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7 PM and 2 AM Are Peak Demand Times For Pizza, Study of Internet Traffic Finds (bbc.co.uk)

Posted by msmash on from the how-about-that dept.

Seven o'clock in the evening is a global sweet spot for wanting to order take-away food, says an international study of internet traffic. From a report: Academics have examined patterns of looking for food online, such as pizza or Chinese meals, across the UK, US, Canada, Australia and India. They found that a similar "twin peaks" pattern appeared in all countries - at 7pm in the evening and then at 2am. The study suggests ancient "foraging" behaviour has now switched online. This big data research from biologists at the University of Aberdeen, to be published by the Royal Society, has tracked how the search for food takes place online. You can find the study here.

91 comments

  1. here's by Tsolias · · Score: 3, Funny

    your $2 million research fund and here's the PhD.

    1. Re:here's by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      imagine how many diseases we could have cured if we forced people to do real research instead of sjw friendlly pop-research. not to mention how many bright minds are scared away by them and having their jobs replaced by robots and outsourcing.

    2. Re:here's by lgw · · Score: 3, Informative

      Heck, anyone who's worked at a pizza delivery place knows 7PM is the peak. Most places are closed by 2AM though, even on weekends, so I'm a bit suspicious of that result.

      --
      Socialism: a lie told by totalitarians and believed by fools.
    3. Re: here's by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I'm not inclined to do research for super dumb people such as yourself. So respectfully, just fuck off.

    4. Re:here's by tsa · · Score: 1

      That is after going out has finished and people are hungry.

      --

      -- Cheers!

    5. Re:here's by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Creimer is still posting. He's just not trolling.

    6. Re: here's by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Not if you live in a big modern city

    7. Re:here's by Khyber · · Score: 1

      Do you even live in a moderately-sized city? 1:45AM is last-call for most barflies in most states. Guess what you usually want to do after a lot of drinking come 2AM?

      --
      Still waiting on Serviscope_minor to wake up to fucking reality and realize that Jessica Price isn't going to fuck him.
    8. Re:here's by cayenne8 · · Score: 1

      Do you even live in a moderately-sized city? 1:45AM is last-call for most barflies in most states. Guess what you usually want to do after a lot of drinking come 2AM?

      Some bars in New Orleans don't even close at all.....

      You just order your last drink to go, and order a pizza when you do eventually go home....etc.

      --
      Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.........
    9. Re:here's by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Dude, not only that, but this guy had to wait until they invented the Internet in order to conduct the research. Pizza was invented, pizza delivery was invented, but this guy couldn't do squat until they invented the Internet.

    10. re: here's by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I worked for a national pizza chain for years, at different stores in the same large city. Study matches business patterns i saw reasonably well. Peak dinner rush local time varied based on season, location, weather, ect, but was typically between 6pm and 7pm. Locations open until 2am always got a huge pop at 2, sometimes doing more business late night than during dinner hours especially on Thursday night. Most locations that closed earlier saw a small rush 15-30 minutes before close, from people that wanted to order as late as possible.

    11. Re:here's by jellomizer · · Score: 1

      Hey, This can revolutionize the industry.
      Make sure there is adequate staffing at these hours and have the business hours extended.

      I would think peak demand times for pizza would be 12:00 and 6:00. If I were to own a Pizza Shop Ill have hours of 11 am - 9 pm.

      But this study with the 2:00am surge, would lead me to possibly change my model a bit.
      While I wouldn't have intuitively guessed the 2:00am hearing about it makes sense. As Pizza is often the meal for when you are late (7:00PM late dinner hour) and 2:00am having pulling an all nigher having feeling hungry for an other meal.

      --
      If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
    12. Re:here's by Dragonslicer · · Score: 1

      Others mentioned medium to large cities, but have you also never heard of colleges?

    13. Re:here's by lgw · · Score: 1

      I've lived in a half-dozen large cities, and never seen a pizza place deliver past 2AM. Is this some NY/Chicago thing?

      --
      Socialism: a lie told by totalitarians and believed by fools.
    14. Re:here's by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Wow bars in the US close early!

      As for the 2am peak: there's definitely an early morning kebab peak as drunk people call it a night, so it wouldn't be at all surprised if there was a pizza peak as well. In fact might as well call it a 2am any greasy fast food you can get your hands on peak!

    15. Re:here's by Ryanrule · · Score: 1

      Maybe live in a big city.

    16. Re:here's by Ryanrule · · Score: 1

      In Chicago bars can close at 4 so..

