JUST EAT, the UK’s leading online takeaway ordering service, has revealed figures showing how the growth in smartphone use and adoption is driving changing consumer buying habits for takeaway meals.
The figures showed that takeaway ordering on mobile devices increased 350% between Q4 2011 and Q4 2012. In Q4 2012, more than a quarter (27%) of all JUST EAT orders came from a mobile device.
The company said it expects mobile to be the most popular ordering method by 2015, with the number of smartphone users in the UK predicted to more than double between 2012 and 2016, from 19.2 million to 41.9 million.
David Buttress, chief commercial officer and acting president of JUST EAT, said: “We experienced a massive increase in mobile orders last year and see mobile as an exciting area for growth in 2013 and beyond. We are investing to drive more and more innovations in this area, such as our new mobile app, which gives hungry customers easy, anywhere, anytime access to thousands of top takeaways around the UK.
“By making this investment to provide the best mobile experience possible to the end customer, we’re enabling our takeaway restaurant partners to compete on a level playing field with the big national players, and capitalise on the explosive growth in mobile.”
To make ordering by mobile even easier, JUST EAT has launched its own free app for iPhone, and iOS devices, which it said makes it simple to call up menus and user reviews on a mobile or tablet device, and see what’s on offer nearby from over 15,000 delivery restaurants across the UK.
