Jumpstart Magazine July/August 2014 | Page 34

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.