The 2024 Restaurant & Alcohol Online Ordering Trends report features insights from a survey of 2,019 consumers across Australia and New Zealand, plus aggregate data from DoorDash. Every year, DoorDash takes an in-depth look at how consumer habits are changing and what they care about most when ordering food or alcohol for delivery or pickup.
In the report, you'll learn the latest restaurant and alcohol delivery trends. Plus, you'll find answers these questions and more:
How have overall dining activities changed?
What are Australian and New Zealand consumers' current restaurant and alcohol ordering habits?
What are the latest pickup and delivery preferences?
What are the most popular foods, meals, and times to order pickup and delivery?
Read on for the top ten takeaways from the 2024 report, and learn how to apply these insights to provide a positive experience for off-premise customers.
Want more than a quick bite of the data? Dive into the details by downloading the full report.
How are people dining in 2024?
Overall, the most popular ways for people to dine in 2024 are (in order): getting takeaway, dining at restaurants, and ordering food delivery. Consumers are actively seeking out local restaurants and placing repeat orders from their favourite spots.
Top 10 restaurant and alcohol online ordering trends in 2024
One of the most common themes that persists year over year among consumer food ordering preferences is convenience. For example, people love that with restaurant delivery, they don’t have to leave the house, or even the couch — which is where around half of consumers eat their takeaway.
On the whole, consumers in Australia and New Zealand have embraced online ordering and delivery as part of their lifestyle, placing repeat orders frequently and seeking out new places while they browse social media.
Here are the biggest takeaways from the 2024 Restaurant Online Ordering Trends Report.
1. More than 20% of Gen Z New Zealanders eat their delivery food in bed.
For consumers, comfort is key when enjoying takeaway or delivery at home. 49% of Aussie consumers and 53% of New Zealanders overall eat their delivery food on the couch, followed by 39% of Aussies and 33% of New Zealanders who eat at the kitchen or dining table. But when looking at generational breakdowns, 13% of Gen Zers in Australia and 23% in New Zealand most often eat delivery from the comfort of their… bed!
2. Menu photos and social media influences diners more than ever.
Consumers' reliance on imagery has increased, with almost 40% of consumers citing food photography as a factor in choosing a restaurant for delivery or pickup. When looking for new restaurants, nearly one in five consumers (18% in Australia and 17% in New Zealand) use restaurant social media channels and around one in ten (12% in Australia and 14% in New Zealand) turn to social media influencers.
Of those who use social media to find new restaurants, Instagram and Facebook are the most popular platforms overall. Among younger consumers, Gen Zers prefer Instagram for restaurant discovery, followed closely by TikTok in both Australia (20%) and New Zealand (22%). For Millennials, the main social media sources are Facebook (21% in Australia, 22% in New Zealand), followed by Instagram (19% in Australia, 20% in New Zealand).
When looking at the gender breakdown of those who use social media to explore restaurants, YouTube is significantly more popular among men in both countries.
We promoted our Pepperoni Burst Pizzeria a few months ago, and we saw a 200% increase in sales through DoorDash. When we run big promotions, it definitely attracts more customers.
3. Most consumers say "no thanks" to doing the dishes.
Across Australia and New Zealand, consumers are fairly split on eating right from takeaway containers and using their own dishes and utensils. But convenience-focused Gen Zers and Millennials in Australia are more likely to use provided takeaway containers than Gen Xers and Baby Boomers. But in New Zealand, Gen Zers and Baby Boomers are the most likely to use takeaway containers over their own utensils.
Appeal to younger generations' eco-conscious leanings by investing in eco-friendly packaging. High-quality, leak-proof containers are a must for a positive delivery experience.
4. Food and alcohol delivery cut down the hassle of hosting.
More than half of consumers are hosting or attending social meals at home the same or more often than they did last year. To make hosting a bit easier, around 20% of consumers (22% in Australia and 16% in New Zealand) order food delivery when they host at home, cutting down on kitchen time in favour of mingling with guests.
