Uber Eats: Restaurant Pulse Check Report Release

We partnered with the Restaurant and Catering Association and Mastercard SpendingPulse™ to combine data and insights to unearth the key challenges and opportunities for restaurants in Australia in the wake of the pandemic and as they prepare for further economic uncertainty. 

The resulting Pulse check Restaurant Report 2022 has been augmented by thousands of submissions from consumers and hundreds more from restaurant owners and illuminates the legacy impacts of Covid-19 on Australian small business owners working in the hospitality sector. 

Amid a challenging macroeconomic environment with inflation and forecast additional interest rate rises, the findings point towards significant business remodeling (92% of restaurant owners in Australia remodeled their business during lockdown) and notable shifts in attitudes from Australian restaurant owners looking to negotiate the post-pandemic world.

While there are some cautiously encouraging signs – like the sector having grown by more than a quarter (up 27.4% on the same time three years ago*) and more than half of the surveyed restaurants saying the revenue from online food delivery platforms has grown since November 2021, there are unquestionably still some challenges.

The report revealed that all respondents had encountered legacy pains from Covid-19 with 96% of restaurant owners in Australia experiencing a decline in dine-in customers relative to their pre-covid levels. The other top challenges were – finding staff (32%), a decline in tourist travel (31%) and operating costs (29%) the most frequently flagged challenges. 

Loyalty is emerging as a new focus area for restaurant owners who have turned to platforms like Uber Eats who helped unlock $889 million in additional value during a challenging 2021. With 8 in 10 of the surveyed restaurants using online food delivery services there’s been a notable shift towards retaining customers – with 27% identifying it as their biggest benefit from online food delivery.