Just Eat, an online food ordering, and delivery service provider, was founded in 2001 in Kolding, Denmark. The company is now headquartered in Amsterdam, Netherlands. While people are stuck in their homes due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the digital arena is the only possible way for restaurants to reach out to their customers. Just Eat realized this opportunity early on. So, how does JustEat work, and what exactly is it? Let’s explore it all in this article.
Also, with the rising restrictions on social gatherings and following COVID-19 norms, people are gradually developing the habit of on-demand food ordering rather than visiting restaurants to have their meals. This is the only reason why most restaurants that never offered delivery options before the pandemic are now planning to provide digital experiences to their customers.
Tech giants such as Justeats, Swiggy, Delivery Hero, etc., have made it possible for restaurants to meet the changing requirements of consumers. The demand for food delivery platforms has rapidly increased since the arrival of the pandemic.
So, without any further delay, let’s get started!
What is Just Eat?
Just Eat is an online food order and delivery platform. It was founded in 2001 in Kolding, Denmark, as a food delivery app, and later headquartered in London, United Kingdom, from 2006 until it was purchased by Netherlands-based Takeaway.com in 2020 forming Just Eat Takeaway.com
It is a leading global online food delivery marketplace that connects customers and restaurants on the same platform. The platform claims that it has successfully secured more than 580,000 restaurants all around the world to date. This company was created in Jan 2020 by accumulating two different successful food delivery firms: Takeaway.com and Just Eat.
Justeat allows consumers to search for local takeaway restaurants, place an order, choose pick-up or delivery options, and get on-time delivery of their favorite meals. It acts as an intermediary between online food ordering consumers and restaurants.
Just Eat Business Model
Value propositions (for customers)
The three value propositions that the company offers to its customers are:
- Comfort: Providing comfort and convenience to customers is the topmost priority of any food delivery service provider. Justeat identifies restaurants in a given location that offer take-out options making it convenient for the customers to sit back at home and order through the platform without wasting time in checking other websites. In addition to this, the platform makes the ordering process simple by allowing people to add reviews about their experience with the restaurant.
- Performance: The platform offers exceptional performance to its customers. With heavy investment in technology, Justeat has created a reliable, efficient, and robust platform for customers to provide the best online food ordering experience.
- Customization: Customers can choose whether to pick up their order or deliver it to their homes. They can also decide whether they wish to pay online or in cash.
Value propositions (for restaurants)
Here are a few of the value propositions that the company offers to its partner restaurants:
- Recognition: The JustEat platform gives its partner restaurants an online presence that they were always desirous of but could not gain on their own. Through the platform, consumers get to know which restaurants have take-out options. Otherwise, it would have been the responsibility of the restaurants themselves to reach out to their customers and inform them that they have the take-out option for their customers. The platform services also allow customers to leave a review which provides insights for future customers.
- Comfort: By partnering with the platform, restaurants need not worry about building their online platform; instead, they need to focus on registering/ accepting the orders that come through the platform and get the online payments for those orders. It’s just that simple.
- Performance: Justeat’s partner restaurants have observed a hike in their performance by collaborating with the platform. They were able to generate more orders from this food delivery service platform compared to their traditional method of taking orders by phone only.
- Money-back guarantee: The platform offers a money-back guarantee to the restaurants, which means that if the restaurant doesn’t recover the registration fee on the order within the first six months of service, all their money will be refunded.
Customer Segmentation
In the Justeat business model, the customer segmentation method is similar to any other food delivery platform’s business model. Below are the two major interdependent customer segments that are not only important for the Justeat business model but for every business model that involves customers and restaurants.
- Consumers: These individuals are keen to place online orders for their meals. These are primarily foodies who enjoy delicious food or are either students or working professionals who don’t have time to cook.
- Restaurants: These are the restaurants that offer takeaway meals. This customer segment can also include grocery stores looking to expand their customer volume beyond traditional channels.
Key Activities
The key activities involve maintaining a scalable platform that works for both restaurants and consumers. The platform is available in desktop mode and mobile app form that connects the foodies with their favorite/ nearby restaurants in delivering meals to their homes.
Key resources
The company’s leading resource is its platform through which it makes its services accessible to restaurants and consumers. It serves more than 13.4 million users. The up-gradation of the platform depends upon the technical competencies of its technical employees as well as available human resources.
