Takeaway sales flatline in December amid more Xmas socials
While at-home sales have risen for 19 months in a row, the December sales rise figure is well short of November’s growth of 6.2%
Delivery and takeaway sales at restaurant groups saw year-on-year growth slow to 1.9% in December 2024 as consumers’ shifted towards going out, rather than ordering in over Christmas, according to CGA by NIQ’s latest Hospitality at Home Tracker.
While at-home sales have risen for 19 months in a row, the December sales rise is well short of November’s growth of 6.2% and marked the lowest point since March 2024.
Spending confidence increased over Christmas, which CGA believes further encouraged people to go to hospitality venues. In addition, mild weather and the timing of festive holidays gave many consumers longer periods of time off work.
A breakdown of CGA’s Hospitality at Home Tracker indicates a 2.2% like-for-like uplift in delivery sales, while takeaway and click-and-collect revenue was flatter at 1.4%.
Total delivery and takeaway sales – including from sites opened in the last 12 months – rose by 10.3%.
Karl Chessell, director at CGA by NIQ, said: “After 11 months of real-terms growth for deliveries and takeaways, December’s slip below inflation was a disappointing end to 2024 for restaurant groups. But the flipside of the coin is that many consumers were confident enough to head out to celebrate rather than stay in.
“As more of their economic pressures ease, we can be cautiously optimistic about growth in both channels in 2025. But the mounting burden of costs for hospitality groups will put pressure on margins for some time to come.”
