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15 Restaurant Off-Premises and Delivery Statistics Every Owner Should Know in 2026

We read the National Restaurant Association's 2025 Off-Premises Restaurant Trends research, its packaging analysis, the 2026 State of the Restaurant Industry report and executive summary, and the latest same-store sales and traffic update. The figures below separate consumer frequency, traffic share, sales share, channel availability, packaging expectations, and operating economics.

That separation matters. A person who orders takeout weekly is not the same denominator as an off-premises order, and off-premises traffic is not the same as off-premises sales. A delivery order can also have a different ticket, fee, labor requirement, packaging cost, and contribution margin from a takeout order. The sources provide useful national context, but the channel economics at one restaurant must come from its own POS, ordering, labor, packaging, and payment data.

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Channel Weekly use Order or person denominator Age segment Quality expectation Operational cost to measure Source
Takeout 47% of adults at least once a week People, not orders; base is all adults Gen Z 57%; millennials 59%; Gen X 44%; baby boomers 33% 90% of off-premises customers say better packaging would make them likely to order a greater variety of food for takeout or delivery Picking and assembly labor, packaging, payment fees, refunds, and order accuracy NRA 2025 Off-Premises Trends and 2026 State report
Drive-thru 42% of adults at least once a week People, not orders; base is all adults Gen Z 54%; millennials 55%; Gen X 41%; baby boomers 26% The packaging study does not publish a separate drive-thru quality benchmark; measure temperature, handoff time, accuracy, and item integrity locally Order taking, production speed, window labor, packaging, remakes, and queue capacity NRA 2025 Off-Premises Trends and 2026 State report
Delivery 37% of adults at least once a week People, not orders; base is all adults Gen Z 60%; millennials 50%; Gen X 35%; baby boomers 14% 90% would likely order a wider variety if packaging preserved temperature, taste, and quality; more than half would pay extra for that packaging Picking and assembly labor, packaging, platform fees, delivery fees, refunds, discounts, and customer data access NRA 2025 Off-Premises Trends and 2026 State report

Forty-seven percent of adults use takeout weekly, compared with 42% for drive-thru and 37% for delivery

The National Restaurant Association's 2025 Off-Premises Restaurant Trends research reports that 47% of adults pick up takeout food or beverages at least once a week. The comparable weekly figures are 42% for drive-thru and 37% for delivery. The base is all adults, and the measure is a person's reported frequency, not the share of a restaurant's orders.

Takeout therefore reaches the largest weekly audience in this comparison, but that does not make it the most profitable channel for every restaurant. Use the national figures to size the behavior, then compare each local channel by orders, average ticket, preparation time, packaging, fees, refunds, and contribution per labor minute.

Younger adults use every off-premises channel more often, especially delivery

Weekly takeout use rises to 57% among Gen Z adults and 59% among millennials, compared with 44% of Gen X adults and 33% of baby boomers. Weekly drive-thru use is 54% for Gen Z adults, 55% for millennials, 41% for Gen X, and 26% for baby boomers.

The age difference is largest for delivery. Sixty percent of Gen Z adults and 50% of millennials order delivery at least once a week, compared with 35% of Gen X adults and 14% of baby boomers. Thirteen percent of both Gen Z adults and millennials say they order delivery at least once a day. These are person-frequency results, so they should inform channel targeting rather than be converted into a projected order count without a local customer base and order frequency.

Off-premises traffic was 35.4% of full-service traffic and 89.9% of limited-service traffic in 2025

The 2026 State of the Restaurant Industry report presents a Technomic table that measures off-premises share of total customer traffic. In 2025, off-premises represented 35.4% of full-service traffic, up from 12.1% in 2019. It represented 89.9% of limited-service traffic, up from 74.1% in 2019.

The channel mix is different inside each format. In full-service, takeout represented 25.2% of traffic, delivery 9.6%, and drive-thru 0.7% in 2025. In limited-service, takeout represented 43.6%, drive-thru 33.9%, and delivery 12.4%. The commonly repeated nearly 75% off-premises figure is an aggregate statement from NRA press material; it should not replace these format-specific rates or be treated as a universal rate for one restaurant.

Off-premises sales represented a larger share than in 2019 for 45% of full-service operators and 58% of limited-service operators

Among restaurants that were open and offered off-premises service in 2019, 45% of full-service operators said off-premises represented a larger proportion of their total sales in 2025. The comparable limited-service result was 58%. Twenty-three percent of full-service and 24% of limited-service operators said the share was lower, while 31% and 18% said it was about the same.

