DELIVERY-ONLY RESTAURANT BRANDS SEE PANDEMIC-FUELED GROWTH

Do you know which restaurant cooked the meal you just had delivered? Increasingly, it can be hard to tell.

Delivery-only brands — cooked in another brand’s kitchen and often delivered by third parties like Uber Eats — were proliferating even before the pandemic. They’re an inexpensive way for restaurants to try a new concept or fill a need in the community; a burger place might try making tacos under a different name, for example.

But over the last year, delivery-only brands have seen explosive growth as the pandemic made delivery a more popular option. Big restaurant chains are now joining the fray, hoping to win new customers as traffic in their dining rooms dwindles.

Applebee’s is launching Cosmic Wings, a deliveryonly brand that specializes in chicken wings and Cheetos-flavored dipping sauce. Uber Eats will deliver the brand from 1,300 Applebee’s kitchens.

It’s joining a crowded market. Denny’s is rolling out two virtual brands — The Burger Den and The Meltdown — in the first half of this year. Chuck E. Cheese started delivery-only Pasqually’s Pizza and Wings last March. In the last few months, Chili’s launched It’s Just Wings, TGI Fridays cooked up Conviction Chicken and Carrabba’s Italian Grill began delivering Tender Shack chicken sandwiches.

Celebrities are even getting in on the trend. Tyga Bites, a chicken nugget brand from rapper Tyga, and Mariah’s Cookies, backed by singer Mariah Carey, are among the brands offered by Virtual Dining Concepts, a new company that sets up delivery-only brands in restaurant kitchens. Coming soon: Mario’s Tortas Lopez and Pauly D’s Italian Subs.

Uber Eats says it has more than 10,000 deliveryonly restaurants on its platform, up from 3,000 in 2019. More than half of that growth has come from national chains, the company said. Grubhub and DoorDash won’t say how many delivery-only brands are on their platforms.

Scott Gladstone, Applebee’s vice president of strategy and development, said making Cosmic Wings its own brand lets Applebee’s target customers it might not reach with its regular menu, where wings are one of nearly a dozen appetizers.

“This gives it the best chance to stand out on its own,” Gladstone said.

With dining rooms shuttered in the pandemic, Applebee’s and other sit-down restaurants had to quickly shift their emphasis to carryout and delivery. NPD Group, which tracks U.S. restaurant sales, says delivery now makes up 11% of restaurant sales, up 86% since the pandemic began.

In some cases, delivery-only brands have become big businesses of their own. Brinker International, which owns Chili’s, says It’s Just Wings is on track to bring in $150 million in annual sales.

Josh Phillips, the co-owner of Espita, a stylish Mexican restaurant in Washington D.C., opened a delivery-only brand called Ghostburger in August to keep Espita’s kitchen running through the winter. He chose burgers because he wanted to reach new customers at a lower price point than Espita. They also travel well and don’t take much kitchen space to make.

It’s been so successful that Phillips is now scouting for locations for stand-alone Ghostburger restaurants. Ghostburger, which cost Phillips only $2,000 to launch, is now bringing in nearly $40,000 per week, or 60% of what Espita could make in a good week.

“I don’t see a world where we can stop. We’re more profitable today than we ever have been,” Phillips said.

Rick Camac, the dean of restaurant and hospitality management at the Institute of Culinary Education in New York, thinks demand for delivery will only grow. More restaurants now offer it, packaging has gotten better and delivery companies are getting faster, he said.

“Our habits have changed, and I don’t think they are going back very easily or quickly,” he said.

Still, he said, restaurants should put some thought into their delivery-only brands. A pizza restaurant can’t necessarily make good burgers, he said. And without a storefront, marketing can also be a challenge.

“The ones that don’t do it well will ultimately fail,” he said.

There has also been some blowback on social media when customers find out that the place they thought was a new local restaurant was actually a big chain. DoorDash says it encourages restaurant chains to disclose their virtual brands, but it’s not always clear where meals are being cooked.

John Dillon, Denny’s chief brand officer, said his company tries to be transparent, partly because its delivery-only brands showcase the variety of food Denny’s offers. But he also points out that 96% of Denny’s stores are run by franchisees, so patronizing them helps local communities.

Mikelya Fournier, a small business owner in Leesburg, Georgia, was excited to see a new restaurant — It’s Just Wings — on DoorDash one night. She dug around and discovered it was made by Chili’s. But she thinks the food is delicious and she’s happy to have another delivery option.

“Food deserts are rampant in my area, so having a bigger chain come in and fill a need is amazing,” Fournier said.

Fournier said delivery companies could simply require restaurants to disclose their virtual brands. But either way, she’ll keep ordering from It’s Just Wings.

“I don’t care who owns it,” she said.

Apple is taking a leaf out of Waze’s book with its iOS 14.5 update, bringing a plethora of new features to its Maps software including accident reporting, speed checks, and hazards. They’re the latest changes to the mapping tool, designed to create a more convenient and valuable tool that will change the way people get from A to B - and ultimately ditch rival apps.

APPLE’S RIDING THE WAZE

When Apple announced it was to transition from Google Maps to its own custom mapping tool back in 2012, consumers were excited. Not only did it mean that Google would have a new rival, but it would allow Apple to introduce new features exclusive to the iOS ecosystem and create a more streamlined and integrated product. What followed, however, fell short, and Apple was forced to apologize publicly for the rollout of its less-than-stellar map app. “We are doing everything we can to make Maps better,”Tim Cook wrote on the Apple website at the time, in one of the most humiliating moments for the Cupertino company. The truth is that Apple Maps has taken some wrong turns over the years, and rivals have developed more fully-formed solutions that work around the world. However, that’s not to say Apple hasn’t tried or hasn’t made improvements. In 2019, the company revealed it had spent “billions of dollars” on Maps, and the results are there. Whilst Google Maps and Waze have larger user bases than Apple Maps, the software has come on leaps and bounds and is now a genuine competitor to the two. Add in the fact that Apple Maps is the default mapping app on iOS, and the service now reaches millions of users

every single day, offering directions and other location information.

