Digital online ordering from retail foodservice establishments for prepared food delivery is a business model that has grown significantly in the U.S. since the historic shutdown of dine-in foodservice businesses due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Many thought that once dine-in foodservice recovered, the digital ordering and delivery of foods would slow. However, digital online ordering now accounts for about 40 percent of total restaurant sales in the U.S.,¹ and has grown 300 percent faster than dine-in sales since 2014. The U.S. is now the second-largest online food delivery market behind China, with an estimated $218 billion in revenue in 2022 generated by digital food ordering and delivery.² By 2027, the market is forecast to expand even further, edging close to the $500-billion mark, as new meal delivery segments continue their upward climb in the U.S.

The ordering of foods from restaurants for delivery is not new, of course, but it has always been limited by several factors: