Appetite for food and drink apps grows in SEA: Report

The popularity of food and drink apps has surged in Southeast Asia as consumers become more cost-conscious and time-crunched, according to the 2022 State of Food and Drink on Mobile report by unified data AI company data.ai.

Why it matters

The growth in food and drink app downloads indicates that the market is ripe for user acquisition, but competition is heating up with the emergence of new local players and the expansion of overseas competitors.

Takeaways

• Mobile is the battleground for businesses to keep these loyal, repeat customers.
• The time spent on food & drink apps has grown 65% year-on-year globally in the last year.
• Global downloads of food & drink apps hit 1.7 billion during the last year ending March 2022 – up nearly 10% YoY.
• In SEA, Indonesia saw the largest growth of 88% YoY versus the Philippines (+48%), Singapore (+10%) and Thailand (+25%).
• Thailand and the Philippines are #6 and #7 for total time spent on food & drink apps globally – up 70% and 180% respectively.
• Malaysia (+130%), Vietnam (+150%) and Singapore (+145%) have also made it to the list of top 25 global markets by time spent.

Key quote

“The growth in total sessions highlights that consumers are forming habits and relying on these apps more than ever to access appetising food – restaurant quality or home cooking ready – at the tap of an app” – Lexi Sydow, head of insights, data.ai.