Poor Delivery Experiences Threaten Restaurant Reputations, Chatmeter Report Finds
36% of Americans plan to order delivery for the Big Game on Feb. 9; fees, delayed deliveries and poor customer service push most to pick food up or cook at home
San Diego, CA (RestaurantNews.com) More than one third (36%) of Americans plan to order food delivery for the Big Game on Sunday, Feb. 9, and 37% of them plan to spend more than in 2024, Chatmeter’s 2025 Restaurant Delivery & Reputation report found.
Chatmeter, a leader in multi-location customer intelligence, used its generative AI platform, Pulse Ai: Signals, to analyze more than two million customer reviews and understand why most consumers are opting for pick up or cooking at home: growing frustration with expensive fees, delayed deliveries, incorrect orders and poor customer service.
“Americans love the convenience of delivery, but restaurants who hand the experience over to third party apps without a strategy risk their reputations,” said John Mazur, CEO of Chatmeter. “Customers still associate the experience with your brand. On such a pivotal weekend for restaurant delivery, promotions, menus, pricing and operations should all be informed by holistic customer intelligence.”
Consumers plan to order delivery because they want to focus on something else besides food preparation (42%), like watching the game or socializing. More than one third (35%) said they plan to take advantage of discounts in delivery apps like DoorDash, GrubHub and Uber Eats.
However, half of consumers (50%) have experienced a late food delivery, and the same amount have received cold food. Additionally, more than two in five surveyed (44%) reported having items missing from their order. Chatmeter’s AI found that the issues were compounded by poor customer service and rude, dismissive staff when people called to check on their order or report quality issues. More than half of delivery-related reviews were negative (46%) or mixed (6%) in sentiment.
Expensive fees were cited by 55% as the top reason they sometimes skip delivery, followed by long estimated wait times (43%), the prospect of food arriving cold (41%), delivery menu prices being more expensive (39%), poor experiences with delivery drivers (22%) and having to tip (20%).
Chatmeter also identified the top items consumers love for delivery–and which items are better eaten right away.
Top delivery menu items
- Pizza
- Wings
- Sandwiches/subs
- Burgers
- Tacos
Worst delivery menu items
- Seafood
- Ice cream
- Steak
- French fries
To learn more and read Chatmeter’s recommendations for restaurants to use customer intelligence to improve delivery experiences, click here.
About Chatmeter
Chatmeter is the multi-location intelligence company reimagining customer connections and reputation management through AI-powered deep listening. Chatmeter makes it easy for multi-location brands to drive real-time impact through relevant insights in critical moments that matter. Chatmeter understands the challenges of multi-location, and omnichannel reputation management, and has created a scaled platform that enables end-to-end visibility for everyone, from local owners to executive leadership. With a 93% customer retention rate, Chatmeter is the brand reputation partner of choice across the retail, restaurant, healthcare, and financial services industries, and more. For more information, visit Chatmeter.com.
PR Contact:
Anna Rice
PR@Chatmeter.com
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