THIRTY-four Dubbo restaurants have partnered with Menulog since July last year, marking a 66 per cent increase in business partnerships, the largest across the central west.
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The increase shows the uptake of food delivery services across the central west, as restaurants continue adapt to the ongoing effects of the coronavirus pandemic, which has potentially shifted the status quo permanently.
That's not to say diners haven't returned to restaurants as restrictions eased, but the continued growth of apps like Menulog and DoorDash in regional areas indicates people are still taking advantage of increased access to food delivery.
While Door Dash is still gaining a foothold in the region, particularly Orange and Bathurst, Menulog has recorded exponential growth since July last year.
Menulog now has 115 restaurant partners trading in the Central West region, a number which has increased dramatically in Dubbo, Orange and Bathurst in particular.
Menulog provided the data, which does back up the company's suggestion its continued, regional push has been 'super successful', while courier opportunities are an obvious boost to a job market heavily impacted by COVID-19.
There has been questions of the discrepancies between the prices on apps like Menulog when compared to a restaurant's menu in-store though, with items often marked up for purchase online.
The surcharges are economically-motivated, they offset costs and ensure some sort of profit margin, which takes a hit considering the commissions delivery services take can be anywhere up to 30 per cent.
Menulog has reported its commission to be 15 per cent while DoorDash doesn't disclose its publicly, the former company did confirm it is the individual restaurant's prerogative to lift, or not lift, those individual prices.
Essentially, for the convenience, customers pay a premium on top of delivery fees to ensure restaurants won't lose money on each order.
The company does control delivery fees should restaurants elect to use affiliated couriers rather than their own drivers though, they are more expensive during peak times, which for Menulog is from 4-9.30pm.
Of the restaurants registered with Menulog a number employ their own delivery drivers - 13 in Orange, eight in Bathurst and 12 in Dubbo. Delivery prices range from free to around $9 across the board.
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Matt Findlay
Formerly a sports specialist, I'm based at Orange and shift between wide-spread range of subjects here and, often, across the entire Central West region of NSW as well. I have almost a decade of experience in the media and marketing industries both here in Australia and internationally, along with journalism I have experience in content strategy, brand development, and digital and social media. Along the way, I've been fortunate to win a handful of media awards and be nominated for several others too.
Formerly a sports specialist, I'm based at Orange and shift between wide-spread range of subjects here and, often, across the entire Central West region of NSW as well. I have almost a decade of experience in the media and marketing industries both here in Australia and internationally, along with journalism I have experience in content strategy, brand development, and digital and social media. Along the way, I've been fortunate to win a handful of media awards and be nominated for several others too.
