Do you own a restaurant or catering business? If you do, chances are you already signed up on Just Eat to drive up your sales and increase your customer base. The sales have probably gone up, but the profit margin has remained pathetically low, and by now, you have realized that partnering with this popular site to provide delivery services for your restaurant is not a wise investment decision. The partnership, initially presented as a win-win business model, actually does more harm than good to your takeaway or restaurant business.
Just Eat will initially entice you with attractive cosmetic benefits and later turn you into a slave, then make you dance to every tune they play, your taste of music notwithstanding. Don’t get it wrong! Partnering with food delivery aggregators is not a bad idea, but it’s prudent to take a keen look at the terms and conditions of your partnership agreement. Consider the terms and conditions and ask yourself whether solely depending on Just Eat as a third-party delivery app is beneficial to your business or is just a straightforward rip-off.
Why Relying on Just Eat Can Ruin Your Restaurant or Takeaway
Signing up on Just Eat looks tempting at first. Their persuasive elevator pitch, aggressive marketing, and alluring promises to take your takeaway or restaurant to unimaginable levels can thaw even the hardest of hearts. But wait until you sign up and things start rolling out. It won’t take you long to realize that you actually invited a monster to devour your profits as you helplessly stand aside and look. This article walks you through the reasons why you should walk away from Just Eat.
Just Eat Is Your Competitor, Not a Partner
The company pays to increase its visibility rank above your business on Google. And you know what? The business name they use is a keyword that directly refers to your business, meaning that a local customer searching for your restaurant or takeaway services on Google will first see Just Eat. That’s it! The customer has landed the services they wanted. Eventually, you realize that your online ordering system is recording less and less traffic and website sales.
Customer theft is one of the most insidious things that Just Eat does to your restaurant business or your own online food delivery services. And lest you forget, the proceeds you get from this unjust business are ridiculous compared to the hefty sums they charge the customer for delivery services. In a nutshell, Just Eat is an outright customer thief and an uncalled-for competitor. Keep away from them if you mind your business survival.
They Will Force You to Comply With Their Insidious Business Tactics
As earlier said, Just Eat will entice you to sign up on their platform with alluring promises to expand your business and increase profits, but in reality, they turn you into their slave. To tow their line, you will be forced to expand your menu to cover a broad audience and offer unrealistically huge discounts on their websites and telephone orders. What does this mean to your business? You will be obliged to compromise your food quality to shield your business from losses that the enormous discounts are bound to bring.
Expanding your menu to cater to the perceived wide range of customers means more harm to your restaurant, especially if you are dealing in perishable food products. It would be best if you kept in mind that increasing your menu does not guarantee an equal increase in deliveries. You may end up throwing away the food in a trash can.
Relying on Just Eat Can Damage Your Business Reputation
Image is everything, according to the old saying! Just Eat is notorious for using stock images that are not representative of the products that your takeaway business offers. For instance, they can post the same food images for two different restaurants. Remember that images are crucial in marketing your takeaway or restaurant. Suppose a customer orders a specific type of food depending on the image posted. If the customer does not receive the food similar to what’s in the image, your business’ reputation gets ruined. You can bet that you will get a lot of negative reviews on your site, which translates to low sales within a very short time.
Their Charges Are an Outright Rip-off
The platform charges exorbitantly to set up your business on their site. You will be forced to part with a hefty sum for your restaurant’s listing on the site and the delivery of the machine that receives the orders. As if that is not enough, they take a whopping 15% to 20% commission on each delivery, meaning that you have to adjust your prices. They even charge for short-distance deliveries, which are ordinarily commission-free. You better use the extra money generated from adjusted prices to advertise your business independently!
Just Eat Denies You Crucial Connection With Your Customers
Partnering with Just Eat as a third-party delivery service provider means losing the all-important connection with your customers. The platform does not allow you to access your client’s data; thus, you have no way to make a follow-up or learn more about your customer’s buying habits.
Since Just Eat retains your customer’s emails and phone contacts, they can use the information to send promotional messages about other restaurants that offer the same services as yours. In the end, you may end up losing your most loyal clients to your competitors.
Partnering with Just Eat also means that you have no room to defend yourself in case something goes wrong with the delivery. Since you have no control over the outsourced delivery services, you cannot guarantee food safety and quality after it leaves your premises.
Final Thoughts
Though it is the wish of every business owner to have their takeaway and restaurant easily discovered online, Just Eat is not the best option. If you do your math, you will realize that partnering with the site is equivalent to courting death for your business. There are better and cheaper ways to market your business out there. Do the necessary research and make the right choice to save your business!
