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Just Eat: The Online ‘Takeaway’ Business Model Explained

By Gursumeet Kaur 16th September 2021

Online food ordering has become a fad among customers all over the world. Nowadays, the customers prefer comfort, and thus, want their food, groceries, and almost everything delivered to their doorstep. This gives the home delivery service sector its own space. On the other hand, customers also prefer to have piping and sizzling food just came out of the kitchen. That can be picked up by themselves on their route or drive-through so that it can be consumed fresh. And here, the takeaway services come into play. At present, both these services of home delivery and takeaway are HOT! Let’s read about the Just Eat business model for Takeaways.

just eat business model

About Just Eat

Just Eat’s mission is to empower consumers to get the most out of their takeaway experience. The brand is also known by the name Just Eat Takeaway. It is a hyperlocal marketplace that is connecting customers to restaurants for online food ordering. In other words, it acts as an intermediary between independent takeaway food outlets and customers. It is headquartered in London, England.

Just Eat allows users to search for local takeaway restaurants, place orders, and pay online, and select whether to have their orders delivered or picked up. There are more than 580,000 local restaurants participating on the platform, which is present in 24 countries worldwide. 

History of Just Eat

Initially, Just Eat was incorporated in Kolding, Denmark. It was founded in 2000 by Jesper Buch, Laurens Groenendijk, Marc Wesselink, Martijn Rozendaal, and Per Meldgaard. Back then, the then 25-year-old Buch was completing a diplomatic internship in Norway. He was craving some old-fashioned Italian pizza one night. Buch had no knowledge of any local pizza places since he was new to the area. He discovered that most information about local restaurants is not readily available on the internet. And thus, it is extremely difficult for customers to order food online.

This frustration acted as the spark for what would turn out to become Just Eat. With over 10,000 employees worldwide, Just Eat Takeaway has multiple offices serving various parts of the globe. The UK’s biggest market belongs to Just Eat, with over 122 million orders processed alone in 2018. Canada is considered the second established market for Just Eat. With the contribution of 22.8% of the company’s revenues in 2018, it operates under the subsidiary brand ‘Skip the Dishes’.

just eat timeline

Peeping into Just Eat Money Earning Channels

With millions of monthly customers, Just Eat has grown quickly in recent years. By doing this, the company expanded into other cross-selling opportunities, such as selling advertising space on its highly frequented apps and offering business catering services.

  • Restaurant Commissions: In the United Kingdom, Just Eat charges restaurants £699 to get access to the service, and for each order placed through the website or mobile app, Just Eat charges a commission of 13-14%. Commissions account for over 90% of the company’s revenue.
  • Delivery & Service Fees: Delivery fees for the U.K. vary from zero to £4.50 per delivery, based on the distance of delivery. Just Eat also charges £1.99 for its service fee, which includes both the payment processing fees and other services.
  • Sponsored Placements: Just Eat Takeaway makes money via sponsored placements via a so-called Cost Per Click (CPC) model. This means the restaurant will pay a small fee for every click the customer makes on a promotional link.
  • Interchange Fees: When using a traditional debit card or credit card, an interchange charge is applied, which is paid by the merchant. Approximately one percent of the fee goes to interchange. The partnership between Adyen and Just Eat is likely to result in both companies sharing that income.
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Understanding the Just Eat Business Model

The company operates on a marketplace business model. In order to operate, there are two interdependent customer segments that are both needed:

  • Consumers: Users who want to be able to order takeout from local restaurants.
  • Restaurants: Businesses that offer takeout and wish to gain a larger customer base outside of traditional channels.

As the intermediary between the customer and restaurant, Just Eat manages the product discovery and sorting, the order and payment processing, and sometimes even the delivery.

Just Eat business model utilizes a hybrid model, meaning some of its restaurant partners utilize their own delivery fleets while with others, it works together with independent contractors to fulfill orders. Afterward, these couriers are paid a per-order fee (on top of the tips they receive). Orders are accepted and fulfilled by couriers using a separate app. On the Just Eat website, visitors can explore all the available menu items, or they can download one of the mobile apps, available on iOS and Android devices.

Just Eat Funding, Revenue & Valuation

  • According to Crunchbase, Just Eat and Takeaway.com have raised a combined $2.9 billion across nine rounds of equity and debt funding. Leading investors include Rheingau Founders, Prime Ventures, Redpoint, Index Ventures, 83North, Venrex, and many more.
  • Upon the merger of the two companies, Just Eat Takeaway was worth roughly $10 billion. Currently, the business is valued at nearly $17 billion.
  • In fiscal year 2020, Just Eat Takeaway generated revenue of $2.85 billion, an increase of 54 percent over fiscal year 2019.
just eat takeaway

Competitors of Just Eat

  • UberEats: UberEats is an online food ordering and delivery platform launched by Uber in 2014. Users can browse menus, read reviews of restaurants, order, and pay for food from participating restaurants via an application on iOS or Android, or through their web browser.
  • DoorDash: DoorDash, Inc. operates an online food ordering and food delivery platform. It is based in San Francisco, California, United States. As the biggest food delivery service in the United States, it holds a 56% market share.
  • Zomato: Zomato is an Indian multinational restaurant aggregator and food delivery company founded by Deepinder Goyal, Pankaj Chaddah, and Gunjan Patidar in 2008. Zomato provides users with menus, reviews, and ordering systems for restaurants and food delivery services in select cities.
  • Swiggy: Swiggy is India’s largest online food ordering and delivery platform, founded in July 2014. The company is based in Bangalore, India, and operates in 100 Indian cities as of March 2019.
  • Grubhub: Grubhub Inc. is an American online and mobile prepared food ordering and delivery platform owned by Just Eat Takeaway that connects diners with local restaurants. Founded in 2004, the company is based in Chicago, Illinois.

Summing Up

If you are thinking of getting into a business similar to Just Eat business model, then Yelo can be the ultimate solution! Yelo can help you create a hyperlocal marketplace platform. With the aid of its all-encompassing range of features, Yelo can help you cater to your wide and varied customers in the easiest and most efficient manner possible.

Start your own online food delivery business with home delivery or takeaway or even both, and cater to the hunger of your customers with exotic delicacies!
Would the trial of the platform give you more confidence? We know you better. Hop on Yelo’s free 14-day trial and get started today!

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