UberEats tackles unemployment and revolutionises Joburg restaurants
SANDTON – Revolutionising eating and providing more jobs
Uber has evolved beyond rides, and since the launch of UberEats in Joburg in September last year and Cape Town in January, the response has been phenomenal.
Uber now has 700 local restaurants using the app with over 100 000 eaters downloading the app in the first two months. Regional general manager for UberEats in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, Jambu Palaniappan said, “In the six months since UberEats first launched in the country, we have learnt some fascinating insights into the habits and appetites of South Africans. With efficient businesspeople prescheduling breakfast orders to arrive at work the same time as they do, many favour a healthy, nutritionally balanced meal, yet, the most ordered dish for this year was the cheeseburger.”
Local restaurants are also benefitting from the ease of UberEats as they use its intelligence for everything, from serving their customers more efficiently, to being able to decide on the location of their next store.
Managing director at Philly Cheesesteak, Bruno Persic said of the app, “After meeting with the UberEats team we decided to put the idea of a revolutionary digital kitchen into action. Essentially the digital kitchen is the same as the restaurant but without the traditional front-of-house. We will be able to service an area like Sandton without the burden of exorbitantly high retail rentals. We believe the digital kitchen concept will add a new dimension to dining convenience.”
As a first for South Africa, and by partnering with UberEats, restaurants have access to real-time data, which gives them access to their sales, performance and customer sentiment data in an easy-to-understand format. Some restaurants have increased their sales by between 20 and 50 per cent, and have provided many more jobs to South Africans.
Palaniappan concluded, “We’re just overwhelmed by our success and what a great, new form of economic opportunity UberEats is providing in South Africa, a country with an unemployment rate as high as 26.5 per cent.”
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