Summer 2012
A food industry magazine for delivery & take-out restaurants
INSIDE Why your restaurant should be on Facebook How to improve your delivery business All aboard the Peking Express!
Go GREEN
with your take-out and delivery business
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eliver D t a E t s u J e Th
2012 Summe
y Scoop
r | Issue 1
A quarterly restaurant industry magazine by Just-Eat Canada Just-Eat Canada Inc. (www.Just-Eat.ca), based in Toronto, Ontario is Canada's largest and fastest growing online food ordering website. Just-Eat enables local restaurants and customers to connect, offering a quick and convenient online ordering service. There are currently +1,400 restaurants online with Just-Eat in major cities like Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal and Ottawa. The Just-Eat Group, founded in Denmark in 2000, is based in London, UK and is now active in 14 countries around the globe and processes over 4 million meals every month worldwide.
CONTENTS 04 06 07 08 10 12 14 16 18 POWER CHAT
Letter from Just-Eat Canada’s managing director - David Power
JUST-EAT BIZ UPDATE Latest from Just-Eat Canada
RESTAURANT TRENDS Going green with your delivery
JUST-EAT GLOBAL History of Just-Eat
BEST PRACTICES
How to improve your delivery business
FEATURED RESTAURANT All Aboard The Peaking Express
MARKETING SPOTLIGHT Where does your money go?
THE SOCIAL RESTAURANT Why your business should be on Facebook
FEATURED JUST-EATER Get to know Just-Eat Canada’s Loisel Wilson
Editorial Director Managing Editor Production Editor Contributors
Ad Sales Director Ad Sales Coordinator
Luke Sheehan Gizelle Lau Stephen Chan Amy Lin Hattem Mohyeldin Steve Fanous Antonio da Luz Cynthia Lo
CONTACT US For general inquiries about The Just Eat Delivery Scoop: marketing@just-eat.ca To advertise in The Just Eat Delivery Scoop: cynthia.lo@just-eat.ca For restaurant owners interested in Just-Eat Canada: info@just-eat.ca 1-877-338-0568 Just Eat Canada 642 King Street West Suite 310 Toronto, Ontario, M5V 1M7
David Power Managing Director Just-Eat Canada
It is with great pleasure and pride that we are successfully rolling out our first issue of the Just Eat Delivery Scoop. It has been a long journey so in this first edition, I would like to tell you a little bit about how we got here. I will skip the boring stuff. The idea: A little over four years ago, I was a Management Consultant, travelling around the United States and Canada working on large-scale Systems Integration and IT projects. Most weeks involved travelling Monday to Friday and working long hours (not unlike many of you restaurant owners). Wornout after a long day, I would often return to my hotel room, tired of room service. That’s when I began searching online for delivery restaurants near my hotel without much luck. I can remember the very moment when I said to myself: “There has to be an easier way.” Life interrupted: In February 2008, I suffered a minor setback when I tore my Achilles tendon playing squash. Having to undergo surgery forced me to take three months off. This life interruption – like most of them – turned out to be a blessing in disguise, as it gave me the opportunity to really develop a concept, produce sales materials and begin to sell the concept to local restaurant owners. Some were skeptical but others quickly embraced the idea and wanted to work with me. The partnership: Having done extensive research, I knew that similar companies around the world had already developed products in the same space. After extensively weighing the pros and cons of going it alone or partnering with an established company, I chose the partnership route and after a few months, began a joint venture with the Just Eat Holding Group, based in London, England. Early years: Just Eat Canada launched in August 2009 with 50 restaurants, five full-time staff and 12-to-15-hour workdays. Today, we have grown the business to +1,300 restaurants in the Greater Toronto Area, Ottawa, Vancouver and Montreal and are launching in Edmonton, Winnipeg and Calgary over the summer. Our team now consists of over 55 employees and will probably double over the next year! What’s next? We want to be the best partner you’ve ever had. We firmly believe in our business model and our ability to be able to drive you more orders and improve the delivery side of your restaurant business. We want to work with you, listen to you, spend time understanding your challenges, invest in you and most of all develop a strong partnership that will last for decades. We deliver the customers, you deliver great food. Everyone wins.
David Power Managing Director of Just-Eat Canada POWERCHAT | JEScoop Summer 2012
5
Just-Eat Canada biz update We work hard to make sure restaurants succeed in their businesses
Written by Amy Lin; Infographic by Stephen Chan
Just-Eat operates on four continents and 14 countries Within Canada, more than 1,300 restaurants activated
1,255 member
restaurants
140,000+ meals ordered from Just-Eat.ca as of April 2012 502
Just-Eat users
member
We have the largest number of users in Canada and they are growing at the same rate as our member restaurants
2011
restaurants
125
member
2010
restaurants
2009
Just-Eat restaurants
2009
2010
2%
9%
Cana Americdianan
Tha
i
European
Steady growth in number of member restaurants over the past three years.
