Takeaway meals still booming despite restaurant return, says Deliveroo

People are still ordering millions of takeaways despite restaurants reopening across the country.

But food delivery firm Deliveroo said the average order size is falling, down from £24.20 a year ago to £23.80.

It reported a 59% increase in UK orders between July and September, partly owing to new partnerships with Amazon and Morrisons.

It had 35.8 million orders in the the UK and Ireland, compared with 22.6 million in the same period in 2020.

"We expect further strong performance in the remainder of the year," said Will Shu, founder and chief executive.

Taking account of international orders, the figure climbed to 74.6 million, up from 45.4 million, a 64% rise.

It said that the average customer ordered 3.3 times a month between July and September "despite the widespread removal of lockdown restrictions".

The company was boosted by a deal with Amazon to offer to Amazon Prime customers free access for a year to its premium subscription service, Deliveroo Plus.

That resulted in a doubling of members of the delivery firm's service, which offers free unlimited delivery on orders above £25.

It also said it benefited from a new rapid grocery service, known as Deliveroo Hop, launched in partnership with Morrisons in September.

However, the average number of monthly active consumers fell from from 7.8 million in the second quarter to 7.5 million in the third quarter.

In the UK and Ireland, the company's gross transaction value fell over the three months, from £921m to £852m.

In its international markets, gross transactional value fell from £818m to £742m.

Deliveroo said that reflected "typical seasonality, especially in European markets".

Mr Shu remained upbeat. "We remain excited about the opportunity ahead and our plans to deliver better value to our consumers, help our restaurant and grocery partners to grow, and provide further opportunities for riders," he said.

In August, the firm published its first set of results since floating on the stock market in March this year.

It revealed it had narrowed its pre-tax losses to £104.8m, as against £128.4m a year earlier.