Foodies of Karachi- rejoice! There’s a fast growing food delivery service in town, and its called urbanite.pk. If you’re scoffing a burger while scoffing at this news because you already know about it and just ordered from there, kudos! But if you don’t, where have you been and more importantly, what have you been eating?
Urbanite.pk is a website that offers a space for restaurants and consumers to interact. The service focuses on ease of ordering, by “providing its customers with a quick and convenient way to order food. Consumers can choose from hundreds of restaurants, view their menus online and get the food delivered at their doorstep”.
The process is simple enough. First select what part of Karachi you’re in, then browse through the restaurants available in that area and then place your order.
What distinguishes urbanite.pk from simply ordering directly from the restaurant? It’s the range of restaurants whose services they offer, the area-specific search, and the provision of a delivery service for those restaurants that do not have their own delivery services.
In addition, you can order from multiple restaurants in the same order, which makes the dilemma of I-want-a-burger-from-X but the-chips-are-better-at-Y a whole lot easier. Urbanite.pk also offers credit for businesses, and an account for offices to have food delivered for occasions and lunches, making it a bit easier to organize inter-office events.
Focus on Customers
After launching a new website, they had several glitches to work out but they seem to have responded well to consumer problems. The service has been complimented for being speedy and convenient, and this has been reflected in feedback on Facebook. Urbanite.pk has also started attracting more attention through Twitter (@Urbanite.PK), though this medium has not been as popular as Facebook or their website, which has more than 150,000 visitors per month.
The service is currently available through their website or calling in at their service center, though they will soon be releasing mobile apps for iOS and Adroid devices.
Versus the Rest
With over 28,000 likes on its Facebook page, urbanite.pk is facing growing demand from a growing fan base. But this demand isn’t restricted to Urbanite.pk alone- there are several rivals competing in the fast growing online food delivery service industry in Pakistan.
Urbanite.pk is facing a whole host of competitors, including foortal.pk, which delivers to five cities in Pakistan, eatoye.pk that delivers to thirteen cities, and khaopiyo.pk, which delivers to Lahore, Karachi and Islamabad.
Of all its competitors, none is fiercer than Foodpanda. Operating in 41 countries, Foodpanda has the intimidating mandate of “working around the clock to make Foodpanda the most powerful online tool for food delivery in the universe.” Delivering to 9 Pakistani cities, they have the benefit of reaching out to more consumers, as well as having the funding for significant expansion. With over 891,000 worldwide likes to its Facebook credit, its popularity is somewhat daunting.
It seems Urbanite.pk needs to put more work into its advertising and self-promotion on Facebook, especially compared to Foodpanda’s efforts. However, it may be that Facebook ‘likes’ constitute a battle, while the real war lies in funding and partnerships.
From Urban to International
Recently, E-Takeaway announced that it is partnering with urbanite.pk and forming a merger. They’ve invested in a “partial stake” that “sees Urbanite.pk being run as the Danish company’s Pakistan business.”
E-Takeaway is a Danish food delivery company that became international when it started partnering up with local food delivery services from around the world. They are currently present in ten countries and plan on expanding even more. The company’s interest in Pakistan is its first foray into Asia, and demonstrates the rising potential of e-commerce in Asian countries; particularly ones with growing Internet usage and consumer bases, such as in Pakistan.
Although faced with several rivals and “need(ing) a boost to increase their progress rates,” Urbanite.pk has been touted as having potential to expand. They have some advantages over competing online food delivery services, as explained by Michael Meyrowitsch from E-Takeaway who: “points to its cold storage facilities as one edge, allowing the site to deliver ice creams and cakes. The Danish firm also claims that Urbanite has better tech for integrating with restaurants, and will use quality customer service as another way to differentiate its service.”
It seems Urbanite.pk is moving on to bigger and better things, expanding their service and increasing their stake in the online food delivery service market. So next time you want a hot meal and you want it fast, get clicking.
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