Channels
Justeat’s main channel to connect with customers is its official website/ platform, while the main channel for restaurants is its direct sales team. The company is very active on major social media platforms such as Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat, Twitter, etc. To attain successful results through social media, Justeat teamed up with the Noise Media group in 2019. Noise Media was tasked with driving student orders. Their social media promotions had witnessed incredible results and maximized their uptake and engagement.
Justeat also engages in different brand sponsorships.
Key Partners
Justeat forms an association with similar service providers in countries worldwide to expand its reach. One prominent example of one such venture is Eat.ch, a Swiss online food ordering service. Other key partners include payment providers, subsidiary menu log and SkipTheDishes, iFood, US Venture Capitalists, and of course, the restaurant partners.
How does Justeat make money?
Justeat operates on a value-driven cost structure to provide a premium proposition. The company’s most significant cost driver is its marketing expenses, while other major drivers are in the field of customer support, operations, and sales. If you are willing to get a similar all-in-one delivery service platform, explore its revenue model in detail to know how Justeat makes money.
Justeat has four different revenue means that help the brand generate a considerable amount of money, ensuring its business expansion and its survival in the competitive market:
- Connection fees: The Justeat platform charges connection fees from the restaurants that want to join the platform. It is a one-off fee that restaurants pay to join the service, and the amount depends on the particular market’s value.
- Commission fees: Justeat generates most of its revenue from the commissions the restaurants pay on each order they receive through the platform. These commission rates are agreed by ventures in contractual terms, and they vary depending on a variety of factors, including the location and bargaining power of the venture.
- Transaction fees: The platform charges nominal charges on card payments or any other online transactions; however, restaurants can choose to pass the transaction fees to customers.
- Advertising fees: Restaurants and other food-delivering partners on the Justeat platform can choose to increase their presence on the platform through promoted placements. Promoted placement is a paid feature tool that places a particular restaurant or food order service provider on one of the top results on the search option in the platform website/ app. Justeat generates revenue through these sponsored placements through a cost-per-click model, which means that each time a consumer clicks on the promotional option, the restaurant has to pay a small commission for that click. Once the sponsorship payment runs out, the restaurant will be removed from the top five spots.
Justeat Statistics
Just Eat Revenue Year-on-Year
| Year | Revenue |
| 2011 | £34 million |
| 2012 | £60 million |
| 2013 | £96 million |
| 2014 | £157 million |
| 2015 | £248 million |
| 2016 | £375 million |
| 2017 | £545 million |
| 2018 | £779 million |
| 2019 | £1.3 billion |
| 2020 | £2.1 billion |
Just Eat Profit & Loss
| Year | Profit |
| 2013 | £7 million |
| 2014 | £19 million |
| 2015 | £35 million |
| 2016 | £72 million |
| 2017 | (£72 million) |
| 2018 | £80 million |
| 2019 | (£99 million) |
| 2020 | (£130 million) |
Just Eat Users
| Year | Users |
| 2011 | 2.4 million |
| 2012 | 4.1 million |
| 2013 | 5.9 million |
| 2014 | 8.1 million |
| 2015 | 13 million |
| 2016 | 18 million |
| 2017 | 21 million |
| 2018 | 26 million |
| 2019 | 38 million |
| 2020 | 60 million |
Just Eat Restaurants
| Year | Restaurants |
| 2011 | 17,000 |
| 2012 | 29,900 |
| 2013 | 36,400 |
| 2014 | 45,700 |
| 2015 | 61,500 |
| 2016 | 68,500 |
| 2017 | 82,300 |
| 2018 | 105,000 |
| 2019 | 185,000 |
| 2020 | 244,000 |
Note: 2020 values include Takeaway.com as well
Sources: Just Eat, Just Eat Takeaway
How does Justeat work?
Justeat is a platform that offers a food ordering and delivery service that hires riders to fulfill your order from the restaurant of your choice and deliver the order directly to your home.
How to place your order on Justeat?
Firstly, to enjoy the services of Justeat, you need to register yourself on the platform through the website or directly through the Justeat app, which is available on both Android and iOS phones.
Registration:
- Open the Justeat app or its official website.
