Secret shoppers in a study from Intouch Insight were far less satisfied when their meal arrived after others were dropped off along the way—a common practice for apps like DoorDash, Uber Eats, and Grubhub. This story is part of a series based on The Path to Third-Party Excellence, an upcoming secret shopper study from Intouch Insight conducted exclusively for Restaurant Business and its sister publications CSP Daily News and Nation's Restaurant News.

Impact on Delivery Times and Food Quality

Third-party delivery providers’ practice of bundling multiple orders in one trip slows delivery times and hurts customer satisfaction, according to the Intouch Insight report. The study, which used secret shoppers to place 600 delivery orders from restaurants and convenience stores across the U.S., illustrates the drawbacks of order batching—a tactic that has long been used by restaurant delivery apps but is rarely discussed openly.

The Scope of the Study

The Intouch Insight shoppers were instructed to order from whatever establishment they wished, but they couldn’t use a paid membership or pay extra for a direct delivery. The results showed that 12% of orders were picked up and delivered by a courier who first made other drop-offs along the way. Shoppers were notified within the app when this was the case.

Longer Last Leg and Compromised Quality

Per the results, the last leg of a batched delivery took more than 42 minutes to complete, on average—or more than 13 minutes longer than orders that traveled directly to the customer. This delay negatively impacted the food, with the temperature correct only 77% of the time for batched deliveries compared to 95% for direct deliveries. Customer satisfaction also took a hit, with overall satisfaction at 79% for batched orders—10 points lower than for nonstop orders.

Frequency of Batching by App

According to the Intouch Insight results, batching was fairly common, though the frequency differed by app: 19% of orders placed with Uber Eats were part of a batched delivery compared to 12% for DoorDash and 5% for Grubhub.

Responses from Delivery Apps

A DoorDash representative said several factors dictate when orders are batched but did not elaborate. Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi previously mentioned that the company uses artificial intelligence to determine when to bundle orders. Both representatives emphasized that batching is designed to get customers their orders faster during busy periods.

A Grubhub spokesperson said 86% of the company’s overall orders arrive on time but did not provide a figure for batched orders.

The Challenges for Restaurants

“[Batched delivery] is not working for the customer,” said Sarah Beckett, director of marketing at Intouch Insight. “But also, the other element of it for the restaurant or the convenience store is, how do they protect their reputation, their brand, when some of this stuff is really taken out of their control?”

One suggested solution is to invest in better packaging to ensure food stays fresh during trips with multiple stops.

The Bigger Picture

These findings highlight another potential pain point in the relationship between restaurants and third-party delivery providers. Though the apps have become an important revenue channel for many operators since the pandemic, some complain about high delivery commissions, lack of data on their delivery customers, and a loss of control once an order leaves their store.

Yet, the results also show that consumers are generally quite happy with the third-party delivery experience. Shoppers’ overall satisfaction with restaurant delivery across all three apps was 91%, a 4-point improvement from 2022, when Intouch Insight last measured it.

Conclusion

As third-party delivery continues to grow, the industry must address the negative impacts of batching on both delivery times and food quality. Restaurants may need to find innovative ways to ensure their food arrives fresh, while the delivery apps must balance cost efficiency with customer happiness to maintain their share of this increasingly competitive market.