7%
se
ine
15%
2011
Cuisine Types
Italian/ 35% Pizza
6% Pak istani
4%
Mex
6
BIZ UPDATE | JEScoop Summer 2012
ese
With a solid foundation built from two years of growth, this year, Just-Eat looks toward continuous and well-supported expansion as well as providing restaurants and customers alike with seamless service. Stay tuned!
an
Greek/ Mediterranean
11% Jap
ican/ SouthCarribea Ame n/ rican 2 % Middle Ea stern 3 %
6%
Offering users a selection of over a dozen cuisine types to choose from, Just-Eat embraces all types of cuisine and strives to provide users with a vast mixture of restaurants.
Ch
Ind
ian
Five easy ways to become a more eco-friendly take-out and delivery business By Hattem Mohyeldin
The restaurant take-out and delivery business is a challenging one when you consider environmental impact. However, in the past few years, there has been a significant growth in the number of restaurants that are now “going green.” Many restaurants throughout Canada have been adopting practices and launching initiatives to reduce their carbon footprint and create a more environmental friendly way of running business – while allowing them to save money at the same time. If you’ve been wondering how you can begin to move towards greener practices, we’ve got the scoop for you! Here are five common initiatives you can easily implement that will help take your restaurant green.
1. Biodegradable or compostable packaging Instead of using styrofoam containers, consider new packaging materials made of corn, straw, flax, and biodegradable plastics. By using these for your packaging, you’re not only setting the standard, but you’re also saving money, as these green-friendly materials are very affordable.
2. Recyclable materials
Recyclable containers and packaging are also great options for going green. When delivering food, use paper bags instead of plastic ones to minimize waste. Similarly, you can easily get your menus printed on recycled materials to go above and beyond the environmental-friendly standard.
3. Hybrid or electric vehicles
4. Bicycle delivery
In India, delivery by bicycle is the norm! Outfit a bicycle with a large box or basket and hire a bicycle driver to deliver food to nearby locations. You’ll save on gas, parking tickets, complaints from customers because your delivery driver is stuck in traffic, and more! It’s also trendy – you can brand the bike and driver with your restaurant logo so others know how you’re trying to make a difference.
5. Community involvement
Take an active part in your community’s welfare: donate to green events, create a friendly promotion for Earth Hour, help clean up the streets on a regular basis, plant trees, flowers or a garden near your restaurant and support environmental causes in your neighbourhood.
You have seen dealers and companies advertising their hybrid cars all the time – but have you ever considered buying one for your restaurant’s delivery operation? If pedal bikes aren’t your thing, consider electric bikes, tricycles and scooters that will allow you to travel at the same speed (if not faster!) within city streets.
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RESTAURANT TRENDS| JEScoop Summer 2012
7
History of
Just-Eat Dec 2011 Just-Eat.ca hits 1000 restaurants
2006
Just-Eat launches in United Kingdom
2012
Launching in Calgary and Edmonton
Aug 2009
Just-Eat.ca launches with 50 restaurants and just five full-time staff members
8
JUST-EAT GLOBAL| JEScoop Summer 2012
Sept 2011
Vive le QuĂŠbec! Just-Eat.ca launches in Montreal with a fully developed bilingual website
Jan 2011
New logo launched for Just-Eat!
2001
Just-Eat launches in Denmark
2007-2009
Just-Eat launches in the Netherlands, Ireland, Belgium and Norway
2012
The Just-Eat group continues to grow globally with 14 countries under its belt
Mar 2011
Just-Eat receives a second round of investment of 30 million GBP from U.S. venture capitalists, Greylock Partners and Redpoint Ventures, the same investors behind companies like and
JUST-EAT GLOBAL| JEScoop Summer 2012
9
Best practices for restaurant owners How to succeed as a delivery restaurant
honest with your customer and give them a realistic time for when they can expect their meal.
By Antonio da Luz
Menu accuracy is another area to review, if your menu states “5 Jumbo Shrimp” ensure you deliver 5 Jumbo Shrimps. Similarly, if your online description states a “Gyro Dinner for 2,” ensure that you can feed two people comfortably with your portion. There is nothing worse than waiting 45 minutes for an order just to open up the bag and not get what you were expecting (think of what it feels like to get a really bad Christmas present).