  2. simple explanation by nimbius · · Score: 4, Funny

    Developer: its 7 PM and Im sure no one will mind if i patch this bug before I leave for vacation. better grab a quick slice of pie!
    Sysadmin: Its 3 AM and the event servers are all down, the database servers are all reporting max disk, and our payment card processing company has us flagged as a war criminal. Someone order a pizza and charge it to the last dev in git blame, while I rebuild this ZFS pool. again.

    --
    Good people go to bed earlier.
    1. Re:simple explanation by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Except there's probably not enough developers for that to actually be the reason.

      More like:

      7pm - OK, what's for dinner?
      2am - drunk and looking for something to sop it up.

      Pretty much once the bars close is when you'll see the spike for pizza.

    2. Re:simple explanation by pr0fessor · · Score: 2

      This is exactly it and when I was in college I managed a convenience store I already knew this, no one had to research it they could have just asked the businesses. They have been keeping records of trends like this for years so they could make sure they had enough people staffed and stock ready. They already have names for these peak times Dinner and Bar Rush.

      I hope no one paid for this study. On the internet doesn't change the behavior it just makes it easier which isn't an unexpected result either.

    3. Re:simple explanation by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      They already have names for these peak times Dinner and Bar Rush.

      I wonder if this is a case of academics failing to recognise patterns which have existed for a long time, and thinking "oh my god, look what the internet did".

      As you say, this has been a known thing for a long time.

      On the internet doesn't change the behavior it just makes it easier which isn't an unexpected result either.

      Yeah, no shit ... I'm betting that other than some people do this online, the overall incidence of people ordering pizza at 2am isn't really changed.

      People order pizza when the bars close, which is no surprise to anybody. The interwebs doesn't really add any insights to this fact.

    4. Re:simple explanation by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      no one had to research it they could have just asked the businesses.

      No, we needed a reason to invent the Internet. This study was it.

    5. Re:simple explanation by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0


      This is exactly it and when I was in college I managed a convenience store I already knew this, no one had to research it they could have just asked the businesses.

      Asking businesses is called "research". This study was conducted across 3 continents, and 4 countries, so it's more than what you already suspected having worked briefly at a convenience store. The fact that it's not surprising doesn't mean the research shouldn't have been conducted. If we just assume "what we already know" all the time, we'd still be drilling holes in our heads to let the demons out. Research is about finding those cases where what we suspected from anecdotal evidence wasn't true, or broadening the scope of a suspicion into something more broad, across the globe.

      I hope no one paid for this study. On the internet doesn't change the behavior it just makes it easier which isn't an unexpected result either.

      "on the internet" is just a cheap way to do research. Calling hundreds or thousands of different take-out food places across 4 countries is expensive. Using Google to find search patterns is really cheap. This study probably cost a month of two grad students time.

    6. Re:simple explanation by AmiMoJo · · Score: 1

      Reminds me of a study that found that cows that were given names had better health and produced more milk. Won some kind of "stupid research" award but actually it was a quite insightful bit of research on farm animal welfare which looked at a huge number of factors, including if the farmer named their cows.

      As can be seen from the summary (I know no-one reads those so I'll forgive you) this was actually a study into how ancient foraging behaviour in humans relates to the way people buy take-away food online. From TFS:

      The pattern revealed clear evening double-peaks, occurring every day at 19.00 and 02.00. The patterns were consistent across search terms, days of the week and geographical locations, suggesting a common ISB rhythm that is not necessarily culture-dependent.

      --
      const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
      SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
  3. I order after I get home from the bart by pgmrdlm · · Score: 2

    So, that would be around 10pm for me. Guess I get it faster because I missed the rush of orders during peak time. Wish the place where I get sushi delivered.

    --
    Anonymous comments are as pathetic as the anonymous "sources" that contaminate gutless journalism from the New York Time
    1. Re:I order after I get home from the bart by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      So, that would be around 10pm for me. Guess I get it faster because I missed the rush of orders during peak time. Wish the place where I get sushi delivered.

      Sushi take out? Man, you are brave... But Uber Eats will likely work for you..

    2. Re:I order after I get home from the bart by pgmrdlm · · Score: 1

      Lol, you made me second guess that comment. Your right, take out sushi is a scary thought.

      --
      Anonymous comments are as pathetic as the anonymous "sources" that contaminate gutless journalism from the New York Time
    3. Re:I order after I get home from the bart by cayenne8 · · Score: 1

      Lol, you made me second guess that comment. Your right, take out sushi is a scary thought.

