ISSN: 2395-1664 (ONLINE) ICTACT JOURNAL ON MANAGEMENT STUDIES, NOVEMBER 2019, VOLUME: 05, ISSUE: 04

DOI: 10.21917/ijms.2019.0151

ORDERING OF FOOD THROUGH ONLINE - AN EMPIRICAL STUDY AMONG

YOUNG ADULTS
S. Ramesh Babu1 and R. Arthy2
1
Department of Management Studies, Mepco Schlenk Engineering College, India
2
Department of Information Technology, Kamaraj College of Engineering and Technology, India

Abstract computer and 23 %used text message to order their food. It shows
Todays’ consumers are widely using digital environment to get their that young adults prefer electronic media to order foods than other
required things like, cosmetics, electronic gadgets, entertainment, etc. group of people [4].
Recently consumers started to order foods through online. This induces The popularity of electronic ordering of foods induces the
various service providers to move towards digital environment. There
people to order their foods through online. Easiness to order,
are plenty of service providers who provide services for online food
ordering system and it is highly preferred by young adults whose quick delivery and prompt services encourage the consumers to
population in India is more than other groups. So, the researcher tries use electronic ordering of foods [5]. Domino’s is one among the
to find out the preference of young adults towards online food ordering top five online retailers in US because of the launch of updated
applications. The researcher identified 301 young adults in Madurai online ordering system in the year 2009; this increases the revenue
market by using convenience sampling method and structured of Domino’s.
questionnaire are used to gather data from the young adults. The
Electronic ordering also increases the customer traffic in the
gathered data are analysed by using various analysing tools like, bar
chart, perceptual mapping, chi-square and regression. The finding retailing process. Over 25% of Papa John’s customer traffic
shows that young adults are giving importance to website design and comes from electronic orders [7]. Restaurants can use their own
security while ordering food through online. The researcher also site by considering its ordering potential and also the link with the
concludes that majority of the young adults in Madurai prefer Swiggy electronic ordering engine. If they don’t have much potential then
app to order their food. they can get the orders through multi restaurant sites [8].
The developments in technology and internet facility are
Keywords: aiding people to search, compare and conveniently order the foods
Food ordering app, Website design, Perceptual mapping, Young adults, in online [9]. Based on the survey conducted in 2016, around 95%
Security of the population in United States searched for online food service
information at least once [10], and in 2015 more than one-third of
1. INTRODUCTION AND REVIEW Asia-Pacific population, especially in developing countries,
ordered products via online [11].
In today’s world, every one of us is moving towards digital Internet penetration in the market and responses from the
environment that saves our time. This leads to emerging of consumers’ response widen the opportunity for all kind of
various online services like e-ticketing, e-payment, tele-medicine, business irrespective of its size. Digital money and online banking
e-shopping, e-sharing, etc. In specific people are fond of using facilitated various online businesses. Online food ordering is also
online services for ordering foods, this induces the online service benefited through online banking. The working populations living
providers to develop online services for food delivery. To make in the city are leading busy lifestyle. This online food ordering
their business successful they can digitise their business by system satisfies the needs of those people by taking the orders
developing online applications that satisfy the need of the through online and delivering it within few minutes [12].
consumers [1]. Customers, collaborators, competitors, context, Earlier studies about food ordering dealt with the customer
and company (firm) are five C’s creating major impact in satisfaction and loyalty in offline environment. Later researchers
digitization of business. These five C’s are interface among found that there is a huge potential for interactive and
themselves [2].So, they require an opinion study to quickly reach personalised marketing [13]. When compare to offline food
the people specifically young adults whose population is ordering system, online food ordering system has more
comparatively high in India. This paper helps the online service opportunities for interactive and personalised marketing. The
providers to know the opinion of young adults. In addition, this online retailing is acting as an impulsive shopping channel [14].
paper aims to find out the most preferred online food ordering The online ordering systems help the consumers to select the
application that attracts the young adults and reasons to choose product that matches with their expectation by easily comparing
those applications. with all competitive products [15]. Moreover, receiving
Consumers are ordering foods from the local restaurants via a information from peers through interactive media such as blogs,
web page or app is known as online food ordering which is similar Facebook and Twitter will help in purchase decision making [16].
to the operation of ordering goods through online environment. The researchers recently identified that, customer trust plays a
The online food ordering system is also having cash on delivery major role in online food ordering [17] which will help to
and online payment options. The colossal development of maintain good relation between the service provider and the
technology aids the restaurants and food delivery businesses to customer [18]. While ordering through online consumers are
enter in to online food ordering system [3]. giving importance to privacy, security, information quality and
A technomic study conducted in 2010 with 1,000 adults payment system’s efficiency [19]. In online buying, customer
showed that 43% of people ordered food through online with a