Waze, which was acquired by Google back in 2013 but has remained a separate entity, offers a different approach to mainstream mapping apps like Google Maps and Bing Maps, describing itself as a community-driven GPS navigation app. Unlike other mapping apps, it depends on user-submitted travel times and data on things such as accidents, speed checks, hazards, and more to offer information about a route in real-time. Naturally, the more people who use it, the more accurate it’ll become. Back in 2019, it was revealed that more than 130 million Americans use Waze as their default mapping app, and it has grown in popularity in recent years thanks to smart car integrations and a bunch of new features.

Keen to catch up to rivals like Waze, Apple is planning to introduce some of the app’s most popular features into its upcoming iOS 14.5 release. Now, when users type in a location into Apple Maps and set a route, Siri will now allow users to now report accidents or hazards that are seen along the way, creating a crowdsourced mapping experience. When users swipe up on the Apple Maps interface, they will be able to press a new Report button to flag an accident, hazard, or speed check, and tapping the button will automatically flag a user’s location with no confirmation window, offering speed and convenience, though users might be cautious of using it if they’re worried about privacy. It will also be possible to flag accidents to Siri using your voice - just say “Hey Siri, there’s an accident” and Siri will send in a report to Apple Maps. The idea is that, if enough users report

the same accident, it’ll then appear on Apple Maps through its crowdsourcing tool. It’s likely that this new model will only be available in the United States on the launch, though Apple could introduce the feature in other key markets as the software develops further. As first reported on MacRumors, the new features also integrate with Apple CarPlay.

EXPANDING UPON iOS 14 FEATURES

Apple has made an effort to update its mapping software every year since its launch, and in 2020, made some significant changes as part of the iOS 14 release. Perhaps one of the most exciting was the introduction of cycling directions, which takes into account bike lanes, bike paths, and bike-friendly roads to help cyclists navigate towns and cities. The tool also comes with an elevation preview, so you know how difficult the journey will be, and you can determine how busy the streets will be in regards to vehicle traffic for a more relaxing ride. Apple also added a toggle so you can avoid steep inclines and stairs so that you don’t have to carry your bike. Cycling was also added to Apple Watch as part of the watchOS 7 updates, but it’s important to note that directions are only available in major cities such as New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Beijing, and Shanghai right now more are expected to be added through 2021.

For those with an electric vehicle, Apple introduced some EV flags as part of iOS 14, too, automatically adding charging stops along your route when you plan out a trip. The app will also calculate the time it’ll take to charge your vehicle and determine an estimated time of arrival, plus the Maps app will track the current

charge on your vehicle and your charger type to provide customized routes. In order to access this feature, you’ll need a BMW or Ford EV and sync your car to your iPhone, and more manufacturers will support it soon.

Another exciting Apple Maps feature introduced in iOS 14 was Guides, which were curated from a range of trusted brands. It’s also possible to create your own guides on the best places to visit in a city, and curated guides offer suggestions on places to eat, shop, and explore. At launch, Guides were available from brands such as The Washington Post, AllTrails, and Lonely Planet, and it’s likely that new partners will come into the fold in the years ahead.

In 2019, Apple started rolling out a refreshed Maps design with more detail for elements like roads, buildings, parks, beaches, marinas, forests, and more and the company has added locations as part of the iOS 14 update. Canada, Ireland, and the United Kingdom received refreshed maps designs, bringing the service in line with the maps experience offered to users in the United States since 2019.

Other new changes introduced include speed cameras and red-light camera alerts, a refine location setting which can offer highly accurate location readings to better orient yourself, and support for Congestion Zones in cities such as London and Paris, supporting toll roads and routing around them if you prefer. In some cities where traffic is limited by your license plate, Apple Maps supports license plate info so you can know whether you’re able to use them - a highly convenient feature for modern drivers on metropolitan roads.

MAPPING OUT THE FUTURE

Apple has made great strides with Apple Maps in 2020 and now with new features as part of the iOS 14.5 update, it’s signaling the next generation of mapping on the iPhone, iPad, and Mac. And by depending on its users to alert Apple Maps to potential traffic problems, the app will become even more convenient and useful, creating a genuine rival to Waze. In the years ahead, as Apple continues to add features that streamline navigation and time management, consumers should come flocking to Apple Maps and help it grow its market share. And it will need Apple Maps to be a success - with the company reportedly readying the launch of its very own electric vehicle in the next five years, Apple Maps will soon become a core product.

Investing in Maps is about much more than public relations and offering users an alternative to products from Google and Microsoft - it’s about adding another revenue stream to the company’s growing services divisions. Google Maps will reportedly be worth $11 billion in the next couple of years, thanks to advertising on the maps platform and the rise of things such as Promoted Pins, as well as selling the API to third-party developers and companies. Though Apple is unlikely to offer advertising inside of the Apple Maps platform, at least in the shortterm, the company is at a unique advantage in that consumers are increasingly turning away from Google, looking for more privacy-focused solutions, and so a huge Apple Maps push would not be unreasonable. Add in the fact that Apple is reportedly planning to launch its own search engine and it’s clear that recent

innovations in the Maps space are about rivaling the search giant.

Wherever you stand on Maps, Apple’s investment into new features can only be a good thing for consumers. Utilize the new technologies, become part of the crowdsourcing efforts, and let’s create an unbeatable maps product that changes the way we move around forever.