The same people who have a $500 car lease, $900 smart phone, $65/month in subscription streaming services, blah blah blah
The other thing to think about is people are probably just shifting money from eating out, to delivery. I mean you could go to Chili's and spend $50 for two people, or you could get Chipotle delivered for $30.
I would say the same thing about very few Americans being able to afford a $25 per person visit to Chili’s, outside of special occasions, but I understand what you’re saying.
I don’t think “very few” is the right way to look at this - the US is a very wealthy country. In 2019, something like 42 million Americans - not much below the population of Spain - had incomes over $100,000 (the 87th income percentile was $100,478). Almost all of those people are able to afford a $25pp visit to Chili’s outside of a special occasion!
I prefer to use non tax advantaged savings (aka emergency fund amounts) as a more accurate metric for being able to afford luxuries. If you’re living close to paycheck to paycheck , I would say you can’t afford to pay $25 per person per meal, regardless if you earn $100k or $50k.
My overarching point being that if people can barely afford the current VC subsidized food delivery prices, what is the possible market size for non VC subsidized food delivery?
Edit: I don’t see a source for 42M Americans having incomes over $100k per year. This source says 15.5% of US households had incomes over $100k, and at 128M households, that is 20M households with incomes over $100k.
If you’re making $100k but have no savings, maybe your money is being spend on trips to Chili’s. Of course it’s not literally that, but an individual having no savings but high income doesn’t mean that they can’t spend money - it means that they do.
I went to lunch with a girl who worked at a Bestbuy. She spent the entire time trying out figure out how the a group of current BestBuy employees nearby at the restaurant could afford the food (overpriced $20 meal) for such a causal meal.
My former landlord financed everything she ever did, including her damn electronics she would throw away or break in a year. She was a widow, on social security and was cheated out of a pension. I have no idea how her monthly payments weren't thousands per month.
Americans fucking suck at financial literacy and trap themselves in debt pits. Alternatively, people spend themselves silly without stepping back and realizing their savings is staying at $0 by living larger than they should if they want savings to go up.
"Few" in the relative sense compared to other Americans, but "lots" in the sense of raw numbers because America is so large.
There are also the shrinking frugal demographic like me who can afford a $25 burrito, but out of principle would absolutely not pay that much for a bunch of beans wrapped in a tortilla, microwaved for 1 minute.
>> the US is a very wealthy country. In 2019, something like 42 million Americans - not much below the population of Spain - had incomes over $100,000
Yet, 4 out of 5 Americans live paycheck to paycheck, and 3 in 10 have no emergency savings at all.
The numbers will vary based upon what study/report you read, but the message is clear that the majority of people are not making financially sound decisions.
What you're saying is however not in disagreement with the comment you are replying to!
Living paycheck to paycheck can happen even if you're making 400-500k. I've seen people do it.
You can have no emergency savings (at all) and be making $100k+.
It's pretty easy - spend everything you have (often on "dumb" things like expensive takeout for every meal, a lease on a car you don't need, more house than you can afford, refreshing electronics constantly for no reason, etc.).
The reasons usually boil down to lack of emotional regulation and/or bad spending habits, not lack of income - though it is easier to do with low income, as the margins are smaller.
I'm curious as to where you live. Here in the Bay Area, pretty much every casual dining has a wait on Fri/Sat/Sun (pre-pandemic of course). Places like Chilis with an average $25pp and places like Korean BBQ, where it's closer to $40pp.
Same thing in Seattle, Los Angeles, Portland, NYC, Chicago, pretty much any major city. Which is also where a lot of economic activity comes from.
The other thing to think about is people are probably just shifting money from eating out, to delivery. I mean you could go to Chili's and spend $50 for two people, or you could get Chipotle delivered for $30.