After the pandemic, meal delivery becomes an important business arm for restaurants
The strength of small and medium-sized restaurants on iFood
Meal delivery becomes an important arm of business for restaurants
The family restaurant and neighborhood burger joint are gaining more and more prominence on the iFood app. In 2021 alone, the presence of small and medium-sized restaurants on the platform increased by 27% — and today they represent 84% of the more than 270 thousand registered establishments.
“Although we have large networks on the platform, small and medium-sized networks have always been the majority, not only in presence but also in number of orders. And they continue to grow”, explains Tamara Abdouni, head of commercial expansion at iFood.
The adoption of delivery, which was already a trend among micro and small establishments, accelerated during the pandemic and is now unlikely to leave the sector's business model. “I’m not even saying it’s a trend anymore because now it’s a reality,” says Michelle de Melo Santos, state services manager at Sebrae-SP that serves the food segment. “Restaurants need to serve through delivery because consumers want practicality, speed and convenience and will not give up this lifestyle.”
According to a survey carried out by Sebrae in 2021, 30% of micro and small businesses in the food and beverage sector divided their service between the salon and delivery and 16.6% worked only with delivery. Furthermore, 31% joined delivery apps to gain more customers.
Michelle adds that, for micro and small restaurants, being part of digital platforms is an affordable way to enter delivery. “The cost of implementing your own operation does not always fit into the budget. Furthermore, platforms become a new channel of sales and allow serving the public with convenience and practicality. Entrepreneurs have access to audiences that would otherwise be inaccessible”, he adds.
Impact on new restaurants
For Tamara, partnering with delivery apps can also be strategic for expansion plans. “We have many examples of restaurants that started small and expanded to other regions or opened new units to explore other cuisines,” he says. “iFood generates information that helps identify trends and new demands to explore new opportunities. If most of the orders come from another part of the city, for example, it might be a good idea to open a unit there.”
Speaking of new restaurants, a survey carried out by Fipe shows that the presence of iFood partners in an area is associated with a greater creation of new establishments in the same regions — and that the greater the presence of restaurants registered on the platform, the greater the growth in the number of restaurant activations over the 12 months following.
Adherence to delivery also has a positive impact on the income and employment of those who work in restaurants. According to the Fipe study, which evaluated data from 2015 to 2019, the average salary of employees at iFood partner restaurants increased from R$ 1,331 monthly to R$ 1,457 after the establishments joined the platform.
