Pickup vs Delivery in Lagos: Which Is Faster and Cheaper?

Delivery apps made it normal to have food brought to you. But in Lagos, delivery comes with two costs people stop noticing: the fees, and the wait.

If the food spot is a short walk or drive away, picking it up yourself is often faster and cheaper. Here's how the two compare.

Cost

With delivery, you usually pay a delivery fee and a service fee, and menu prices on delivery apps are sometimes higher than in the shop.

With pickup on Needplug, you pay the food spot's own menu price plus a small service fee. There is no delivery fee.

For a single lunch the difference can look small. Over a month of lunches it adds up.

Time

Delivery time has three parts: the kitchen preparing your food, a rider being found, and the rider getting through traffic to you. Any of them can stretch, and you can't control them.

Pickup has one part: the kitchen. You get a notification when your order is ready, and the rest is your own walk or drive.

If you're within about ten minutes of the food spot, pickup usually wins.

The food itself

Food that sits in a delivery bag in traffic arrives cooler and softer than it left the kitchen. Fries, shawarma, suya and anything fried suffer most.

When you collect it yourself the moment it's ready, it's as fresh as it will get.

When delivery is the better choice

Pickup isn't always right. Delivery makes more sense when:

• The food spot is far from you.
• You can't leave where you are.
• The weather or traffic makes going out a bad idea.

When pickup is the better choice

• The food spot is near your office, campus or home.
• You're already passing by.
• You want to pay less.
• You want your food hot.
• You're ordering at lunchtime, when queues and delivery waits are both at their worst.

The best of both

Ordering ahead for pickup gives you the convenience of ordering on your phone without the delivery wait or fee. You order, pay, get told when it's ready, and collect with a code.

See food spots near you on Needplug.