Did Somebody Say ~ Food Apps?

The COVID pandemic has affected almost every industry in one way or another. While some have taken cataclysmic hits, others have seen record periods of sales and growth the likes of which they have never seen before. One business that has fallen into the latter category is takeaways, and furthermore to that food delivery apps. With us unable to travel to or sit in restaurants or fast food venues, food delivery apps like Just Eat, who are responsible for 52% of the market in Britain, provided us with a way to access our favourite foodstuffs at a time when it would otherwise have been impossible, and so during this time a great many of us decided it was time to try it out.

This is backed up in the data. In the UK in 2020 there were 24.8 million users of food delivery apps, a huge increase from the 13.6 million in 2015, seeing the user base almost double in size with a percentage increase of 82%. This increase is again reflected in the increased revenue of the whole market. At the end of 2015, the food delivery app market generated approximately £1.84 billion, growing substantially to £4.18 billion at the end of 2020, representing a percentage increase of 127%, a colossal increase given the relative shortness of the time period. 

This notable growth was in part due to the enhanced marketing capabilities of some of the bigger players in the business. As heavyweight food brands such as McDonald’s, KFC and Wagamamas became desperate to continue selling their products but had no way to implement their own delivery service quickly enough to meet the lockdown deadline, they began signing deals with companies like UberEats and Deliveroo, all of who were then free to begin using those brands and their foodstuffs in their marketing materials. 

This created unprecedented opportunities for cross-promotion on a large scale as the apps, many of whom had previously worked predominantly with independent takeaways, could begin to utilise the already well-established reputations of their international suppliers in their adverts. Look up the Deliveroo advert on YoutTube titled “2021, the year of great food advert” to see a great example of a cross-promotional advert. In that particular ad, you’ll see brands from Burger King and Nandos all the way through to Pizza Express and Coop, showcasing the massive marketing potential that can be unlocked as a by-product of strategic partnerships, regardless of their wider purpose or original intention.