A vibrant and efficient delivery service is often times the difference between a profitable restaurant and struggling to make ends meet. At Just-Eat, we work with over 1,400 restaurants in Canada.
1. Deliver on your promises The most important thing you need to do as a restaurant owner is to meet or exceed your customers’ expectations. Specifically, delivery times and menu accuracy are the two areas that require special attention.
Turn negatives into positives + +
)
Looking at our top performing delivery restaurants, we’ve put together five easy-to-follow tips to help ensure that your restaurant and delivery service is profitable in good times and in bad, no matter what the economic climate is.
As we enter the social media era, bad reviews, although uncommon, are a fact of life on the Internet. We all have bad days and sometimes this can affect your restaurant and ability to deliver food, as expected. Although Just-Eat’s policy is not to remove any reviews unless profane or inappropriate, it’s important to look at negative reviews as a positive opportunity. Restaurants that respond quickly and efficiently to the opportunity to address a negative review can quickly win back a customer for life. Listen carefully to the customer’s complaint and contact them to show them and future customers that you take feedback seriously and that you’re working hard to improve your restaurant and maintain a reputable business.
In a fast-paced culture, the gold standard for delivery times is between 30 minutes and 45 min. If for any reason you are unable to meet a specific delivery time, it is better to be
10 Restaurant best practices| JEScoop Summer 2012
2. Portions! In reviewing our top 10 clients (yes, I’ve ordered from each one!), one common factory of success is that their portion sizes are all extremely impressive. At Just-Eat, our consumers love restaurants that can provide them with an incredible value. When the average order size on Just-Eat is $36, customers want to feel like they are spending good money for a great meal. While quality of food is also important, they also understand that they’re not ordering 5-star meal. They are simply looking for a good, delicious meal that can satisfy their hungry family.
3. Ask for a restaurant review
4. Delivery fees & minimum orders
After every delivery order, Just-Eat automatically sends a note to the customer asking them to review the delivery order and restaurant on three criteria: quality, delivery time and service. Remind your customers at point of delivery to review your delivery service and that their review is greatly appreciated.
I can appreciate that sometimes delivering a $20 meal may seem unreasonable or unprofitable, however, each time you deliver an order, that individual could potentially order for their family, friends or even their company the next time around. Delivery fees in excess of $3.00 tend to scare customers away so be realistic but open to winning new Better reviews mean more orders customers with lower delivery because future customers will see fees or minimum orders. the ratings or comments left by other like-minded customers and will choose to order from your restaurant (or not) based solely on reviews so that they know what they can expect.
11
Featured Restaurant
Charles Gor Owner of Peking Express
All aboard the Peking
Express! The story behind one of the most successful Chinese delivery restaurants in Toronto By Hattem Mohyeldin
Peking Express in Toronto is a prime example of how an independent, momand-pop-style, local neighbourhood shop can succeed in an industry that’s dominated by large pizza and other fast-food chains. What’s more is that Peking Express isn’t a restaurant in the traditional sense; they’re exclusively take-out and delivery. Prior to opening Peking Express, owner
Charles Gor worked as a post office manager for many years before deciding that it wasn’t the job for him. He then decided nearly 30 years ago, to open a restaurant that would cater to the demand for food delivery and provide an interactive work environment. That’s where the Peking Express story begins.
the delivery aspect of it all and keeps our restaurant more manageable,” says Gor. “That way, we can concentrate on quality control and consistency so that we’re able to keep up with orders.”
Large numbers of orders are the norm for Peking Express, which is great for business but can be challenging all “Peking is the old colonial name for the same. Even for their most seasoned Beijing. There was also an old movie delivery drivers, traffic is their biggest called Peking Express, which is what the challenge. “The inconsistency of traffic restaurant is named after, causes a lot of delays. since our deliveries are as “It’s about quality, Even though the food is fast – just like the train in ser vice and being prepared quickly, it can the movie,” says Gor. “My take anywhere from 10 on time.” favourite part is that I get minutes to 45 minutes to to work with people. It’s nice to work get to the same place at different times with others, talk to customers and be depending on traffic. You can’t control hands-on.” it and it’s constantly changing. Weather conditions make things even worse!” Offering take-out and delivery only Ironically, for delivery restaurants like rather than a having to run a traditional Peking Express, orders are often higher sit-down restaurant was the idea from when weather is bad. the beginning. “It allows us to focus on
12 FEATURED RESTAURANT| JEScoop Summer 2012
TIPS for success with Just-Eat
Yet, Peking Express is continually known and lauded for its quick delivery times. What’s the secret? “You just have to be efficient: answer your JCT orders, pick up phone calls, make the food, and contact drivers. You have to streamline the process until it’s efficient and keep it together when it gets busy. You have to be as good for one order as you are for fifty. In this time and age, people expect quality and value within a reasonable time. It’s no longer the case that people are willing to wait two hours for any type of meal. It’s about quality, service and being on time.”
