Main Street Monday – 89% Increase in Demand for Food Delivery Services Since 2019

June 28, 2021

Delaney Sexton
Contributing Editor

Main Street Monday – 89% Increase in Demand for Food Delivery Services Since 2019

“After more than a year of reduced spending, Americans now have the highest level of personal savings since the 1960s making it feasible for them to return to instore shopping as local economies reopen,” reads Yelp’s latest local economic impact report. “From an initial dip at the onset of the pandemic, consumer interest in several major categories including restaurants, shopping and travel points to a healthy recovery for local economies.”
The restaurant industry and retail industry are making nearly a full comeback to pre-pandemic times, and some industries are passing pre-pandemic levels of spending.

Here are some of the highlights from Yelp’s recent report:

Restaurant Industry
• Demand in restaurants returned to 86% of 2019 levels, and food businesses recovered to 92%.
• Consumer demand for pop-up restaurants increased 23% from 2019.
• From March to May of this year, consumer interest in food delivery services has nearly doubled since the same time period in 2019 at 189%.
• Demand for personal chefs has seen a 39% increase from their levels in 2019.

Retail Industry
• Interest in shopping recovered to 92% of its levels in 2019.
• When compared to the levels of consumer interest in 2019, shoes have recovered to 79%, jewelry to 88%, clothing to 76%, antiques made a 100% recovery, flea markets to 94%, vintage shops to 87%, and thrift stores have improved upon their pre-pandemic levels at a 101% recovery.

Source: Yelp Economic Impact Report