A STUDY ON CUSTOMER’S ATTITUDE AND PERCEPTION TOWARDS

DIGITAL FOOD APP SERVICES

INTRODUCTION
In today’s world service sector contributes 64.80% in GDP. Zomato is one of the most popular
applications that provide services to the user to discover restaurants. The rise of digital technology is
reshaping the industries. With the increased use of technology, the number of people engaging into the
digital sector are rapidly increasing. Even Consumers are accustomed to shopping or even ordering
online through apps or websites, with maximum convenience and transparency, expecting the same
experience that they would get from the outlet itself. To match up with the
consumer’s expectations apps are providing increased facilities and services to the customers. This
scenario doesn’t exist only in one country but all across the globe. Being up to date with the customers’
expectations helps firm retain customer’s to a greater extent. The Figure 1 below shows the average
retention of customers with the help of providing various kinds of facilities to the customers.
Figure 1: Retention of Customers with the Help of Digital Technology

Digital technology has just started growing, it will continue to grow at a rapid rate and with the
effect of this so will the various other industries, including the food delivery industry. In the
below figure we can see that the usage of online portals have been constantly increasing and
they are expected to increase at a rapid rate even in the near future. Our research indicates that
online penetration of the total food-delivery market broke 30 percent in 2016. It is also believed
that the penetration rates will grow further as the market matures, eventually reaching 65
percent per year. As per another research the perceptions of the user regarding the service
quality of ZOMATO is less than his expectations of what an excellent service should be. So,
ZOMATO cannot be categorized an excellent service provider as per the responses we have
received from the users.
Figure 2: Expected Growth of online and offline industry

The recent innovations in the global market are:

 Mobile ordering.
 iPad order kiosks.
 Figure3: The various food apps available in India

Indian Food App Scenario

With all the boom in digital industry across the globe, it’s had its impact on the Indian economy too. The
online food ordering firms have sprouted up in bulk. The market size of food in India is expected to reach Rs.
42 lakh crore by 2020, reports BCG. Presently, the Indian food market is around $350 billion.
The space is coming up with a lot of innovation catering to their customer convenience, satisfaction and
retention. This has also built room for a lot of new players, who are targeting specific groups of people. Many
new players joining the segment with innovative business models such as delivering food for health conscious
people, home cooked meals, etc.
Food tech is the hot talk in the startup town. After technology startups have made their mark in the e-
commerce, taxi & real estate sectors, now the ever-hungry Indian entre- preneurs are looking to satiate the
appetite of others. Food tech is a vast market and food delivery startups are just a part of it.
Various apps in the Indian market are:
 Food Panda
 Zomato
 Swiggy
 Box8
 Fasoos
 Fast food delivery apps

