A new study of consumers that use food delivery apps finds that they still visit restaurants in person. Research company Sense360 followed restaurant visits of more than 21 million anonymous consumers before and after they downloaded a third-party food delivery app to their mobile device. The firm discovered that these diners still continue to frequent restaurants and that there was no significant decline in restaurant visits. This is good news for restaurants; delivery apps are not only driving business but keeping the flow of patrons visiting their establishment steady.

Key Takeaways:

• The study found there is “no evidence that delivery apps drive significant, short-term drops in visitation.”
• In one example, the study found that consumers who downloaded the UberEats did not reduce their visits to McDonald’s Corp. during that company’s early delivery tests in Florida.
• To be sure, current delivery consumers tend to be located in bigger markets, and they tend to be wealthier. They are more likely to live in New York, San Francisco and Los Angeles.

“Customers who download delivery apps don’t take away in-store visits at restaurants, and instead the delivery trend appears to be creating its own set of business — at least in the short term.”

Read more: http://www.nrn.com/technology/delivery-doesnt-stop-restaurant-visits