leveraged the situation and offered better and efficient services to the consumers. We saw them taking extreme measures for the safety of consumers and their drivers.
Now, as the world makes plans for the post-covid world, restaurants are actively looking at these technological innovators to enable them to keep on flourishing in the post-pandemic world. As a result, we will continue to see a rise in technological advances in this industry for quite a few years.
Delivery apps have become more important for all the parties involved whether it is the consumer or the restaurants. As mentioned earlier, food consumption and consumer behavior have completely changed since the beginning of 2020, but what effect will we see during the next few years?
More people continue to join the delivery apps and are able to get anything online. What stands out here is the ease of shopping and delivery to the doorstep. With people getting used to these benefits, we can see the rise of online shopping for all kinds of things.
As a result, online food or grocery delivery services saw a huge increase in user signups. Also, we have seen these aggregators leveraging the situation to sign up establishments that were previously not using online platforms at all.
With these things in mind, it can only be assumed that third-party delivery apps will be on the rise with newer and latest features added to their repertoire. These aggregators will play a major role in how all types of establishments, whether sit-down restaurants or cloud kitchens, grocery shops or supermarkets, will operate.
As for restaurants in the post-covid world, the best way forward is to build a hybrid infrastructure. It will not be just an option for restaurants which they can choose to apple if they like but a must-have in order to operate successfully. As many consumers would continue to prefer the ease of delivery over restaurant experience, establishments have to adapt or be left behind. Of course, it is extremely naive to think that consumers will only prefer virtual experience over real-life experience. Most consumers will prefer balancing cravings for delivery and in-store dining and it will majorly depend upon the quality of experience.
That’s why we also look at the psychological factors in these upcoming trends. We ask the question, can anything be compared to the restaurant experience where you can go out with your friends with live music playing in the background and great views to admire?
The way we consume has forever changed and technology has played a pivotal role in that. How do you think this change will affect the food industry in the long term?