      Yeah...you might as well get it out of a gas station....

      --
      Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.........
    4. Re:I order after I get home from the bart by tlhIngan · · Score: 1

      So, that would be around 10pm for me. Guess I get it faster because I missed the rush of orders during peak time. Wish the place where I get sushi delivered.

      Yes, this data is valuable because you can avoid the rush and get your pizza faster, hotter and fresher. During peak delivery periods, they would have to produce several orders at once for a single delivery run and thus where you lived determined how long the pizza is sitting in the delivery vehicle. Avoiding the peak periods means the kitchen makes the pizza and it's delivered straight to your door since you're the only order at the time.

    5. Re:I order after I get home from the bart by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It all depends on finding the right place. I have a sushi restaurant near me that has excellent sushi, possibly even the best around. I order online, pay with a credit card (tip included), ~30 minutes later someone shows up at my door with a bag of deliciousness. And I love that the at-the-door interaction is basically just "here's your food, have a nice day".

      Although there is one driver who keeps on asking me to sign the credit card slip, even though it's not a slip for signing so there is no place to sign... Go figure.

  4. foraging behavior by xxxJonBoyxxx · · Score: 2

    >> The study suggests ancient "foraging" behaviour has now switched online

    In between we discovered, you know, agriculture and retailing. Spoiler alert!

    1. Re:foraging behavior by tsa · · Score: 1

      That is why you don't often find starved people behind their laptops, who died during foraging.

      --

      -- Cheers!

    2. Re:foraging behavior by Calydor · · Score: 1

      Simpler yet. We get hungry at specific times of day. In the morning before we set out to do whatever the hell we do, whether foraging or hunting or farming or smithing or whatever job one has had through the ages. Around noon, possibly as an aid to take a break, gather your thoughts, and restore energy. And then again in the evening before dark since we're about to be unconscious for several hours and can't take a quick snack in the meantime.

      I wonder about the work hours these researchers have. Do they not have 8-16 or 9-17 jobs? No one in their family does? It's not common for them to be home around 6-7 pm and go, "I don't wanna deal with cooking. Hey Google, order me a pizza."?

      --
      -=This sig has nothing to do with my comment. Move along now=-
  5. any chance... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    ...of the report?

  6. 2 am? by Frankie70 · · Score: 1

    In my country, Pizza Hut & Dominos don't deliver after 11pm except on Friday & Saturday when deliver up 12:00. Most local shops also close by the same time.

    1. Re:2 am? by Opportunist · · Score: 2

      Get a better country. :)

      --
      We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
    2. Re:2 am? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Get a better country. :)

      He's in Baltimore.

    3. Re:2 am? by Anubis+IV · · Score: 2

      In most states of the US bars close at 2am, meaning that a large number of people suddenly have nothing going on at the same time. I'd wager that, of the things to do after the bars close, a large number of them show elevated levels of activity right after bars close, regardless of where you live, simply because of the influx of people.

    4. Re: 2 am? by houghi · · Score: 1

      Where I live people who would order at that timee are still drinking in a bar close to a shoarma shop. They will have pizza as well.You take it home yourself when you go home at 05:00

      If I get home at 02:00 I would have problems finding my bed, let alone my phone. If I am sober, I would not order pizza.And the 19:00 peak. I rather go to a pizzeria and sit down with a gkass of wine.

      --
      Don't fight for your country, if your country does not fight for you.
    5. Re:2 am? by Opportunist · · Score: 1

      Oh. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make fun of the locationally challenged.

      --
      We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
    6. Re:2 am? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      In my country, Pizza Hut & Dominos don't deliver after 11pm except on Friday & Saturday when deliver up 12:00.

      Wow, your country has crappy pizza and crappy delivery times ... I wouldn't spend my own money on either of those two, because they're crap.

    7. Re:2 am? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Pizza Hut & Dominos

      Get better pizza...

    8. Re:2 am? by Locke2005 · · Score: 1

      Pizza My Heart used to sell pizza by the slice on the Esplanade in Capitola By The Sea. And yes, when the Esplanade bars closed, there was a line out the door and down the block! Always an interesting experience...

      --
      I've abandoned my search for truth; now I'm just looking for some useful delusions.
    9. Re:2 am? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Get a better country. :)

      I'd call and order one, but it's only 6:30 pm so wouldn't get those sweet peak time delay discounts.