• Answer your JCT messages quickly • Read receipts carefully for allergies • Put a Just-Eat sticker on your window • Add an “Order Online” button to your website • Update us if you are closing early
Peking Express, 217 Parliament Street Toronto, ON, 416-367-9580 www.pekingexpress.ca
• Delivery issues? Let us know • Consult with your account manager regularly so that you can optimize your performance
For more information on any of the above, contact: accounts@just-eat.ca
to connect with our Account Management team.
FEATURED RESTAURANT| JEScoop Summer 2012 13
Just-Eat Marketing
How we’re working to make the most of your investment! By Gizelle Lau
When you sign up your restaurant on Just-Eat, we immediately start to promote your restaurant to our users and new customers. Here’s an idea of how far your dollar goes with Just-Eat.
Put your menu online: The first thing we do is put your restaurant online and create a page on Just-Eat that includes your address, hours of delivery and menu items. This allows our users and new customers to browse through your menu and potentially order online.
Spend over $1 million to bring you orders: From TV to subway/transit, newspapers, magazines and online, we advertise in numerous media publications to attract new customers and users every day. We want to make sure people know about Just-Eat.ca so we can drive more business to our restaurants!
Blog: Every week, we choose a restaurant for our Featured Restaurant of the Week blog post and announce all of the New Restaurants that have been added to Just-Eat.
Facebook, Twitter & social media: With +22,000 Facebook fans and nearly 2,000 Twitter followers, we engage and interact daily with regular and new customers so that they can know more about Just-Eat.ca and all our restaurants.
Weekly e-mails: Every other week, we send a Just-Eat newsletter to all of our subscribed users. Most emails include a section showing restaurants in that user’s delivery area – this helps to ensure that all of our restaurants, new or longstanding, get lots of exposure!
New restaurant email: When you sign up, you have the option of buying a New Restaurant Email that notifies all the users in your delivery area that you are now on Just-Eat.
Monthly promotions: From month to month, we offer discount promotions to our users from 10% OFF or more to encourage old and new customers to try new restaurants in their area. You get more orders and we cover the costs of the promotions!
Questions? Contact us:
14 Marketing| JEScoop Summer 2012
marketing@just-eat.ca
Google pay-per-click advertising: We create a new set of ads for every new Just-Eat.ca member restaurant. This helps us reach potential customers who are searching for your restaurant’s information, menu or are looking for delivery in your area
Restaurant website: We offer a free website for all restaurants that join JustEat.ca. We buy the website domain, host it and create the website to help new customers to find your restaurant and menu online.
We use a variety of methods to effectively reach and inuence our target audience
Banner advertisement at the University of British Columbia, Vancouver
Subway ads posted throughout Toronto subway stations
We promote your brand via our weekly Just-Eat e-Newsletter.
MARkETING| JEScoop Summer 2012 15
Nowadays, the key to returning customers is more than just mouthwatering dishes and commendable service. Sure, it helps, but it’s all about making connections and building relationships. With more than 875 million users under its belt, this is precisely where social networking sites like Facebook or Twitter come in. The advantages of putting your business on a meganetwork like this are unquestionable and go far beyond the simple exposure you get. Below are a few of the major advantages of putting your restaurant on Facebook:
Why your business should
be on
Restaurants can connect with customers through social media like never before By Amy Lin Solid brand image: By defining the image of your restaurant through your logo, tone, photos, website or tweets, you make a lasting impression that will resonate in the existing market and help you acquire new customers. Customer communication: By talking to your customers directly through Facebook—whether it’s sending them a friendly welcome message or addressing their questions/complaints, you establish a relationship which encourages your customer to be a returning and lasting one. Increasing traffic: A Facebook page is the perfect portal for fans and Facebook-users to reach your website, view your menu, check your hours of operation, and etc. This redirection often translates into increased orders. Networking: Regardless of the industry you’re in, it’s always a good idea to expand your network and broaden your horizon. This interaction within the community allows you to forge valuable relationships that will accelerate and sustain success as you learn from friends in the same industry.
