Mamun M. Adil interviews Team, Eat Mubarak, a recently launched food delivery service that aims to feed every foodie in the most convenient way possible.

Mamun M. Adil:Eat Mubarak’s pilot phase began in September 2018 and it has been available on the Google and Apple Play Stores ever since; how has the response been?
Team Eat Mubarak: It has been overwhelming; we now have over 1,400 outlets from Islamabad, Faisalabad, Lahore and Karachi on board, and we are adding dozens more on a daily basis. Over 150,000 people have downloaded our app and we have fulfilled over 75,000 orders so far; on average, we process more than 1,500 orders per day.

MMA:How do you plan to increase your geographic footprint?
TEM: By the end of this year, we plan to launch in other cities in Pakistan; we are also planning to begin operations in international markets in 2019, and plan to capture the global halal food market which consists of over two billion Muslims; we want to become the go-to app for halal food there.

MMA:Who would you say are your major competitors, and what edge do you think you have over them?
TEM: Our main competition is direct phone-based ordering which captures 94% of the Pakistan food delivery market, as well as websites and apps of certain restaurants, and ‘food aggregators’ such as Cheetay and Foodpanda. We have an edge over our competition when it comes to operational excellence because we make sure that all orders are delivered on time. This is the core differentiator that will help increase the ‘stickiness’ of our app.

MMA:What sort of challenges have you faced in terms of acquiring customers?
TEM: So far we have not faced any major challenges in this regard; 70% of our transactions are from repeat customers, which is testament to the fact that people love our app. Ultimately, we provide customers with invariable options to choose from, and in the process, we contribute towards increasing the whole pie of the digital food ordering and delivery market in Pakistan. Pakistan currently has a six percent online food ordering average (the global average is 25%), so we have a long way to go and together, everyone can help to grow this market. Each platform is increasing the size of the pie and bringing in new orders for restaurants. As the pie grows, customers and restaurants will be the ultimate winners.

MMA:How do you conduct your deliveries?
TEM: Currently, a hybrid model is in place through which restaurants deliver some orders themselves, while our riders deliver the remainder. However, our fleet of riders is growing rapidly and we deliver an increasing number of orders through them. Last month, for instance, we made thousands of deliveries using our fleet.

MMA:What is the payment model?
TEM: We believe in integrating closely with local players and play our role in digitising the economy. From day, one we have had major ‘wallets’ integrated with our service including Easypaisa, Jazz Cash and SimSim in addition to the conventional cash on delivery option. We have a few other payment integration processes in the works, apart from our own ‘wallet’ which will allow customers to pay with ease.

MMA:What are the main challenges that you have faced when it comes to providing delivery services, as well as when it comes to increasing your user base?
TEM: As far as the deliveries are concerned, the only way forward for us is to take the ownership of the major part of the transaction – delivery. While other players mostly rely on restaurant riders, where the control of the platform is minimal, from day one we have been focused on building our own delivery network and have invested in HR and technology to build a logistics network enabled through state-of-the-art technology. We are focusing on guaranteeing deliveries within 40 minutes for 70% of our orders. Since food preparation time is a major part of the process, with evidence based demand-planning tools, we want to enable restaurants to plan better and reduce their preparation time.