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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.

15 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 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.
  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. 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
  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!

  5. 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.

  6. 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.
  7. 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.
  8. 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.

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

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

  10. 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.