Hosting parties or celebrations is also the second-most popular reason consumers order alcohol delivery (after 43% in both Australia and New Zealand who say they want to treat themselves).
Delivery also helps eliminate a major hassle for hosts. 22% of shoppers in Australia and 21% in New Zealand cited the ease of not having to carry bulky alcoholic beverages home as their top reason for ordering delivery.
5. Third-party apps are consumers' preferred way to browse for food and order delivery — a continued trend year over year.
When trying to decide on a restaurant to order delivery or takeaway, more than half of consumers prefer to browse on a third-party platform like DoorDash. Third-party apps are also the top channel for online ordering, with around three-quarters of diners (79% in Australia and 74% in New Zealand) ordering delivery from these apps at least twice a month.
6. Diners still prefer to order from local restaurants.
Consistent with last year, more than a third of consumers (40% in Australia and 35% in New Zealand) actively seek out local restaurants with only one location in their area when ordering food for takeaway or delivery. Menu pricing and selection continue to be the top reasons why they choose to try a new restaurant, and around 60% of consumers choose restaurants they visit often when ordering delivery or takeaway.
7. Repeat restaurant delivery orders have become a weekly habit for many Australians and New Zealanders.
Around 40% of consumers in both Australia and New Zealand report ordering repeat restaurant delivery orders at least once a week.
For restaurant operators, a seamless online ordering experience helps to keep customers coming back. And tapping into the customer base of third-party apps like DoorDash can help restaurants reach new diners in their neighbourhood.
8. For men, food delivery is often a last-minute save.
More than two-thirds of consumers (69% in both Australia and New Zealand) report using delivery for last-minute needs in the past month.
Last-minute food delivery needs are more common among men and younger audiences. Aussie men (76%) are more likely to have ordered delivery last-minute in the past month than women (61%). By generation, Australian Gen Zers (79%) and Millennials (74%) are more likely to have placed last-minute orders over the past month than Gen Xers (54%) or Baby Boomers (38%).
The patterns in New Zealand are similar, with last-minute deliveries more common among men (70%) than women (63%), and younger cohorts (72% of Gen Z and Millennials) than older ones (55% of Gen X and 29% of Baby Boomers).
9. Off-peak hours continue to gain popularity for ordering food.
Orders unsurprisingly spike on DoorDash around lunch and dinner, but we've seen significant growth in late-night orders (12–5am), with a 107% year-over-year increase in Australia and a whopping 1,261% increase in New Zealand. Breakfast orders (5–11am) also saw a significant jump in popularity, growing by 58% year over year in Australia and 644% in New Zealand.
Small businesses can take advantage of these off-peak hours and find a new audience of potential customers beyond the lunch and dinner rush. Consider extending your hours for a month or two, and track whether the increase in sales justifies the additional staffing costs.
10. A special occasion or just a special treat? Why consumers are using alcohol delivery.
The top reason consumers order alcohol for delivery is to treat themselves. A large swath of consumers (34% in Australia and 41% in New Zealand) report that the reason they choose alcohol delivery is it allows them to shop from the comfort of their own home, with saving time (31% in Australia and 30% in New Zealand) and not having to worry about parking or transportation (28% in Australia and 26% in New Zealand) as other top reasons to order alcohol for delivery.
This year, some of the top alcoholic beverages that consumers recently ordered for delivery include wine and champagne (45% in Australia and 46% in New Zealand), beer (44% in Australia and 43% in New Zealand), and vodka (34% in Australia and 48% in New Zealand). And, low ABV and non-alcoholic drinks (NoLo) are also gaining interest in the region — one in ten consumers surveyed in both countries report ordering these types of drinks in the past six months.
Get even more consumer dining and ordering trends, takeaways, and tips for the year ahead
Download the 2024 Restaurant and Alcohol Online Ordering Trends report and use the insights on delivery and pickup to take your guest experiences to the next level.
Must be 18+ to order alcohol. Drink responsibly. Alcohol delivery available only in select markets.
