Unusually cold and rainy weather this summer has brought an unexpected boon to home food delivery services and restaurant deliveries, news outlet RBC reported, citing data from search engine Yandex.
As temperatures dropped to new lows and ferocious rains have pummeled Moscow and St. Petersburg, an increasing number of both cities’ residents have opted to stay indoors at their apartments or dachas and order in.
There were seven times more orders for home food deliveries paid through the Yandex.Kassa payment service in Moscow in June compared to the same month the previous year. In St. Petersburg, the number of such orders jumped 18 times.
Coffee shops and restaurants also saw increased demand for their delivery services, with the number of orders rising a whopping 25 times.
Even deliveries of pet food increased — fivefold in Moscow, and threefold in St. Petersburg, compared to June 2016.
Meanwhile, demand for seasonal items such as skateboards, sunglasses and bathing suits fell by as much as 40 percent. Demand for air conditioners in Moscow dropped by 78 percent in June, according to Yandex.Market, but demand for home heaters went up.
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