This is an operator comparison with 2019, not a national off-premises sales percentage. It also does not say why the share changed. A restaurant can grow off-premises sales while losing on-premises sales, or grow both while menu prices rise. Track channel sales in current dollars, orders, covers or customers where available, and inflation-adjusted context before interpreting growth.

Ninety percent would order a wider variety if packaging protected quality

The NRA packaging analysis reports that 90% of off-premises customers would likely order a greater variety of food for takeout or delivery if upgraded packaging helped preserve the temperature, taste, and quality of the food served in the restaurant. The finding is about the menu range customers may be willing to order, not about a 90% increase in sales.

The source recommends testing packaging against temperature, texture, visual appeal, package integrity, and presentation. Restaurants should test the same menu item in several packages over the same travel time, then record complaints, refunds, remakes, repeat orders, and the share of orders in which the item arrives in acceptable condition. Packaging is part of the product experience once the guest leaves the restaurant.

More than half would pay extra for packaging that preserves food quality

More than half of off-premises customers say they would pay extra for takeout and delivery packaging that helps maintain food quality. The figure is 60% among Gen Z and millennial adults. This is willingness to pay, not evidence that a packaging surcharge will be accepted at a particular price.

The safer test is to compare the total contribution of improved packaging with the total contribution of standard packaging. Include the packaging price, food waste, refunds, replacement orders, customer service time, and any change in item attachment. If a premium package protects quality but adds more cost than it recovers, the item or channel may still need redesign before the premium can work.

Speed is critical to 94% of off-premises customers

The NRA's 2025 off-premises research says 94% of consumers consider speed critical, and more than 9 in 10 identify customer service as a top priority. Three-quarters of delivery customers value technology-enabled ordering and payment. These measures describe what customers expect from the channel, not a universal target for minutes from order to handoff.

Measure speed in stages: order acceptance, production start, ready time, pickup or driver handoff, and delivery completion when that data is available. Pair each stage with order accuracy, cancellation, refund, and repeat-order data. A faster process that creates missing items or remakes may lower rather than raise contribution.

Value offers and loyalty programs are part of the channel, not just discounts

About 8 in 10 off-premises customers say they would use value deals such as limited-time offers, buy-one-get-one deals, or discounts during off-peak days and times. The NRA also reports that 65% of drive-thru users and more than 60% of takeout and delivery users say loyalty-program membership affects where they order.

The important comparison is incremental contribution, not redemption volume. For each offer, record the control-period order rate, offer order rate, average ticket, discount, food and packaging cost, payment or platform fees, and repeat rate. A loyalty member who would have ordered anyway is different from a new or reactivated customer, so segment both groups when calculating the result.

Sixty-nine percent of delivery operators see more opportunity than challenge

Among restaurants that offer delivery, 69% say delivery creates more opportunities than challenges. The segment split is 63% for full-service operators and 74% for limited-service operators. The remaining 31% of all delivery operators say delivery creates more challenges, including 37% of full-service and 26% of limited-service operators.

The survey does not identify one universal reason for the difference. In the same report, operators describe delivery as a way to reach customers beyond dining-room capacity, while others point to third-party costs, driver control, communication problems, and limited access to customer data. A delivery decision should therefore be made from channel-level contribution and customer ownership data, not from the opportunity percentage alone.

Delivery access is more common in limited-service restaurants than in full-service restaurants

The 2026 report says 40% of full-service operators and 62% of limited-service operators offer delivery. That is an availability measure, not the percentage of sales or orders delivered. Among all operators, 21% of full-service and 38% of limited-service restaurants allow customers to order through both a third-party delivery service and directly through the restaurant.

The other reported setups are also useful. Third-party-only delivery is available at 13% of full-service and 15% of limited-service restaurants. Direct ordering through the restaurant with delivery by a third-party provider is available at 4% and 5%, while direct ordering with in-house delivery is available at 2% and 4%. The percentages are format-level operator responses and are not a recommendation to use one setup everywhere.

Mobile ordering is used by 57% of adults, with higher use among younger adults

The NRA's 2025 off-premises research summary reports that 57% of adults recently used mobile ordering. The figure rises to 74% among millennials and 65% among Gen Z adults. Older adults are more likely to prefer ordering in person, so the same interface may not serve every customer equally well.

