Increased (app)etite

Restaurants have weighed the costs of Uber’s food delivery service against their turnover

Ubereats has partnered with 700 restaurants since its launch in Johannesburg in September and Cape Town in January. Within months, 100,000 people had downloaded the Ubereats app.

And though 2% of restaurants have since stopped partnering with the company, others say the arrangement has worked for them.

Because Ubereats is a new app, the owners of Lupa Osteria in Fourways, Guy Cluver and Chris Black, were unsure of its value at first. That was until the orders starting coming in.

“It’s definitely added to our revenue, especially on quieter early to midweek evenings, so we can’t wait for it to expand into areas where all our stores can use it and grow together in partnership,” Cluver and Black said in a statement.

Momo Baohaus in Greenside reports a 20% increase in takeaway orders since joining Ubereats. And Ubereats orders have added 10% to Rosebankbased BGR’S income.

Owner of takeaway burger joint Junior in Cape Town, Hugo Berolsky, says Ubereats has allowed them to increase sales by an additional 20%-25% on gross turnover.

“Our location doesn’t lend itself to a lot of walk-in traffic, so many people don’t know we exist. Uber’s reach has really introduced us to a great new fan base,” he says.

Uber charges a R20 delivery fee to the user. It also takes a portion of the value of the purchase from the restaurant, depending on factors such as the size and value of the order.

Of that, Uber takes 30% of the revenue from fares, while the rest goes to its drivers.

Ubereats has also expanded the reach of Kauai stores, says Dean Kowarski, CEO of Reach Foods, which owns Kauai.

“We’re seeing more customers choosing healthier options, more often. We’ve seen this trend amplified on Ubereats, which has delivered incremental growth for Kauai.”

Steven Dike, managing executive of Signature Brands, is working with Ubereats on some of its brands “and in the process of analysing the benefits of the model and its optimal interaction with our brands”.

He says: “Our findings thus far reveal that the model performs particularly well in terms of evening trade offerings such as restaurant quality steak, ribs or pasta, which were not necessarily part of the traditional mainstream delivery repertoire (pizza and burgers).

“We have experienced a positive momentum in sales, but are assessing the increased turnover versus the relatively high cost of the service,” Dike says.