Digital restaurant marketplace sales have more than doubled in 2020

Following increased demand due to the pandemic, digital restaurant marketplace sales are on track to finish the year with $44.94 billion in sales, more than double the $20.08 billion in 2019.

“DoorDash and Uber Eats have driven growth in the market because of their delivery and logistics capabilities,” said Eric Haggstrom, eMarketer forecasting analyst for Insider Intelligence. “Restaurants can offer delivery through DoorDash or Uber Eats without hiring their own delivery drivers. This greatly expands consumer choice, driving more spend. DoorDash focuses on suburbs and smaller cities, which have been underserved by other players in the space.”

DoorDash, the current market leader, is responsible for 46.6% of digital restaurant marketplace sales. This year, the company will bring in $20.93 billion in sales, over three times more than last year. DoorDash has been rapidly gaining market share in recent years, passing Uber Eats and Grubhub in 2019. We anticipate that it will surpass 50% market share in 2021.

Uber Eats is also growing rapidly. In 2020, it brought in $12.67 billion sales, more than double last year. It will surpass 30% of total digital restaurant marketplace sales next year because of its acquisition of Postmates.

Other digital restaurant marketplaces like Grubhub will continue experiencing growth but will lose market share to industry leaders.

“As mass vaccinations begin in the spring, sales growth will steeply decelerate from the peak in 2020,” Haggstrom said. “Many restaurants will want to focus entirely on dine in sales, ditching the commissions that come with online ordering. While this is a major issue for DoorDash, Uber Eats, and Grubhub, many restaurants will decide to stay on these apps. This consumer habit will stick around because of the conveniences associated with online ordering, and most people won’t receive vaccines until the summer.”

While we anticipate digital restaurant marketplace growth will decelerate, it will remain positive through the remainder of our forecast, with 22.3% and 16.3% growth in 2021 and 2022, respectively.