- If you are a new member, proceed with the registration process by entering your email id and password
- On clicking the submit button, you will receive a confirmation email on the entered email address
- By confirming, your account on Justeat will be activated
- Now, you may proceed with your food order
Food ordering:
- Enter your delivery address to see the restaurants that are available near your address
- Choose the meal that you wish to order from the selected restaurant
- Place your order by paying the fees
- As soon as your order is accepted, the restaurant starts preparing your meal and packs it for you
- A rider picks it up and delivers it to your doorstep
Justeat coupon codes:
There are two types of coupon codes available on the platform:
- The voucher is a code that is entered while ordering. This has an expiration date
- Paycode: One can upload credit to the profile in the “account credit” section. Here you can type the code that you have. This code doesn’t have an expiration date and can be used for any future order by checking the “credit in account” option at the time of payment.
How to pay on Justeat?
The accepted payment methods on Justeat are:
- Paypal
- Credit Card
- Cash on Delivery
In a nutshell, here are a few of the advantages of using Justeat over any other food delivery platform in bullet points below:
- Justeat brings more orders to its partner restaurant
- Justeat is affordable
- Justeat supports brands
- Justeat connects restaurants with their customers, online
Who are Justeat’s investors?
According to reports, Justeat has successfully raised a total funding amount of $104.9 million over four financial rounds. The company is funded by five investors and has two leading investors out of them. It has made eight investments in companies like Mox, myBaker, Nutriflix, Flypay, iFood, GenieBelt, etc.
Justeat had 1 exit that was from GenieBelt. Furthermore, it has acquired 29 organizations including, JustEat Takeaway, City Pantry, Practi, Flyt, hungryhouse, SkipTheDishes, tok tok tok, Pizzabo. It, Inversiones Hellofood, WEBS srl, and many more.
It is the parent company of SkipTheDishes.
In 2016, Just Eat acquired the company for $200 million, and soon after that, it showed significant growth in its business. The company had acquired Just Eat Takeaway for $6M.
Here is the list of Justeat’s investors (as mentioned in Crunchbase):
- 83North
- IndexVentures
- Redpoint
- Vitruvian Partners
- Venrex
Who are Justeat’s competitors?
The on-demand food delivery industry is experiencing explosive growth with the changing mindset of people and the market. Contactless food ordering has skyrocketed in the past year because of the spread of COVID-19. Together with its JV Takeaway and subsidiaries like SkiptheDishes and Menulog, Just Eat enjoys a significant market share in the geographies which it operates. However, many other strong players in the market are giving intense competition to each other. Some of them are:
- Uber Eats: Ubereats is an online food ordering and delivery platform launched by Uber in 2014. Users can read menus, reviews, and ratings, and order, and pay for food from partnered restaurants using its application available on Android and iOS smartphones or through its web platform.
- DoorDash: DoorDash is an American online food ordering and food delivery platform that operates online. It is based in San Francisco, California, United States. With almost 56% market share, DoorDash is the largest food delivery company in the United States.
- Other competitors include Grubhub, Postmates, etc. which may not be competing in the same geography as Just Eat and Takeaway. Some of the other global food delivery competitors include the following.
- Zomato: Zomato is an Indian multinational restaurant aggregator and food delivery company founded by Deepinder Goyal and Pankaj Chaddah in 2008. It provides restaurant menus, reviews, and various other information regarding the restaurant so that users can make the best decision for ordering their meals through the platform.
- Swiggy: Swiggy is India’s most significant online food ordering and delivery platform. The company operates in 500 Indian cities (as of September 2021). Apart from food delivery services, the platform has integrated a new service that offers on-demand grocery deliveries to its users.
Here is a detailed analysis and list of some of the top food delivery apps worldwide.
Conclusion – How does Just Eat work
There has always been a never-ending demand for food. The food industry is one of those industries that will continue to run in any situation. During the pandemic, too, it continued to work with the assistance of food delivery service providers.
As per recent reports
- The recent pandemic has given a boost to the food delivery industry.
- Around 62% of US consumers order their food online at least two times a week.
- Approximately 55% of millennials order food online through food delivery apps.
- Major restaurants believe that online orders have increased their overall revenue.
Considering the above facts, the growth rate and the business scope of food delivery apps are quite high. One has to come up with new ideas to cope with the trending requirements of customers to run a successful food delivery business.
Are you planning to start your food delivery app like Just Eat? Check out our complete guide on food delivery app development first. Suppose you are interested in our end-to-end support to help you build it. In that case, you can get advice from our experienced team building award-winning Food delivery products and scaling successful startups for over 20 years. Contact us today for a free quote on your food delivery app development project.
