Since we published our first mid-COVID Report on August 19th, the food delivery industry has shown stronger signs of recovery. It continues to grow back steadily to pre-COVID levels, with the overall sector clocking ~85%+ of pre-COVID GMV (Gross Merchandise Value), up from ~75%+ last month.

This mid-COVID Report focuses on food delivery sector recovery with a regional flavour. The key insight in today’s report is that the food delivery sector has recovered to (and even grown beyond) pre-COVID levels in a number of large pockets of the country, led by some of the most affluent residential areas in the country.

1. Delhi and Mumbai are nearing full recovery (95% of pre-COVID), metros such as Bengaluru, Hyderabad, and Chennai are still behind the curve (~80% of pre-COVID). Some cities such as Kolkata, Patna, Jamshedpur, Ranchi, and Siliguri have recovered completely and have exceeded pre-COVID levels.

2. Within most cities, the affluent parts of the city are driving this recovery. Here’s how Delhi’s recovery looks like…

3. With more premium restaurants, i.e. restaurants where a meal for two may cost ₹1500 and above, now opening up to online delivery, a larger number of affluent consumers are embracing online ordering. Overall spends on such premium restaurants have grown by over 25% over pre-COVID levels.

4. Customers are now relying on food delivery even more than usual when a city goes under a lockdown. Some cities such as Kolkata see more customers ordering online when the city is (more or less) shut, but restaurants are open.

5. With lockdown restrictions, celebrations have moved back home. Festivals and occasions such as Raksha Bandhan, Janmashtami, Teacher’s Day, and Independence Day saw a massive spike in orders. Customers, who had not ordered since the first day of lockdown, are 20% more likely to order for the first time during such festivals and occasions.

6. As customers spend more time with their families, group ordering has become more relevant than ever. Order sizes, i.e. items per order, have increased by 20% over pre-COVID levels. Recovery on single person meals, which constituted nearly ~60% of all orders pre-COVID, lingers at 50-70% level for most regions. On the other hand, orders with meals for 3 or more persons have recovered well and are higher than even pre-COVID levels currently.

With the ongoing IPL season and the subsequent festival season, we expect food delivery in both metros and smaller cities to make a full recovery soon – and resume growing over pre-COVID levels.