Tap that app to eat

Online food delivery services satisfy hungry consumers with quality service, timely drops and affordable meals

On a recent business trip, Liu Qidi, 30, a manager with a family-owned cosmetics firm in Wuhan, Hubei province, arrived hungry around 9 pm at her hotel room in Yichang city in the same province in Central China. For supper, she neither visited the in-house restaurant nor stepped out into the chilly weather.

By 9:10 pm, however, a delivery man from a local takeout materialized with a fresh hot pizza and milk tea. Liu had ordered the food using an app on her way to the hotel.

Such apps, which act like digital bridges connecting consumers and sellers such as restaurants, are making a big difference to the food and beverage - F&B - industry.

As a result, consumers (that is, mostly office-goers, students and some business travelers such as Liu), the businesses concerned (mostly tech startups and eateries) and people working for such app-based businesses are a happy lot these days.

Particularly for consumers such as Liu, food delivery apps are the best things that have happened after the proliferation of internet and smartphones in China.

"It's so convenient. You don't have to wander around the streets for food, especially when you reach a hotel at 9 or 10 pm," said Liu.

It's not just about convenience or the time saved - there's more to food delivery apps, said Liu. "The meals budget for us (middle-level executives of private firms) during official trips is limited. So, takeout apps allow us to enjoy delicious local dishes at relatively cheaper prices." (Liu's pizza and milk tea cost around 40 yuan, or $5.8)

Typically, Liu orders from offline restaurants that sell quality food made in clean kitchens. She reads consumer comments on the app concerned, and then picks top-selling restaurants, particularly those that allow users to customize their meals. For instance, Liu specifies her preference for dishes cooked without garlic.