    10. Re:2 am? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      And yes, when the Esplanade bars closed, there was a line out the door and down the block!

      Honestly, go to any town with an entertainment district, or in the case of a college down the drinking district ... what you'd find is there is an entire cottage industry around feeding people where large numbers of drunk people congregate once the bars close.

      That someone has now confirmed that "dinner time" and "after the bars close" correspond to increased ordering in pizza ... well, let's just say I'm not overwhelmed with the novelty of the research.

      In fact, I'd say the entire mention of "internet traffic" is specious, other than it might suggest more people do this via an app these days.

      And, again, the use of apps is hardly breaking news.

      This entire research can be summed up as "some people order pizza for dinner, and some people order pizza after they get kicked out of the bar at the end of the night" combined with "increasingly, people do this on their phone".

      Holee fuck, didn't see that one coming.

    11. Re: 2 am? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Welcome to Australia, where you will pay more for poor service and like it!

    12. Re:2 am? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Get better foods...

  7. Folks reall have "time" by bogaboga · · Score: 1

    They found that a similar "twin peaks" pattern appeared in all countries - at 7pm in the evening and then at 2am.

    So, of all problems this world faces, these folks find time to study this?

    On the other hand, someone should tell me why this finding is relevant to Slashdot because I do not see how it is.

    1. Re:Folks reall have "time" by Opportunist · · Score: 1

      Simple: Next time you pull an all-nighter binge coding, you know when NOT to order your pizza.

      --
      We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
    2. Re:Folks reall have "time" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Just looking for easy to confirm things to show they can get accurate results, and get more funding. Obviously most research of this manner is a complete waste of time, but if they can pull in public money to do it, why not?

    3. Re:Folks reall have "time" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Thank you! Hadn't thought of this...To the coders here, this info is meaningful.

  8. Here's an idea for a new study... by The+Original+CDR · · Score: 2

    I live down the street from a pizza joint and the delivery guy always deliver my pizza last. Why?

    1. Re:Here's an idea for a new study... by Opportunist · · Score: 4, Funny

      How much do you tip?

      --
      We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
    2. Re:Here's an idea for a new study... by The+Original+CDR · · Score: 2

      About 20%. Most of the delivery drivers are senior citizens.

    3. Re:Here's an idea for a new study... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      No, you don't. We can all see through the fact that you added a zero to the actual number.

    4. Re:Here's an idea for a new study... by Calydor · · Score: 1

      Because there is more perceived loss of time driving back empty from the customer farthest (furthest? I'm never sure about those two) from the pizza place than from the nearest. The whole trip may take the exact same time, it's all in the psychology of it.

      --
      -=This sig has nothing to do with my comment. Move along now=-
    5. Re:Here's an idea for a new study... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      most the time, absolutely nothing. i buy by the slice from a cart or counter and whole pies are always carry-out -- never delivery and very, very rarely, eat-in.

    6. Re:Here's an idea for a new study... by Dragonslicer · · Score: 1

      farthest (furthest? I'm never sure about those two)

      Farther and Farthest are typically used to compare physical distance. Further is typically used to mean some variation of "additional", though it can also be used for physical distance, depending on what guide you follow.

    7. Re:Here's an idea for a new study... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Moderated just for the niceness of this post! This, folks, is how we should be around here!!

    8. Re:Here's an idea for a new study... by Locke2005 · · Score: 1

      You know if you pick up the pizza yourself from Domino's it's half the cost, right?

      --
      I've abandoned my search for truth; now I'm just looking for some useful delusions.
    9. Re:Here's an idea for a new study... by Opportunist · · Score: 1

      And as long as you keep handing them 20% for being the last one on the route, you'll remain the last one on the route. If your behaviour doesn't change based on my behaviour, there is no reason for me to change my behaviour.

      --
      We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
  9. 2? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Must be wrong because no one is up a 2 but drunks getting let out of waterholes.

    1. Re:2? by cayenne8 · · Score: 1

      Must be wrong because no one is up a 2 but drunks getting let out of waterholes.

      It is the drunks and stoners that are ORDERING the pizzas at 2am....

      --
      Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.........
    2. Re:2? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Stoned AND up a 2? Don't think so.

    3. Re:2? by Locke2005 · · Score: 1

      Depends on what you're stoned on, but it's not out-of-the-ordinary to be up all night on pot.

      --
      I've abandoned my search for truth; now I'm just looking for some useful delusions.
  10. Nothing open at 2AM by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Interesting, but unfortuante that where I live nothing much is open at 2AM, especially pizza or anything delivery. The options that late her are fastfood burgers, mexican food, or the scatter diners like IHOb/Denny's/Jims.

