The Corona outbreak has stopped the fast world as there are no social gatherings,
no movements on roads, and people are confined inside their homes in order to stay
safe and healthy. People are instructed to follow social distancing to prevent virus
spread. The ongoing COVID pandemic has disrupted many industries across the
globe but definitely opens the door for “online delivery business”.
Many people who were used to buying essentials and other services offline are now
avoiding the in-store experience and shift to online delivery apps for everything.
These delivery apps can deliver any products at the user’s doorstep with safety
measures.
In fact, according to recent data from Apptopia, there have been noticeable
downloads in the past months as more and more people order things through
delivery apps. So let’s see how online delivery apps act as godsend gifts and make
people’s lives easy during this challenging time.
Where Dine-in fail, Doorstep Delivery Prospering
If you want to understand the impact of COVID on the food delivery business, you
have to go through some figures and facts. As we said earlier, all businesses are
suffering from loss, but food delivery is one of the most profitable businesses that
have set new milestones in terms of revenue generation.
When restaurants are forced to close across the globe, many food business owners
have opted for digital solutions aka adopted an online ordering system that allows
consumers to order food online and get it delivered at their doorsteps with all the
safety measures.
During the lockdown, more than 43% of people ordered food online through various
delivery apps such as UberEats, GrubHub, Zomato, and many more. Furthermore,
several reasons encourage people to order food online instead of visiting crowded
places such as:
● Enhance safety level
● Contactless delivery and payment facility
● Convenient food ordering
● Saves time and money
As per the recent report released by PR Newswire, people now prefer digital ordering
and the market value of online food delivery will soon cross the $200B mark in the
coming years.
The corona outbreak has acted as a catalyst and offers lots of benefits to food
business owners as now they can streamline their operations without investing time
and money. Since the majority of people work remotely and want to stay safe, the
volume for online orders will keep increasing.
Online Grocery Delivery Apps- A Huge Lifesaver
This is truly the power of digitalization that has encouraged people to order daily
essentials and groceries online. Local retailers have developed scalable grocery
applications; they also have created social media profiles to get more orders. Small
retailers are partnering with popular apps such as Grofers and Instacart to make
their presence strong on the web.
Grocery delivery apps are a new trend that helps people to order groceries online and
also benefit business owners as now they can expand their business reach and
boost sales.
Downloads of popular apps such as Walmart, Instacrt, and Shipt have seen major
growth in terms of app downloads and grocery orders. These apps generally get 20K
downloads, but during the lockdown, they have experienced more than 50k
downloads.
People’s Paradigm Shift Towards Contactless Payment and Delivery
With an increasing number of consumers preferring digital delivery, contactless
payment and delivery have become mandatory for every business. As social
distancing and minimum physical contact are the ultimate ways that prevent the virus
the spread of coronavirus.
Many reputed companies such as Domino’s, UberEats, Zomato, etc. have already
adopted a contactless delivery approach in order to prevent virus spread.
Contactless delivery and payment options are already given within the app so that
users can easily place orders without any hesitation.
What is Contactless Delivery?
Contactless delivery is the method of delivering a package to consumers at their
doorstep without physical interactions. At the time of online ordering, all you need to
select the contactless delivery option within the app. The delivery provider will leave
the package in front of your house.
How Does Contactless Delivery Work?
Any individual places an order from the website or mobile application. At the time of
checkout, consumers are asked to select a delivery type; if they go for the
“contactless delivery” option, delivery providers will leave the package in front of
their door.
However, contactless delivery is only available for prepaid orders. If users choose
the COD option, they can not avail of this service.
Rise of Contactless Payment
Contactless payment is a safe and secure way of payment where users can pay
without coming into contact with the seller. These days, due to outbreak contactless
payment is most preferred because people want to stay safe and avoid direct touch.
As per the recent analysis, contactless transactions are expected to grow at a rate of 10.5% of people find this payment system secure and convenient. They no longer
need to carry cash all the time.
Most grocery retailers and restaurant owners are now offering multiple payment
gateway options for a swift and safe transaction. Users can save their payment
details for the fast checkout.
Impact of Outbreak On App Downloads
As we all know, people are confined inside their homes. Hence, the usage of
smartphones is also increasing, when you look at the downloads of news and
healthcare apps, they have experienced massive growth in a short time.
Along with the news and healthcare apps, install of education apps saw major
growth because students can not go to school. These apps help them to stay
connected with the ongoing trends and keep them busy with their studies.
Most importantly, online food and grocery delivery apps have been taking a huge hit
during the lockdown. Apps such as Postmates, GrubHub, Doordash, Instacart, etc.
are experiencing a rise in terms of app downloads, revenue, and daily orders.
Concluding Lines
The Corona Outbreak has been spreading across the globe. All the enterprises are
thinking to take their business online because this is the ultimate way to survive
during this contingency. If you are engaged with the grocery and food business,
customized app solutions may open the door of opportunities and help you stay
ahead in the competitive market.
Author bio
Deep Moteria
Deep is an aspiring entrepreneur and Co-founder of Elluminati Inc. Deep having led
75+ startups on the right path with their information-admiring entrepreneurial skill
and guidelines. Along with that, he loves to craft content on topics including on-
demand economy, entrepreneurship, technology trends, and many more.