Chances are that you already have your own personal Facebook profile, but putting your business on Facebook is a slightly different story. Below are just a few of the ways Facebook pages for business differ from your personal profile: Your number of fans or friends is not limited at 5,000 like a personal Facebook page Your page is visible to everyone, even if they don’t have a Facebook account Gain access to Facebook Insights, which allows you to capture data on activity, fan demographics and marketing performance in general We focused on Facebook but similar benefits apply with social networks like Twitter, Foursquare, Yelp, Urbanspoon, Pinterest or even Wordpress to create your own blog!
GROW YOUR BUSINESS Just as listing your phone number in the phone book was once essential for business, Facebook and the bevy of other social-media sites are ways for consumers to not only reach you but also a chance for you to engage your customers and make those personal connections that are so valuable in growing your business.
16 SPOTLIGHT| JEScoop Summer 2012
Most popular social networks to use Yes, you know about Facebook but there are plenty of other social networking tools that you can utilize to promote your business and engage your customers.
1. Twitter Tell customers and the public what you’re about, special offers or what’s on your mind in just 140 characters.
2. Pinterest “Pin” your favourite photos in one place – for example: photos of dishes from your restaurant) – and share with a community of like-minded photo lovers.
3. Blog Start a blog on your restaurant website through easy-to-use tools like Wordpress. Update it a few times a month with special events, deals or updates on what’s happening at the restaurant so that customers see that there’s a face and personality behind it all.
4. Google+ Best used with a Gmail account, Google+ allows you to share your favourite photos, articles or websites from the Internet with dedicated “circles.”
5. LinkedIn An online network for your professional profile, LinkedIn tells potential business partners, customers and media who you are through your skills, expertise, work experience and education.
SPOTLIGHT| JEScoop Summer 2012 17
Loisel Wilson Customer Care Team Leader Just-Eat Canada
Q&A Get to know one of our Just-Eat team members! By Hattem Mohyeldin
Loisel Wilson
Title: Customer Care Team Leader Favourite Dish: Korean fried chicken JE: What did you do before started working at Just-Eat? Loisel: Data-entry for an insurance assessment company. I was also translating a Filipino documentary before I began working at Just-Eat. JE: What’s your position at JE? Loisel: I am currently a customer care representative team leader: I help out with calls, scheduling and reporting all the things going on with customer care. I make sure everyone is informed about upcoming events, busy weekends and promotions. I also help investigate and block fraudulent IP addresses from repetitive ordering. I really enjoy it especially catching the bad guys!
JE: How many calls do you usually get in a single day? Loisel: About 100-150 calls a day. JE: What’s the best part of the job you do everyday? Loisel: I like the people and the atmosphere -it’s relaxed but also has its busy moments – and I like the buzz that comes with it. People at Just-Eat are very interested at what they do and are very good at it, too. I also like how it’s a collective workplace; everyone does their work and communicates to make sure we are all on the same page. JE: What has been your most rewarding experience at JE? Loisel: I once helped a blind person order online – it was fun, cool, different. Another time, a customer ordered through Just-Eat for her husband and left a message on the receipt for her husband. I had to call the husband and make sure he got the message – it was probably the cutest thing I’ve ever had to do. JE: What has been your most challenging experience?
18 FEATURED JUST-EATER| JEScoop Summer 2012
Loisel: There was one time we were offering a promo code on the one weekend we were understaffed and we had just moved into a new office with a new phone system Everything suddenly went down. Our chat overflowed and the only other customer care representative was a trainee. On the bright side, it’s unlikely that it will get any worse than that, right? JE: What has been your most memorable moment at JE? Loisel: When I got promoted (just kidding!). Our company parties are fun: we had a Mad Men-themed party at Christmas and for Halloween I remember dressing up as the “elephant in the room” and was photo-bombing everyone’s pictures. I’m definitely looking forward to the world party in London this summer JE: What’s the craziest dish you’ve ever eaten? Loisel: It would have to be balut: it’s a cross between eating a chicken and an egg and is very common in the Philippines. I’ve also had dog growing up, I guess that’s weird, too.
RU Restaurants United EARN $50 when you refer a friend to put their menu on Just-Eat!*
To suggest your friend’s restaurant, Go to Just-Eat.ca/blog/suggest-restaurant
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*Referring restaurant must be signed up on Just-Eat.ca
Order Food Delivery Online.
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©2012 Just-Eat Canada, “Just-Eat”, the Just-Eat logo, Just-Eat content and all other Just-Eat related marks, images and symbols are the exclusive properties and/or trademarks of Just-Eat Canada, used under licence.