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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.

50 of 91 comments (clear)

  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.

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      Socialism: a lie told by totalitarians and believed by fools.
    3. Re:here's by tsa · · Score: 1

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

      --

      -- Cheers!

    4. 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?

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      Still waiting on Serviscope_minor to wake up to fucking reality and realize that Jessica Price isn't going to fuck him.
    5. 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.........
    6. 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.
    7. Re:here's by Dragonslicer · · Score: 1

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

    8. 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.
    9. Re:here's by Ryanrule · · Score: 1

      Maybe live in a big city.

    10. 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 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.

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  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 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
    2. 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.........
    3. 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.

  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."?

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  5. 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 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.

    3. 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.

      --
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    4. 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.
    5. 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.
  6. 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.
  7. 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 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.

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    4. 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.

    5. 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.
    6. 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.
  8. 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)

  9. 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 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.

  10. Comment removed by account_deleted · · Score: 1

    Comment removed based on user account deletion

  11. Comment removed by account_deleted · · Score: 1

    Comment removed based on user account deletion

  12. 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"?

  13. 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.........
  14. people like pizza.... by jm007 · · Score: 1

    ... for dinner

    +10 Insightful

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

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

  16. 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.
  17. 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.
  18. 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.
  19. 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?