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The business of delivering restaurant food to customer’s place have improvised from telephone-based ordering system to takeout counters, and now websites and mobile applications. We at UXShots conducted a User Research on “The impact of food delivery apps on techies”.

Research Objective: 

This research aims to take a deeper look into techies’ perspectives of using food delivery applications. Our ultimate goal is to find out the expectations and challenges users face while ordering food online. 

Sample Size: 40

Target Group: Technopark Employees

Apps Considered: Swiggy, UberEats, Zomato

Mode of Research: Face to Face User Interviews

We interviewed two different users groups: App Users and Non-App Users. 

Different set of questions were complied for the two user groups. Questions for the app users targeted in understanding more about the app usage, expectations and challenges they faced while using the app. Questions for non-app users were aimed at understanding the reasons why they were not using the app.

Inferences:

 We received a mix of opinions from Techies. 

App Users:

• Majority of techies had atleast one food delivery app installed on their phones. They preferred Swiggy and UberEats over Zomato because of its ease of use. 
• Majority of sample ordered a minimum of twice a week using the apps (in most cases Dinner and during weekends).
• Techies find food delivery apps convenient and time-saving. They don’t have time to cook food in their busy schedule.
• Some of them get into the app with a proper craving for one particular food item whereas others open the app with no idea on what to eat. Whatever be the pattern, the average usage time or the time they need to decide an order was 5-10 minutes for all the users. 
• Some of the users definitely looked for offers but the majority of the techies were restaurant specific and offers were their least priority. 
• Majority of the users were reluctant to buy ice creams/shakes via these apps, as they fear it couldn’t be delivered on time before it melts. The item which topped the most preferred food to order was Biriyani.
• Card payment/Net Banking/UPI were the most preferred payment methods and as of now most of them have never faced any payment issues. 
• Majority don’t prefer to give tips to the delivery boys as they believe that delivery charges will take care of it. 
• Even though it is convenient, employees admit that it has an adverse effect on their health. People are facing health issues and weight gain.
• Ordering from multiple restaurants in the same order was a highly requested feature, customer care and order cancel functionality should be improved, preorder or schedule an order in advance for special functions were suggested as value add features by some Techies.
• Users who have had a bad experience from any of these apps hesitate to use it again.

Non-App User Comments: 

• Non-app users are highly health-conscious. 
• They prefer the ambience and feel of dining out with family and friends.
• There is a minority group of users who don’t use the app themselves but get the food ordered via friends. 
• Some users believe it is easy to deal with Restaurants directly (taking parcel home) than trying a food delivery app.
• An interesting find is that there is still a user base who is not ready to try out, explore or install such apps on their phone.

Conclusion

This study has found that food delivery apps are popular among employees inside the Technopark campus. The main reason for the usage of these apps was to save time and enhance convenience. The non-app users are highly health-conscious and also want to enjoy the feel of going out for food with family and friends.