New Study Finds Late Delivery Impacts 50% Of On-Demand Food Delivery Customers, But Nearly Two-Thirds Miss Phone Calls To Alert Them

By STS News Desk On Sep 2, 2020

New Study Finds Late Delivery Impacts 50% Of On-Demand Food Delivery Customers, But Nearly Two-Thirds Miss Phone Calls To Alert Them

On-demand food delivery services have a customer support problem, according to a new study released today by First Orion, a leading provider of communication transparency solutions. Half of the 2,000 survey respondents said the top reason for needing to connect with the delivery service’s customer support team was the late delivery of their food order. However, 62% had missed a call about issues with their delivery because they didn’t recognize the phone number calling, leading to dissatisfaction (more than 80%), not to mention hungry customers. An infographic illustrating the findings of the study of 2,000 U.S. consumers titled “Got Delivery? Your Customers Want to Know It’s You”.

There’s been a recent surge in the use of popular on-demand food delivery platforms like GrubHub, Uber Eats, and DoorDash (First Orion’s study found 92% usage of these services), yet despite the convenience of mobile app ordering and contactless delivery, problems still occur. When they do, more than 80% of survey respondents said they want to receive a phone call and 93% expect problems to be resolved in less than 10 minutes. When asked how important it is to be able to identify an unknown phone number by the business name, 81% said very or extremely – otherwise, they simply won’t answer.

“It’s clear from our research that food delivery has a ways to go before improving answer rates and customer satisfaction. Right now, too many customers are hangry when there is a potential issue with their order,” said Viki Zabala, chief marketing and product officer at First Orion. “Consumers are willing to answer the phone when they see a brand’s logo or name, driving greater engagement, loyalty and a positive experience overall. We have seen this firsthand with another on-demand service. In just nine months after adopting First Orion ENGAGE, they saw a 92% answer rate, which dramatically increased their customer satisfaction and experience. It meant that drivers were no longer waiting outside for 10-15 minutes and customers were not wondering where they were, but instead at the ring of their phone, it notified the customer they had arrived.”

While late delivery accounted for 50% of the top reasons people needed to connect with the food delivery service, these were the other most common problems:

Incorrect order (37%)
Food was cold / not fresh (36%)
Driver needed directions (33%)
Food never arrived (26%)
Delivery driver attitude/behavior issue (14%)

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