The latest NIQ Hospitality at Home Tracker shows like-for-like at-home sales were up just 0.3% in December compared with the same month last year, following flat growth in November.
Powered by CGA Intelligence, the tracker also found that across 2025 at-home sales growth rose above the UL’s inflation rate only two months out of the year.
Delivery sales in December rose 4.1% on a like-for-like basis in December, while takeaway and click-and-collect sales fell 8.4% - the third worst figure of the year.
However, the NIQ Hospitality at Home Tracker revealed significantly stronger growth on a total basis.
Accounting for more than twice the value of takeaways, deliveries represented 11.5p of every £1 spent with restaurants, compared with 4.9p for takeaway and click-and-collect.
Adding in newly opened restaurants, or sites where deliveries and takeaways have been introduced for the first time, December’s sales were 9.5% ahead of the same month in 2024.
“December’s figures round out a challenging year for restaurants in both eat-in and at-home channels,” says Karl Chessell, director of hospitality operators and food, EMEA, at NIQ.
“Total sales growth paints a much brighter picture and shows restaurants are continuing to invest in their delivery capabilities.
“However, any extension of at-home services comes with the risk of squeezing dine-in sales and the need to protect tight margins.