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satisfaction is depending on the trust on the suppliers and the most preferred online food ordering service by asking the
fulfilment of their expectations [20]. respondents to response based on the questionnaire.
Customers are satisfied when the service provider delivers the The questionnaire contains six parts:
ordered items in a prompt manner and services offered by them i) Awareness level
[18] [21]. While shopping through online customers expects three
ii) Most preferred online food delivery app/ website
merits from the website that includes service quality, system
quality and information quality [22]. iii) Convenience of people
Besides, website design is one of the most important factors in iv) Satisfaction level of people
online business environment [23] and thus, service providers v) Opinion on website/app design
make necessary changes and adapt their design that matches the vi) Opinion about the security aspects in online food ordering
market in which they operate [24]. system.
The attitude of people towards online food ordering system The questionnaire is framed in 5 point scale response type
depends on the usefulness and easiness of the online food ordering which has range from 1 to 5 such that 1 means strongly disagree
system, the trust against e-retailers and various external factors and 5 means strongly agree.
[25]. Young adults are using online food ordering system because
of the easiness to access the internet, availability of their desired Awareness level based question is to study the existence of
food and time saving [26]. online food ordering services at Madurai. Most preferred online
food ordering app based questions helped in identifying the app
Both users and non-users are considering the perceived control that is quite often used by the young adults. To study the easiness
and perceived convenience associated with online food ordering of app usage, convenience based questions are framed. On time
service. Higher technology anxiety and more personal interaction service identification is done using prompt delivery based
induce the non-users to avoid online food ordering service [27]. questions. To make online service more popular the webpage of
The advancement in technological environment helps the the website should be attractive. So, questionnaire is framed to
restaurant business to move towards online [28]. study the young adults’ expectation on online food ordering app.
The smart devices are convenient, easy to use and effective. Finally, these services allow users to do online payment where
These features help the customers place the food order through customer requires security to the transaction. So, questionnaire is
online and restaurants can provide better service to their framed based on opinion about the security aspect.
customers [29]. The online food ordering system can improve the Once, the questionnaire is ready, in person survey is done by
customer loyalty and solve the issues by following the legislations elaborating the questionnaire and then opinion is gathered from
framed by the government [30]. 301 young adults at Madurai. Convenience sampling method is
In Indian service sector, hospitality industry plays a major used to decide the sample
role. It contributes more to the growth of the Indian service sector
[31]. In online marketing the online platforms create more market 3. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
opportunities by providing substantial advantage of two way
communication that is differing from traditional marketing
3.1 YOUNG ADULTS WILLINGNESS TOWARDS
communication. Within a period of five years the internet captures
ORDERING FOOD THROUGH ONLINE
50 million users, whereas radio took 38 years, television 13 years
and cable network television 10 years [6] [32] [33]. The opinion study is done at Madurai, concentrate young
adults of age group between 20 and 40 years. Totally 301 samples
1.1 OBJECTIVES are collected from different regions at Madurai. Initially, the
In this research the researcher tries to find out: survey says that there are people at Madurai who are using online
app and those who are not using but willing to use it in future.
• The preferred online food ordering application among young
This basic survey is done in order to proceed further with the
adults in Madurai market.
questionnaire. The Table.1 shows that 57% of respondents are not
• The factors influencing the young adults to select online using online app for food ordering but 65% of 57 % are willing to
food ordering application. use the app in future. This implies that online food ordering
service providers has a great market potential to catch Madurai
2. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY market and establish their service.

The objective of this paper is to identify the popular online Table.1. People Willingness to Online Food Ordering
food ordering application and justifying why it is popular. To Applications
achieve this objective, the opinion study is done at Madurai where
there are massive group of young adults using this kind of Opinion No. of People Willingness in future
application in the southern Tamil Nadu. In addition, in southern Yes 129 129
Tamil Nadu Madurai zone has plenty of online foods ordering No 171 111
service providers.
A structured questionnaire is framed and samples are collected
from Madurai market. The opinion study is conducted to identify

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3.2 CONVENIENCE ASPECT OF ONLINE FOOD 3.4 WEBSITE ASPECT OF ONLINE FOOD
ORDERING APPLICATIONS ORDERING APPLICATIONS
The samples are analysed based on the 6 parts of The main aspect the young adults regarding ordering food
questionnaire. The mean value is calculated and it is showed in through online is website design. This aspect includes aesthetics
Fig.1. of the web page, responsiveness, user friendliness of the website
Online Food Ordering - Convenience and availability of sophisticated menus. The Fig.3 depicts that,
Aspect young adults are giving equal importance to aesthetics of the
3.95 website, responsiveness of the site and displaying the
3.90 sophisticated menu in the website. They also expect the website
3.85 should be user friendly. From this we found that the young adults
3.80 are giving more importance to website design to select their
Mean Value

3.75 service provider.