    1. Re:Nothing open at 2AM by Locke2005 · · Score: 1

      Taco Bell is open until 3AM for a REASON!!! (People get munchies when the bars close.)

      --
      I've abandoned my search for truth; now I'm just looking for some useful delusions.
  11. Not to mention.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    TFA can't even be bothered to describe it as bimodal. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multimodal_distribution)

  12. Foraging behaviour. Yeah. Right. by Opportunist · · Score: 2

    This is it. Not that people get home around 7pm and dopeheads getting the munchies have few other convenient options after midnight.

    --
    We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
    1. Re:Foraging behaviour. Yeah. Right. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      educate yourself man. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mfXGpVi-YRs

    2. Re:Foraging behaviour. Yeah. Right. by dcollins117 · · Score: 1

      Not a dopehead but I do keep some unusual hours. It astounds me that even though I live in a "college town" my only options for prepared food between the hours of 1 and 5 am are McDonalds and an all-night diner a few towns over. I've omitted the all night convenience stores because I'm not suicidal.

  13. what time zone? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Is that daylight saving time, or standard time?

  14. Comment removed by account_deleted · · Score: 1

    Comment removed based on user account deletion

  15. Comment removed by account_deleted · · Score: 1

    Comment removed based on user account deletion

  16. Hmm by cascadingstylesheet · · Score: 1

    I pick up a pizza for the family on the way home from work fairly often.

    I don't even call, much less go online.

    Sounds like this tells us about online behavior ...

    The other thing that comes to mind is: isn't 7PM like, the evening meal time in many countries? How is "getting something for dinner" the same as "foraging"?

  17. Cash is more important than cures. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    This is "Real Research" the money is in analyzing data, which is what this really is a study in. Not when are people ordering pizza.
    You have to pick something that is mesurable and it helps if you apply your methods to something that can be verified.

    Sure the study is done under the auspices of foraging behavior and changes influenced by use of the Interwebs, but we all know this id about marketing.

    As for curing diseases, there is no money in that. The people who pay for the research are only interested in helping people when it is to get money out of thier pockets.

  18. people like pizza.... by jm007 · · Score: 1

    ... for dinner

    +10 Insightful

  19. Who would think by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    that people order the most pizza between dinner time and when the pizza place closes. Shocking.

  20. This analysis is a joke by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The basic conclusions are fine - look at the data and there you are - but the fits in their analysis are complete nonsense. They fit a straight line to searches for pizza vs day of week, when it's quite clear that a straight line neither describes the data nor has any justification as a model for the data. The Circwave fits to the time of day data are similarly nonsense.

    But that's what happens when biologists try to do data analysis.

  21. Google trends by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Just ask Google Trends:

    https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?date=now%207-d&geo=US&q=Pizza

  22. Pizza "pizza" by linear+a · · Score: 2

    7 pm is Pizza. 2 am is "Pizza" on the receipt.

  23. Different Shifts by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    It's almost like there are two populations that exist: people who work 9-5 and get dinner around 6-7 PM and then the people who work in the service industry who get off after midnight and their late night pizza is their only take out option if they don't cook.

  24. SLALON by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Seems Like A Lack Of News.

  25. Duh! by Locke2005 · · Score: 2

    7pm is dinner time, and 2am is when the bars closed. I could have guessed this result without spending a penny of research money! What's more surprising is the day of the year the most pizza deliveries are done on: Halloween.

    --
    I've abandoned my search for truth; now I'm just looking for some useful delusions.
    1. Re:Duh! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      For me, 7pm is a late dinner. At 7pm it more a 'damn, I haven't had dinner. I don't want to cook this late. I'll just order something'. If I'm cooking a dinner I'd be eating it around 5:30pm.

      But, yeah, 2am is pub closing time. Wasn't there a similar statistic showing that more HD TVs are purchased online at 2am or 3am than an other times during the day? Again, linked to pub closing hours, and people having watched 'the match' on the big TV in the pub, so they order one for themselves (while drunk).

  26. Okay, but by reboot246 · · Score: 1

    "7pm in the evening" is redundant. Or is there a 7pm in the morning I don't know about?

    1. Re:Okay, but by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It's redundant to make it applicable to other time zones.

  27. My People! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I too forage for pizza at 7 pm and 2 am. Also at many other times of the day (and night).