US Food Delivery App Usage Will Approach 40 Million Users in 2019

Food delivery apps are rapidly growing in popularity, according to eMarketer’s latest forecast on mobile app usage. This year, these apps will be used by 38.0 million people in the US, up 21.0% over 2018. By 2021, more than 20% of US smartphone users will use a food delivery app.

We define a food delivery app as a third-party mobile app whose primary function is the ordering of prepared food for delivery (e.g., Grubhub, Uber Eats, DoorDash).

By 2020, food delivery app usage will surpass 44 million people in the US, reaching nearly 60 million by 2023.

“Companies in the food delivery app space are continuing to expand and develop new partnerships with food merchants,” said eMarketer junior forecasting analyst Nazmul Islam. “As a result, customers can expect more options, which will drive user growth.”

In 2019, DoorDash has the highest share of consumer spending among US food delivery apps at 27.6%, according to research firm Edison Trends. This is closely followed by Grubhub (including Seamless) and Uber Eats, which capture 26.7% and 25.2% of consumer spending in the US, respectively.