Mobile ordering should be judged as part of a complete ordering path. Track menu views, item searches, abandoned carts, payment failures, completed orders, average ticket, add-on rate, and repeat orders by channel and customer type. A high adoption rate does not show that the interface is profitable if the menu hides profitable items, increases errors, or shifts customers from direct ordering to a more expensive channel.

Bundled meals, meal kits, and subscriptions are the clearest beyond-menu tests

The NRA's 2025 off-premises research summary reports that 67% of consumers are interested in bundled meals, 70% in meal kits, and 62% in subscriptions. The off-premises research also identifies snack items, meal bundles, and alcohol to go as offerings consumers want to see beyond the regular menu.

These figures represent interest, not a forecast of adoption. A bundle should be evaluated against the separate items it replaces or adds: net sales, units, average ticket, food cost, packaging, production minutes, fulfillment time, and repeat purchase. A meal kit adds preparation and instruction requirements, while a subscription adds customer-service and churn requirements; those costs must be included in the local test.

Twenty-four percent of recent takeout and delivery customers included alcohol

The NRA's research on on- and off-premises beverage alcohol reports that 24% of adults who ordered takeout or delivery during the previous six months included an alcohol beverage in the order. Sixty-one percent said they would like more alcohol beverage options when ordering food to go.

This is a channel-specific menu opportunity, not a universal alcohol attachment rate. The source also reports that roughly 9 in 10 operators offered alcohol with takeout orders, while far fewer offered alcohol with delivery. Any test must account for the laws and licensing rules in the restaurant's location, as well as age verification, packaging, leakage, breakage, refunds, and platform restrictions.

Off-premises growth can coexist with a broader restaurant traffic decline

The NRA's June 2026 same-store tracking survey shows why off-premises should not be treated as a guaranteed cure for weak traffic. Fifty-one percent of operators reported higher same-store sales between June 2025 and June 2026, while 31% reported lower sales. For customer traffic, 35% reported an increase and 43% reported a decline. June was the 16th month in the last 17 with a net decline in traffic.

This is a broad restaurant operator survey, not an off-premises channel result, so it cannot prove that delivery caused or prevented the decline. It does establish the context in which off-premises decisions are being made: a restaurant may need incremental occasions, but it must also protect the economics of each order and avoid confusing nominal sales growth with more customer demand.

Your channel dashboard must separate orders, sales, fees, packaging, and contribution

The public sources reviewed here do not provide a universal restaurant benchmark for delivery commission, packaging cost per order, average ticket, order-level labor, refund rate, or contribution margin. Those figures vary by format, menu, geography, platform contract, and operating process. Use the national statistics to frame the opportunity, then build the following local table by channel.

Metric Takeout Drive-thru Delivery Formula or definition
Person frequency 47% weekly in the national survey 42% weekly in the national survey 37% weekly in the national survey Consumer context, not local order share
Order share Enter local POS result Enter local POS result Enter local POS result Channel orders / all orders
Net sales share Enter local POS result Enter local POS result Enter local POS result Channel net sales / total net sales
Average ticket Enter local POS result Enter local POS result Enter local POS result Channel net sales / channel orders
Packaging cost per order Enter local cost Enter local cost Enter local cost Packaging purchases assigned to channel / channel orders
Platform and payment fees Usually payment fees Payment and ordering fees Third-party commission, delivery, and payment fees Total channel fees / relevant gross or net sales base
Order labor cost Picking and handoff minutes Order, kitchen, and window minutes Picking, packing, handoff, and issue-resolution minutes Labor minutes x loaded hourly cost / channel orders
Contribution per order Calculate locally Calculate locally Calculate locally Net sales - product cost - packaging - fees - incremental labor - refunds
Contribution margin Calculate locally Calculate locally Calculate locally Contribution per order / net sales per order

Compare contribution per order, not gross sales per channel

For a local test, calculate channel sales share, order share, average ticket, product cost, packaging cost, platform and payment fees, incremental labor, discounts, refunds, and contribution per order. Keep direct ordering and third-party ordering separate even when the customer receives the same food, because the fee and customer-data economics may differ.

As a worked example only, imagine 100 third-party delivery orders generate $3,000 in gross sales. After $150 in discounts and refunds, net sales are $2,850. If food cost is $1,000, packaging is $120, platform fees are $450, and incremental labor is $200, contribution is $1,080, or $10.80 per order. Contribution margin is 37.9% of net sales. These numbers are not an industry benchmark; they show the calculation that lets an owner compare delivery with takeout, drive-thru, and on-premises orders.

Sources