32
JUMPSTART
FOOD DELIVERY COMPETITION
HEATS UP
Delivery services
as a whole in
Hong Kong are
getting some very
mixed reviews.
SHOULD MY FOOD BUSINESS TRY GROUPON?
A short case study from Carpaccio restaurant (carpaccio.com.hk)
Which of Carpaccio participate in Group?
2012, 2013 and 2014 (launching soon)
By Jennie Cranham
What was the offer?
Tea set for two $99 (original $218+10%)
The Hong Kong food delivery
market is rapidly expanding,
with more and more services
promising to deliver you top
quality restaurant food straight to
your desk or door, but are they any
good? Which company would best
cater your event, or satisfy your
late night pizza cravings?
If you spend any length of time around
Central, you’re likely to have seen
Cuisine Courier motorbikes zipping
around. An established name in
Hong Kong, the company delivers to
locations across Hong Kong Island.
Delivery charges are reasonably low,
at only 10%, however minimum orders
will vary according to location. The
website is wordy, and a little clunky,
making it harder to navigate than its
competitors. In the smart phone age,
it seems like the website may need to
update if it is to continue to compete.
The restaurant range is impressive,
but a close look shows several are now
closed down or unavailable, prompting
the question why list them at all.
Another long standing favourite,
Dial A Dinner, has been established in
Hong Kong for over 10 years. Boasting
a wide array of restaurants, Dial a
Dinner is one of the few companies
that deliver to Kowloon, as well as
offering a wider range of options to
the South Side. Recently acquired by
koziness.com, the services now share
drivers, in theory making deliveries
quicker and more efficient.
Partner business Koziness.com gives
you a choice of over 40 restaurants.
They claim ‘we are everywhere you are,
at home in the office and beyond’, but
currently only deliver to addresses on
Hong Kong Island. The website is user
friendly and costs are transparent; a
clearly visible shopping cart updates
your total including service charge as
you order.
For those looking for something a
little more than a quick at-desk lunch,
recent arrival from the US, Delivery.
com, offers a more refined service,
catering exclusively to business
clients. This is reflected in the list of
merchants, which includes organic
suppliers, specialist confectionary
companies, and detox plans. Currently
the service is only available during
peak office hours, but there are
indications the service could expand.
Foodpanda, self-described as ‘the
best address for your laziness’, is
one of the new comers to the Hong
Kong delivery scene, launched in
May this year. They’re no strangers
to the market though. As the world’s
largest food delivery company they
operate in over 50 countries. The
website is probably the easiest to
navigate, offering search filters and
picture menus, and is my pick for
ease and accessibility. Foodpanda,
like several of the other food delivery
services, also has an easy to navigate
app, available for IOS, Android and
windows for ordering on the move.
With a wide range of services,
there is increasingly a provider to
meet every need and craving, yet it
seems users aren’t fully happy with
any of the services on offer. Delivery
services as a whole in Hong Kong are
getting some very mixed reviews.
Some users I spoke to were very
happy with the service; a Cuisine
Courier customer, for example,
regularly uses the service, finding it
reliable and the staff friendly.
The main problem for many
however, it seems, is delivery times. For
some sites offering such small delivery
areas, users seem baffled how delivery
can take so long. One user of Koziness.
com says she stopped using the service
after an order took over three hours
to arrive. It seems as though these
services, while offering easy and
efficient ordering, need to work on
ensuring fast and efficient delivery time
before their customers see them as a
reliable, regular option.
Have you participated in a Groupon
program in the past?
No
Can you share some metrics with us?
We sold over 6,000 units at the first time,
over 3,000 units at the second and third
time, so total we had sold over 12k units.
Are you able to tell if these were new or
repeat customers?
Most of them are new customers.
What % of the deals were redeemed (and
what % expired)
Over 90% were redeemed
Did you promote ths deal through any
Social Media Channels?
Just Facebook
What was your overall experience?
It is the best way to grab a bunch of
customers within a short period of time
when the business is slow. It is very
important that the front staff has to be
well prepared to maintain a smooth
operation and make sure the operation
can manage the great amount of
customers at the same time. Otherwise,
the restaurant will fall into a reputation
crisis.
Would you participate in Groupon again?
Yes, the new deal will be launched soon.
It would be again a tea set for two but the
menu will be slightly tuned.