Now that popular restaurant discovery service Zomato has entered the food ordering space with Zomato Order, need food delivery brand Foodpanda worry? After all, though Foodpanda is better established in the food delivery domain, one may argue that Zomato is dangerously top-of-mind when it comes to all things food.
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Saurabh Kochhar, co-founder, CEO and global chief business officer, Foodpanda, is not worried. "We have a different scale all together. Other brands will have to ramp up to be able to compete with us," he says.
Launched in India by Rocket Internet in 2012, Foodpanda currently has 12, 000 restaurant partners and is present in over 200 Indian cities. The brand has an annual marketing budget of around Rs 30 crore.
Edited Excerpts.
Edited Excerpts
On the challenges in the food delivery segment:
The biggest challenge continues to be getting restaurants to come online, infrastructure, and organising the un-organised space. Delivering consistent consumer experience is also a challenge. Remember, we entered the online space when being a startup wasn't sexy; that has changed now.
On being threatened by Zomato Order:
Well, the market dynamics are moving and I can't shut my eyes to that. But we are quite well placed. We're the largest player in the market, by a significant margin. We keep our heads low and focus on the work.
On entering the restaurant discovery/review space:
No such plans as of now.
On his acquisition strategy:
The basic intention while acquiring a startup is to add to what we already have. We follow the 'three Ps' approach - process, product and people. Our recent partners TastyKhana and JustEat have far more evolved processes and talent than us and that has added to our capabilities. Acquisition does not mean eliminating competition.
On plans to acquire competing brands TinyOwl and Swiggy in a move to beef up and take on Zomato Order:
We have a different scale all together. Other brands will have to ramp up to be able to compete with us. The acquisition buzz about TinyOwl and Swiggy is just rumours.
On the perils of a discount-driven model:
Discounts are a necessary evil. It's a marketing tool that is widely used across industries and offline/online retail. Our focus is on customer experience and building the best platform in the online food ordering space.
On his TG (Our guess is working singles and 'DINK' or double-income-no-kids couples):
Sure, they are part of the TG because they tend to be more receptive to new ideas, but our TG goes beyond these two groups. The idea is to bring convenience to the process of food ordering. We are trying to break the stereotype that the e-commerce space is only for DINK couples and the upwardly mobile.
The food industry in India is worth close to USD 300 billion. The restaurant industry is worth around USD 50 billion and 30 per cent of it (USD 15 billion) comprises the section that orders at home. So it cannot include just DINK couples. This is a large market and our target audience goes beyond these two sub-groups.
Food ordering takes place under two moods - 'experimentative' and 'comfort'. If you know what you want to order or want to repeat an order, it should not take more than 30 seconds. That's our promise to our TG.
We have more than 200 million users in India who access to the internet mostly through their smartphones. We realised that we have to be there on their phones in order to be top-of-mind. This was our fourth campaign on television. After the campaign, we saw accelerated growth in terms of the number of orders and downloads.
On his user base:
We have recorded two to three million downloads, across platforms. As far as 'dormant' app downloads are concerned, well, food is a 'high frequency' category; one must have three meals a day, unlike say, the furniture category where a purchase happens once in several months. We have noticed that an average customer eats 'outside food' once or twice a week, and mostly they do so in the comfort of their home.
On his target markets:
We have received overwhelming response from tier I and II cities. Recently, cities like Coimbatore, Vizag and Chennai have surprised us.
On working at Foodpanda:
The environment is young and dynamic. We have a lot of responsibilities. There's a lot of recognition as well. There's a different fire on the floor. It has taken us a bit of time but we have found our groove.
On being entrepreneur:
Once you turn entrepreneur you kind of do away with sleep! There is a lot you want to do for the team, the ecosystem, and for society at large. It's about reaching our aspirations - not just the financial ones. It's about adding value to our partners (restaurants), customers and society.
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