Apr 13, 2020 - Economy & Business

More Americans are ordering food delivery amid coronavirus crisis

Reproduced from CivicScience; Chart: Axios Visuals

More Americans are ordering delivery as restaurants close due to the COVID-19 outbreak and shelter-in-place orders made more people reluctant to leave the house.

What's happening: The number of people ordering food from restaurants has steadily increased but is largely staying consistent among age and income groups, new data from CivicScience shows.

  • This week, 22% of U.S. adults say they had food delivered, up from 19% the week before.
  • Younger and richer Americans continue to favor ordering delivery while their older and poorer cohort has not increased their buys to any significant degree.

Why it matters: The pandemic is expected to change long-term behaviors for consumers and delivery had already become a significant revenue generator for many restaurants around the U.S.

Watch this space: Parents are one of the fastest-growing segments of people increasing their delivery orders.

  • Between February and March, the percentage of parents using delivery apps increased from 16% to 20%, while non-parents saw their share increase from 27% to 28%, CivicScience noted.

Go deeper: Groceries on wheels: Seniors get new help during coronavirus

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