Appetise, the online food delivery marketplace, has outlined its expansion plans, and how it plans to compete with Just Eat by charging consumers and operators less.
Director Petre Norton said with the CMA provisionally approving Just Eat’s takeover of Hungryhouse, Appetise was left with one main rival.
He told MCA Appetise operated under a similar model to Just Eat, but charges restaurants a lower rate of commission (10%) and no joining fee, while charging customers no debit card fee.
Appetise also has a customer loyalty scheme and allows customers to view each restaurant’s FSA food hygiene rating.
Norton, also UK vice president of Bergen Capital, said: “All of these initiatives are designed to bring genuine choice and value back to restaurants and customers and allow them to share more equally in the benefits of the online food ordering marketplace.
“Appetise believes it has redefined the rules of the online takeaway industry to put its customers and restaurant partners at the centre of what it does. This is our brand message.”
Norton said while Appetise’s national footprint was currently small and spread out, with a built up presence in Birmingham only, its strategy was to build up a presence one town or city at a time.
The company is preparing to float on the Australian Stock Exchange, where its major shareholder has business interests, which is to raise Appetise’s profile and pursue further growth.
Norton said: “The takeaway market in the UK is huge – currently worth over £6 billion and forecast to be nearly £8 billion by 2019. Online ordering still only accounts for 50% of this market but is expected to grow to 70% by 2019. This means that, even without taking customers away from Just Eat, there is still a huge addressable market for Appetise. Yes, we are going up against Just Eat but we are also aiming to win customers who may not yet order their takeaway food via their smartphone.”
Appetise recently appointed Revolutions Bar Group chairman Keith Edelman as non-executive director, while its chairman is the former managing director of eBay Australia.
The business, which was acquired by the current owners in May 2016, is led by chief executive Konstantine Karampatsos, former head of e-commerce at Play.com and commercial director of the TheFoodMarket.com.
Norton said restaurants can make 4% revenue using Appetise over Just Eat – but said there was no exclusivity expectation for operators.
