Pandemic isn't a boon for meal delivery firms

You might think millions of people around the globe hunkering down would be good for online meal delivery companies. But it turns out it's not a recipe for success. Some of the world’s largest players, including Uber Eats and Just Eat, which is being bought by Takeaway.com, have been hit by a double whammy: restaurant suppliers have been ordered to shut and with more time at home to cook for themselves, some people appear to have lost their appetite for ordering in. Data from SimilarWeb, which tracks downloads and use of smartphone apps and websites across key European markets, highlights the scale of the slowdown. In France, Spain and the United Kingdom, Just Eat and Uber Eats saw drops in average daily users ranging from 2% to as much as 23% in March, compared with January and February.

In other parts of the world, the picture is less clear. In the United States, Grubhub said demand for takeout appeared to be recovering in some parts of the country, but not so much in New York.

To fight back, some of the players are cutting delivery fees or commissions to drum up new restaurant members and expanding into supplying groceries or broadening their existing grocery offerings. But Deutsche Bank says such moves may only partially offset the drop in food delivery orders and business may not pickup as quickly as hoped once lockdowns are lifted.