Traditional fast food chains most frequented for takeaway orders in 2020: study
Millennials are the biggest customer base for the top three chains.
Traditional fast food heavyweights made up the majority of the top ten most frequented restaurants in Australia for takeaway orders in 2020, new research from Roy Morgan has revealed.
McDonald’s, which has over 1,000 restaurants across the country, was on top on the list after having over 8.1 million Australians aged 14 and up buying takeaway food in an average of four weeks.
Second place went to KFC with over 6.8 million customers whilst third and fourth place was a close contest between Hungry Jack’s (4.2 million) and Domino’s Pizza (4.1 million).
Subway, the largest QSR chain by store count, held the fifth top spot with 3.2 million customers, followed by Red Rooster with over 2.1 million.
Rounding out the list were fast casual chicken chain Nando’s (almost 1.3 million), Grill’d (over 1.1 million), Guzman y Gomez and Pizza Hut with around a million customers each.
Roy Morgan said 15.9 million Australians aged 14 and up ate take away food in an average four weeks from fast food outlets, local fish and chips shops, pizza shops or convenience stores in 2020.
This was a significant increase on 2019, when there were 13.3 million (63.7%) customers of fast food outlets, attributed to Australians spending a “considerable” amount of time at home during nationwide lockdowns last year and utilised food-ordering services such as Uber Eats, Menulog, HelloFresh, Deliveroo and DoorDash.
Almost one-in-five Australians eating fast food 10 or more times
In terms of frequency, Roy Morgan revealed 3.7 million Australians ate from these outlets 10 or more times in an average four weeks.
“There is considerable scope for quick service restaurants who can identify who these people are and find ways to increase engagement to add value to their offering through customer loyalty programs that reward frequent visits,” Roy Morgan CEO Michele Levine said in a media release.
4.5 million Australians, or about one in five customers, ate from these outlets from between five to nine in an average four weeks whilst 7.6 million Australians only ate from these outlets up to four times.
On average, Australians made 4.8 visits to quick service restaurants in an average four weeks.
Millennials biggest customer group for top three
Millennials, born from 1976-1990 and now aged from 30-45 years old, are said to be the biggest customers of all three of the leading fast food outlets – McDonald’s, KFC and Hungry Jack’s – narrowly ahead of the younger Generation Z.
Nearly 2.5 million Millennials are McDonald’s customers in an average four weeks, whilst over 2.1 million choose KFC and Hungry Jack’s has 1.3 million.
In comparison, McDonald’s has almost as many Generation Z customers whilst there are 2 million Generation Z customers and 1.3 million for Hungry Jack’s.
Whilst less frequent customers of fast food outlets, McDonald’s remains the leading choice for Generation X, Baby Boomers and Pre-Boomers ahead of the two.
