With a spurt in Covid-19 cases across metro cities, online food orders have seen a rise as more people order in instead of going out to grab a bite. Restaurants and cloud kitchens have seen a rise in demand for home deliveries with increased restrictions as a new wave of pandemic rises across many cities in the country.

Online orders are the only hope of the restaurant industry which is among the worst-hit since the onset of the pandemic in 2020. Industry insiders expect the spike in online orders to return to normal once the movement restrictions end.

Aseem Grover, operator and owner of The Big Chill restaurant told Economic Times online orders during weekdays have doubled after the government introduced a night curfew in the capital.    

He added while online orders have increased, it is not enough to compensate for loss of “normal business”. The dinner business, which accounts for 60% of entire hospitality volumes, is the first casualty of the night curfews. The Big Chill restaurant has 12 outlets in the national capital region.

Augustine Kurian, director of the speciality restaurant Kappa Chakka Kandhari in Bengaluru and Chennai told Economic Times that online orders through Zomato and Swiggy have doubled during the last two weeks.

Kurian had anticipated operations to normalise once after the second wave but now has to rework the entire online delivery platform.

Direct ordering platforms such as Dunzo and DotPe have seen a pick up in volumes with the introduction of movement restrictions with the latter witnessing a 100% increase in orders.  

According to management consulancy RedSeer, rise of Omicron, the new variant of Covid may affect food delivery volumes in the short term but industry will remain on its growth trajectory on a quarterly basis.

The overall volume and value of food delivery grew 1520% between the first and second quarter of 2021. The growth may not be as huge owing to a larger user base, however, quarterly volume will continue to grow.