The pandemic clearly impacted sales at restaurants everywhere, but it appears the QSR segment has been the beneficiary of increased business, with take-out and delivery clearly becoming stronger. But while this spells good news for operators, it also presents a unique set of challenges, especially given mounting labour shortages.
Interestingly, according to GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company, the labour shortage is fuelling several companies in other parts of the world to shift to robotics to help fill the gap. As an example, Uber Eats has recently introduced food deliveries using robots as part of a wider response to Japan’s growing labour issue and shrinking population. The initiative, says GlobalData, underlines the paradigm shift taking place in the Japanese food-delivery space.
According to Neralla Rama Ravi Teja, consumer analyst at GlobalData, “Uber Eats’ decision to bring its delivery robots follows the government’s decision in February 2023 to ease its traffic laws to allow autonomous delivery robots. The move is also aimed at helping the older population who are becoming increasingly isolated as many of them reside in rural areas, without access to daily necessities.”
Teja explains that “The proliferation of delivery robots is an extension of the growing inclination among consumers towards food delivery. According to GlobalData’s 2023 Q4 consumer survey for Japan, 29 per cent of consumers describe their spending on food delivery as very high or quite high. Among consumers aged 18 to 24 years, this percentage climbed to 58 per cent. While the move to robotics is innovative, it comes with risks, including the potential for collisions with pedestrians, and opposition from gig workers, who have already been struggling with the country’s declining wages and growing inflation.
While automation and digitalization are clearly on the upward trajectory, and many companies have made huge investments in digital ordering, self-service kiosks and various apps, there are also major growing pains associated with it. For example, this past spring, McDonald’s restaurants across Australia, China, Japan, and the U.K. suffered a huge technology system failure at its restaurants, highlighting the importance of making significant investments in digital services, especially as more fast-food consumers depend on these services.
GlobalData’s survey reveals more than a third of consumers globally (38 per cent) claim that when it comes to purchasing food and drink, how digitally advanced/ ‘smart’ the product/ service is always/ often influences their choice. As the report notes, significant disruptions and delays are not only frustrating but also have the potential to diminish consumer confidence and the likelihood of re-ordering.
As Hannah Cleland, consumer analyst at GlobalData, says: “The true cost of the disruption to sales during the McDonald’s IT outage is unclear, but it points to a need within the restaurant industry to get the basics right in terms of digital investment.” For many players, says Global Data, “it is a case of learning to walk before they can run towards a fully digital future.”
