Blog Post 1: Existing Takeaway Food Delivery Services/Industry

I researched existing Takeaway Food Delivery Services to find out about my competition, their USP's, branding and marketing strategies and to learn about the process of these businesses. It also helped me to gain an understanding of how the app and system of ordering works, and why these brands have been successful. This meant my brand could also follow these conventions and be equally successful. Therefore I would be able to find conventions of these services and a gap in the market for my own service and advertising campaign.

My sources were;

Wikipedia

Marketing Weekly Magazine

just eat target audience PDF

The business oftech

future work technologies

Just Eat PLC

BBC News

Deliveroo Website

JustEat Website

Ubereats Website
McKinsey & Co

In my research, I looked at various food delivery companies who operate or operated in the UK. These were Deliveroo, Ubereats, JustEat and HungryHouse. I looked into each brands history, why they are successful, how they each work and their impacts on society and their clientele. £9.9bn were spent last year in the takeaway food industry and for every £1 that UK consumers spent on food, 12p is spent on takeaways. This shows the clear demand for the service of food delivery through a centralised app or system; with choice, convenience and speed a clear priority. On these apps, customers can pick categories of food, particular restaurants, browse menus, order food, leave and read reviews and securely pay for their orders. This centralisation of delivery food incorporates all components of food delivery and merges them together for speed, efficiency and the best possible experience.

These food delivery companies may also help local businesses to thrive in the saturated and highly competitive market of takeaway and restaurants. In major cities where property is expensive and running costs are high, smaller companies may struggle to stay afloat. Food delivery companies help increase the number of meals going out, advertise your business in ways small businesses would not be able to do independently and gives the business a larger potential clientele over a larger catchment.

JustEat is the largest food delivery service in the world; it is an online food order and delivery service who work with independent takeout food outlets as well as larger chains such as Subway KFC and Burger King. Their HQ is in London and they operate in 13 countries. The company's vision is to 'deliver convenience' as they save the hassle of cooking or ordering directly with a restaurant. They aim to advertise to a target market of 16-34 of web-savvy young professionals using a range of PR stunts, restaurant marketing, TV commercials, social following, product placement and sponsorship. JustEat sponsor the X Factor which gives the company national advertising, awareness and product placement for an average audience of 5.7 - 6.1 million people. They also sponsor Derby Football Club and the Borris Bike scheme in Edinburgh to appeal on a local scale and seem supportive of British initiatives. They have recently increased media spend for further coverage and to increase appeal to various target audiences.

To become a restaurant represented by JustEat, restaurants have to pay a £699 one-off joining fee. This joins their business to the app. The commission fee is 13%-14% per sale. They currently have over 100,000 restaurant partners, 24 million customers worldwide and each restaurant receives an average of 2,300 orders a year through the website. Part of this price also includes the provision of delivery drivers from JustEat. JustEat also takes part in vertical integration through acquisition to eradicate competition and integrate and grow the brand. This helps the company to quickly expand over many different countries as existing business and system has already been set up and established in the area.

Food Inspector in Ealing Takeaway Kitchen

Recently, JustEat has been under fire after a BBC News study discovered 20 out of 31 takeaway shops with a health rating of 0 are advertised and partnered with Just Eat and in Manchester, London and Bristol 50% of takeaway shops with a health rating of 0 were partnered with the brand. This sparked mass fury as the brand is so far doing nothing to highlight this issue on the app and are consequently selling food of unfit standard to the public. This shows a clear oversight from the company which commented they are, "actively working to raise standards".

As a result of my research, I have found the information about general demand for the service, the USP's and visions of the existing brands, benefits for the community and specific business models for companies such as JustEat, imperative in moving forward with my project. They influence the direction of my project as I can now identify successful aspects of the food delivery service and also USP's and gaps in the market for my own brand. This will help me to develop a marketing strategy and a subsequent advertising campaign. This research will be used to help me form my advert proposals and fulfill my brief.