20.9%
of everything people spent with restaurants in September went on delivery, takeaway and click-and-collect
NIQ Hospitality at Home Tracker, 4 November 2026
Delivery is now a fifth of restaurant trade, and the big groups are piling onto the same apps you are. Here’s what the latest numbers say, and what to fix on your listing before December.
NIQ’s latest Hospitality at Home Tracker came out on 4 November. Delivery, takeaway and click-and-collect made up 20.9% of all spending with restaurants in September. Deliveries took nearly three quarters of that.
That isn’t a side line any more. For a lot of independents it’s a second dining room, and it’s the one that gets the least attention.
What the numbers actually say
Like-for-like sales were up 2.3% on last September. That’s the best month since June, after a summer when everyone was outside. It’s also below the 3.5% inflation rate, so in real terms the average restaurant’s delivery trade is still going backwards.
On a total basis, sales were up 11.8%. The gap is new sites, and restaurants switching delivery on for the first time. Look at who’s in the tracker: Nando’s, Dishoom, Wagamama, Pizza Pilgrims, Honest Burgers. A lot of that growth is the groups arriving on the apps. It’s the same screen your listing sits on.
6.3%
fall in takeaway and click-and-collect sales in September, the 18th month in a row. Delivery rose 5.8%.
NIQ Hospitality at Home Tracker, 4 November 2026
People want it brought to them, and most of that growth is coming through the third-party platforms. NIQ’s Karl Chessell expects competition to be intense in the run-in to Christmas, with rising costs making every order hard-earned.
“There’s all to play for in restaurant deliveries.” Karl Chessell, NIQ
Don’t count on December to do it for you, either. Last December the tracker’s like-for-like at-home sales were up just 0.3%. The season doesn’t lift everyone. It rewards the listings people pick.
How people actually choose
Nobody reads a delivery app. They scroll it. A photo, a name, a rating, a delivery time and a price, and they’ve decided in a couple of seconds. Before anyone tastes your food, you’re competing on a thumbnail.
That’s why most of the fixes below are boring. Boring is good. Boring is cheap, and you can do most of it this week.
Seven things to fix before December
- Real photos of your top five. Shot in daylight, in the box they actually arrive in. If the app has filled the gap for you, check what it’s showing people.
- Cut the menu down. A delivery menu doesn’t need everything you serve in the room. Fewer dishes, the ones that travel well, bestsellers at the top.
- Build one December bundle. A sharing box for the office, the flat or the family. One price, more on every order, easy to say yes to.
- Check your hours and prep times every week. Christmas trading hours change. If the app says you’re closed or 70 minutes away, that order goes to the next listing.
- Mark dishes sold out instead of cancelling. Cancelled orders annoy customers and do you no favours with the platform.
- Answer every review within a day. Especially the bad ones. The next customer reads your reply more carefully than the complaint.
- Put something in the bag. A card with a reason to order direct or book a table. Every app order comes with commission, and the bag is the one bit of marketing you know they’ll open.
From experience
When we ran a printed offer for a bakery client, 13% of people came back to use it. The usual for a flyer is 1 to 3%. Print still works when it lands in someone’s hands, and a delivery bag is the most reliable way to get it there.
The short version
Delivery is a fifth of restaurant spending and the groups are crowding onto the apps. Get real photos up, cut the menu, add a December bundle, keep your hours right and put something in the bag that brings people back direct.
If you’d rather someone handled it, that’s what we do.
Want us to look at your listing? Send us the link to your Just Eat, Deliveroo or Uber Eats page and we’ll come back with the three things we’d fix before December. Write to hello@good-folks.co.uk.
Want a hand?
Want more orders before Christmas? Send us your delivery app listing and we’ll come back with the three changes we’d make first.
GoodFolks is a marketing agency for independent restaurants, pubs and cafés. Listings, photos and Christmas trade are a big part of what we do for hospitality. If December tables are the bigger worry, start with our four-week winter plan.
