Digital Disruptors: The Global Competitive Landscape of Delivery Platforms

Delivery

This report comes in PPT.

Key Findings

The COVID-19 pandemic greatly expanded consumer demand for rapid delivery

Prior to 2020, the rise of e-commerce and the growing ubiquity of smartphones had already whetted consumers’ appetite for on-demand delivery, but the unique circumstances engendered by the global COVID-19 pandemic sent demand for rapid delivery into the stratosphere, leading to a boom in sales for third-party foodservice delivery, third-party retail delivery, and quick commerce players.

Over the last three years, once-specialised rapid delivery players have diversified into other areas of on-demand delivery

Riding the pandemic-fuelled delivery boom, the most important operators in the on-demand delivery space have leveraged their existing delivery networks to branch out into other areas of rapid delivery. This has effectively blurred the lines between third-party foodservice delivery, third-party retail delivery, and quick commerce, with many operators that had previously specialised in just one of these types of delivery models now offering all three to consumers.

In 2022, on-demand delivery companies face new challenges that threaten their continued success

With consumers around the world looking to move past the pandemic, it was predictable that e-commerce sales growth would slow significantly in 2022 from its historic highs of the previous two years. Yet as rates of inflation remain persistently high, and as on-demand delivery contends with an increasingly hostile regulatory climate, consumers and investors alike are more hesitant to splash out on rapid delivery now than they were just 12 months ago.

Despite setbacks, the long-term prospects for rapid delivery remain solid – even though many companies might get lost in the shuffle

Conditions for on-demand delivery operators are inarguably more challenging now than they were a year ago. Even though the market for delivery is coming back down to earth a little, however, the long-term prospects for rapid delivery look good, particularly for foodservice delivery, a sector which continues to boom. Still, there is likely to be a round of consolidation in the delivery space, with quick commerce specialists facing the toughest immediate prospects.