Services Provided

Apps Originated Delivery Online Menu Expanded Delivery Charges

Food Panda Singapore Yes Yes 12000 Restaurants Yes

Zomato Portugal Yes Yes 10000 Restaurants No

Beer Café India No Yes 33 Restaurants No

Box8 India Yes Yes 60 Stores Yes

Fasoos India Yes Yes 125 Centers No

Dominos India Yes Yes 800 outlets No

Just Eat Denmark Yes Yes 2000 Restaurants No

Swiggy India Yes Yes 5000 Restaurants Yes

Pizza Hut Delivery US Yes Yes 1300 Outlets No

Fasoos India Yes Yes 200 Stores No

 LITERATURE REVIEW
A research on the changing market for food delivery (Carsten Hirschberg et al 2016) indicates that online’s
penetration of the total food-delivery market broke 30 percent in 2016. We believe penetration rates will
grow further as the market matures, eventually reaching 65 percent per year.
According to gloria food the advantage of online ordering and the reasons for the growth of food delivery
app industry are Convenience, Simpler menu to manage, significant savings, no hassels etc
FoodPanda is an introduction to the newest food sensation that’s here to stay (Shiyin Chan , 2015)
Foodpanda is a global online food delivery marketplace headquartered in Berlin, Germany. Fun fact - they’re
also known as hellofood in other places in the world.
Bhavna Singh (2015) said that Foodpanda has been present in the Indian market since May 2012. Foodpanda
first major move was acquisition of TastyKhana, which was launched in the city of Pune in 2007. Together
with TastyKhana and JUST EAT, it is now present in over 200 cities and partners with over 12,000 restaurants.
She also talked about JUST EAT was launched in Denmark in 2001 and was traded publicly on the London
Stock Exchange. Their Indian business was launched as Hungry Bangalore in 2006. It was renamed in 2011
when JUST EAT acquired a majority share in the business. Today, the company partners with over 2,000
restaurants.
According to Deepinder Goyal, Zomato CEO and co-founder told TechCrunch that he expects to reach 10,000
restaurants in India in a few months. “We have a sales team of around 300 in India and 5,000-odd
advertisers… these partners know the volume we bring to them so it is quite easy for us to launch this
new service.”
According to a recent sectoral report published by IBEF (Indian Brand Equity Foundation), food has been
one of the largest
segments in India’s retail sector, valued at
$490 billion in 2013. The Indian food retail market is expected to reach Rs 61 lakh crore ($894.98 billion) by
2020. The Indian food processing industry accounts for 32 percent of the country’s total food market,
one of the largest industries in India and ranked fifth in
terms of production, consumption, export and expected growth. The online food ordering business in India is
in its nascent stage, but witnessing exponential growth. The organised food business in India is worth $ 48
billion, of which food delivery is valued at $15 billion. Investment in food startups, which mainly include
food ordering apps, has increased by 93 percent to $130.3 million, comprising 17 deals till September 2015,
as against only five deals in 2014.
According to a January 28 report in The Times of India, Rocket Internet backed Foodpanda has not found
a buyer even with a rock bottom price tag of $10-15 million.The company laid off 300 people in December
2015, about 15% of its workforce. In September 2015, TinyOwl had fired 100 employees in its Mumbai and
Pune offices. And in October, Zomato sacked 300 workers. UK based Just Eat entered and exited the market
faster than you would order and receive pizza.
 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
OBJECTIVES
 To analyse factors affecting attitude of customers regarding food delivery apps

 To find the most popular app in the digital food delivery app

 To analyze the relationship between food delivery aap and the facilities provided by the
same.

DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS

The data has been collected by both ie primary and secondary sources. Primary data includes information
collected through questionnaire based on attitude and perception of customers using food delivery apps in India.
Secondary data included collecting information about various apps, the industry position, etc from the various
portals from the internet, journals, magzines etc
Sample size
The total sample size was 129 respondents, out of which a major portion was Gen Z i.e. people of the age group
20-25 years.
ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION
To understand the behavior of customers regarding usage of food delivery apps, socio- economic
characteristics of the customers were studied. They are the important variables as they decide the consumption
pattern and customer behavior regarding these apps. Generally it is believed that, as the income, age and
education of the customer varies impact the usage pattern of mobile apps. The following table 4 represents the
socio-economic pattern of the selected sample.
Table 4: Demographic profile
Category Number Percentage
Gender
Male 94 27%
Female 35 73%
TOTAL 129 100%
Age
20-25yrs 115 89%
25-30 yrs 8 6%
30-35 yrs 4 3%
35 and above 2 2
TOTAL 129 100%
Profession
Unemployed 2 2%
Student 116 90%
Working 7 5%
Self employed 4 3%
TOTAL 129 100%
Consumption
Less than 1000 74 57%
1000-1750 28 22%
1750-2500 12 9%
2500-4000 9 7%
More than 4000 6 5%
TOTAL 129 100%
 A. Frequency of usage of Food Delivery apps
The Table 5 below shows the usage of different food delivery apps among the selected samples. As per the
data collected we can analyze that food panda and fast food delivery app are among the most preferred food
apps by consumers followed by Swiggy and Zomato.

Table 5: Usage of apps as per the respondents

APPS USAGE
Swiggy 72%
Food panda 62%
Swiggy 65%
Box8 47%
Fasoos 58%
Fast food delivery apps 76%
Others 8%

Graph 1: Factors affecting usage of the Food Delivery apps

Source: Author with the help of primary data

The main objective of this research is to find out factors influencing customers regarding usage of food
delivery apps. From Graph 1 we can analyze that speed of delivery is the highest attractive feature on Food
Panda, swiggy, box8 and fast food delivery apps. The second highest feature preferred by the consumers is
the quality of service provided by the apps and the ordering experience. Discount is considered one of the
most important factor while ordering from food panda and fassos.

