In today’s digital landscape, the online food industry is teeming with fierce competition, with a multitude of companies and platforms vying for the attention of users searching for or ordering food online. The likes of Google Maps, Yelp, are competing with food delivery applications Uber Eats, Deliveroo and Restaurant software ventures like Flipdish and LunchBox, further intensify the battle for user engagement. In such a saturated market, the question arises: How can a company distinguish itself and effectively captivate and monetize a larger user base?
According to Lieferando GM Katharina Hauke: “Hungry Austrians and Germans feel more attracted by high-quality and beautiful food photos – the anticipation of the delicious meal is even greater and your mouth waters!”
When it comes to ordering food, looking at yummy pictures online is the most popular way to check out a restaurant’s menu. That’s why restaurant delivery apps need to step up their game and use lots of photos on their platforms. By focusing on showing off better menus with more mouthwatering pictures, and making sure those pictures are top-notch quality, companies can stand out from the crowd and get ahead of their competition.
Increasing the number of food photos grows online orders and delivery app conversion rates. A study by LimeTray shows that menu conversion rates increase by over 25% when menus use images.
DoorDash has its own data: in a study of over 15,000 small restaurants on the platform, menus with item photos saw up to 44% more monthly sales.
OCUS, the leader in mass photography and AI-enhanced pictures, shares that there is: 40% increase in orders for menu items with professional images vs. no images in APAC with foodpanda and 70% increase in sales revenue for restaurants with images vs. without in North America with Grubhub!
OK pictures are very important! Imagine what can be achieved when AI comes into the game.
Of course, the world of food styling already employs all sorts of trickery to make food look more appetizing, and the Big Mac you see in the McDonald’s commercial is a good example for this.
Thibaud Lemonnier CEO OCUS: “Working with our food tech clients, we knew the future was a blend of professional photography, user-generated content, and AI image solutions. The highest-converting images will be touched by AI in some way, so we have heavily invested in our vision of providing a 360-degree imagery platform that leverages AI and photographers to drive performance for our clients.”