3.70
Online Food Ordering - Website Aspect
3.65 4.91
3.60
4.90
3.55
4.89
3.50
3.45 4.88

Mean Value
Covenient Dynamic Order from Favourate Discount &
Time Destination Home Restaurant Offer 4.87
Factors 4.86
4.85
Fig.1. Customer Opinion about Convenience Aspect
4.84
The convenience aspect of selecting online food ordering app 4.83
consists of five factors like, convenient time, dynamic location, 4.82
order from home, favourite restaurant, discount and offers. The Aesthetic Responsive User Sophisticated
Friendly Menu
Fig.1 shows that, young adults are giving importance to dynamic Display
destination (i.e.) the service providers have to deliver the foods
Factors
from where the consumers expect followed by the time which is
suitable from them to order, ready to deliver the foods from their Fig.3. Customer Opinion about Website Aspect
favourite restaurant, convenience in placing the order from their
home and also the offers & discounts provided by the service 3.5 SECURITY ASPECT OF ONLINE FOOD
provider. ORDERING APPLICATIONS
3.3 DELIVERY ASPECT OF ONLINE FOOD Another important aspect in selecting online food ordering app
ORDERING APPLICATIONS is security. This also plays a major role in online food ordering
service. This consists of data privacy, secure transaction and
The next important aspect in selecting the online food ordering
secure environment. The Fig.4 show that, consumers are giving
app is based on delivery aspect. This includes; on time delivery,
high priority to secure transaction. They expect that their personal
quality and delivering the ordered foods. The Fig.2 portrays that,
details should be protected. So if the website is fully secured then
young adults are expecting that the service to reach them on time
it will mostly prefer by the consumers.
or within a short span of time with good quality.
Online Food Ordering - Online Food Ordering -
4.20 Delivery Aspect 6.00 Security Aspect

4.10 5.00

4.00
4.00
Mean Value
Mean Value

3.00
3.90
2.00
3.80
1.00
3.70
0.00
Data Privacy Secure Transaction Secure
3.60 Environment
On Time Delivery Quality Ordered Product
Factors
Factors
Fig.4. Customer Opinion about Security Aspect
Fig.2. Customer Opinion about Delivery Aspect

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3.6 SELECTION OF ONLINE FOOD DELIVERY It is inferred from the Table.3 that there is an association
APPLICATIONS between the gender of the young adults and their preferred online
food ordering application. The Fig.6 depicts that female young
The Table.2 describes that, young adults are giving more adults has high level of attraction towards Swiggy than male
importance to website design and then to security of transaction. young adults. One another interesting fact is that no male
Hence, these two factors are considered for drawing perceptual youngadults are using Zomato whereas 34 out of 85 female young
mapping. This mapping gives the most preferred online food adults are using Zomato app for ordering food.
delivery app at Madurai. The Fig.5 portrays that the most
preferred online food ordering app is Swiggy followed by Online Food Apps Preference based on
Zomato, Uber eats and Food panda. 50
Gender

Table.2. Importance Given by People to Select Online Food

Ordering Applications 40
Male
Female
Factors Values 30

Gender
Convenience 3.74
20
Delivery 3.92
Website 4.88
10
Security 4.37

3.7 CONSUMER PERCEPTION ON ONLINE FOOD 0

Swiggy Zomato Uber eats Food Panda
ORDERING APPLICATIONS Online Food Apps
An analysis is done to study the association between gender Fig.6. Gender vs. Preferred Online Applications
and online food delivering app preference by using chi-square.
The Table.3 shows that, the obtained value is 0, which is lesser
3.9 FACTORS INFLUENCING THE YOUNG
than 0.05. So there is significant relationship between gender and
their most preferred online food ordering app.
ADULTS FOR SELECTING ONLINE FOOD
ORDERING APPLICATION
Online Food Delivery Apps - Consumer Perception Researcher used regression analysis to know the impact of
convenience, delivery, website and security for selecting the
Security

online food ordering application.

Swiggy
Table.4. Relationship between the Factors Influence to Select
Zomato Online Food Ordering Application
Coefficient of factors that influence
Sig.
Website Design Factors the buyer to select the online
Value
Uber Eats application
Constant 5.12 0.001
Food Panda
Convenience 0.08 0.053
Delivery 0.15 0.051
Website 2.17 0.015
Fig.5. Consumers Preferred Online Food Ordering Applications Security 1.14 0.016
The Coefficient of factors that influence the buyers to select
3.8 PREFERRED ONLINE FOOD ORDERING online food ordering application is given in Eq.(1):
APPLICATION Y = 0.08X1 + 0.15X2 + 2.17X3 + 1.14X4 + 5.12 (1)
H0: There is an association between the gender of the young where, X1 - Convenience, X2 - Prompt delivery, X3 - Website
adult and their preferred online food ordering application design, X4 - Security
The Table.4 and Fig.7 depicts that Website design is the most
Table.3. Association between the Gender and Their Preferred important factor that influence the consumer to select the online
Online Application food ordering applications followed by Security, Prompt delivery
and Convenience. They are expecting that the website/ application
Significance should be attractive; easy to use also it must have the menu
Factors
Value options of various restaurants. They also expect that their personal
Gender vs. Preferred Online food ordering details should not be shared with others and they expect privacy
0.00
Application while ordering food through online.

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Convenience Journal of Advance Research and Innovative Ideas in

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