B. Marketing effectiveness
Chart 1: Source of information regarding mobile App

Source: Author with the help of primary data

An examination of data reveals that being majority of the responds from Gen Z, the source of information
regarding mobile food apps, there is usage is basically via social media platform or friends and families.
Chart 2: the most commonly available payment options for food app customers

Further analysis says that majority customers prefer credit/debit card payment or cash on delivery, very few
customers prefer online payment mode.
The payment options open to customers are cash on delivery, net banking, payment portals and debit or
credit cards. Out of these from our research we find that cash on delivery is most preferred by the customers-
40% followed by debit/ credit card payments- 26%.

C. Special Apps
Special apps are those apps which can be used in the restaurant; they are not basically the delivery app but
restaurant apps. Agent jacks bar, Beer café and 15cafe coffee day are among the most used special apps. Gen
Z use beer café app because of easy access whereas agent jacks bar because comfort in using. Similarly they
prefer 15cafe coffee day for loyalty points
Graph 2: Comparison of the most attractive feature between all the special apps

Source: Author with the help of primary data

Graph 3: Weight Average of Factors Affecting Usage of Mobile Food Apps

Source: Author with the help of primary data

From the data collected we can generate that according to the weighted averages of the factors the highest
weight is given to comfort in ordering and good condition of food at the time of delivery. Thus restaurants
must concentrate on these services more as compared to others. Other than these two factors, customers prefer
to check restaurants available nearby in the app and expect correct order with no faults in totaling.
Chi Square test between Factors and Food apps
The research also tries to test the relationship between factors affecting usage of food apps with different apps
available in market. Cronbach alpha is used to check reliability of the data set. The Cronbach alpha of the data
came .967 which is considered to be good.
The Chi square test between factors affecting the usage and the apps comes somewhere around 73.7 with 5%
level of satisfaction and 30 degree of freedom. The chi square comes more than table value therefore we reject
null hypothesis and accept alternative which says that there is significant relationship between factors affecting
usage and the food delivery apps.
Chi square 73.7
Df 30
Table value 29.33
P value 0.000

CONCLUSION
With continuous influx of professionals in cities and rapid urbanization of Indian
 landscape, the food delivery and restaurant segment is now thriving at a blistering pace. Adding to this
scenario is an increasing number of smartphones and food delivery apps. Food delivery apps have now
become a big hit with tech-savvy individuals across India. There are several food delivery apps in India
that one can download on smart phones to order food on the go and from the comfort of homes. The
present study found a significant relationship between factors considered important while selecting a food
delivery app. And from the analysis it was also found that the facilities offered play a major role in
making a purchase from an app. Social media should be the most desired tool for marketing by firms.
Currently cash on delivery is the most preferred option of payment by the respondents but other digital
techniques are also in the growth stage. Firms must also make sure that the apps are comfortable and user
friendly. The special apps are a convenient way for the consumers to place orders and for the company to
attract further more consumers but the comfort of usage must be given a higher preference.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Ashutosh Bhargave, Niranjan Jadhav, Apurva Joshi, Prachi Oke, Prof. Mr. S. R Lahane (2013) “Digital
ordering system for Restaurant using Android” International Journal of Scientific and Research
Publications, Volume 3, Issue 4, April 2013
Christian Grönroos, (1984) "A Service Quality Model and its Marketing Implications", European Journal of
Marketing, Vol. 18 Issue: 4, pp.36-44.
Michael K. Brady, J. Joseph Cronin Jr. (2001) Some New Thoughts on Conceptualizing Perceived Service
Quality: A Hierarchical Approach. Journal of Marketing: July 2001, Vol. 65, No. 3, pp. 34-49
Hannu, Lassi and Mika (2014) “From selling to supporting – Leveraging mobile services in the context of
food retailing”, Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Volume 21, Issue 1, January 2014, Pages
26-36
***
 Amity Journal of Management
January - June, 2017

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