TECHNOLOGY HAS PROFOUNDLY
TRANSFORMED HOW WE DINEJust last week, we wrote about how what has
been widely termed the ‘sharing economy’ – the
distinctly Millennial movement of ‘sharing’ rather
than necessarily ‘owning’ seemingly anything
and everything, and drawing upon technology
in the hand to make this possible – has made
itself felt in how we travel, with Uber and Airbnb
the obvious market leaders. What you might
not have been so aware of, however, is how
fundamentally our eating habits have also been
impacted by similar dynamics.
It emerged late last month, for instance, that
even OpenTable, the world’s biggest online
restaurant reservation service, with a more than
two-decade history, was looking to move into
the food delivery market.
This might seem like a logical enough move,
especially given the increasing significance of
the latter to the overall food and drink industry.
As reported by ABC News, the number of visits
to restaurants in the U.S. barely altered over
the May 2018 to May 2019 period, flat-lining at
23.8 billion, but there was a 3% rise in deliveries
during that same time, to two billion.
However, it’s the specific way in which
OpenTable is involving itself in the food delivery
market that is especially interesting and
revealing as to the likely future direction of our
relationship with food and drink in general.
EVEN THE DELIVERY OF FOOD CAN BE A
VERY AGILE PROCESS THESE DAYSNot so long ago, the process of even a relative
heavyweight like OpenTable branching out