Since its inception in Sri Lanka in 2018, UberEats has become one of the most trending apps in the country. Estimating over 3 million meals served within the first year, UberEats believes Sri Lanka is one of their greatest investments. It was quite obvious as the market was pretty clear and the competition was low when they first brought in this concept.
There were few other delivery partners before UberEats entered the Sri Lankan market, but their lack of innovation and failure to keep upgrading with trends made them obsolete. Today, UberEats is an app that we all have on our phones. Not only does it fulfil the need for a delivery partner in the market, but it also brings a source of income for those who are willing to be a part of the process.
How UberEats Work both ways
A hungry customer or a rider looking to earn an extra income, UberEats caters for both. All UberEats restaurants updates according to each city area. However, if you’re craving, you can still order a particular dish from a restaurant located away from your residing city and UberEats would bring it to you. Due to the online card payment facility, even if you’re out of cash, you can still get yourself a meal through your credit/debit card.
If you happen to have a motorcycle and free time in your hands, you can join the UberEats rider crew. It’s a part-time job with flexi hours. The organization’s Sri Lanka team’s lead Bhavna Dadlani focuses on empowering women to join the crew as well by providing self-defence classes for safety and sanitation solutions in restaurants for those on the road. Additionally, all riders are provided with full insurance during trips, so safety is the least to worry about.
What changed with UberEats?
Although there is a certain delivery fee and an uncertain tax fee for all products on UberEats, the demand is never less. However, now the competition is starting to grow with multiple other local delivery solutions popping up. PickMe Food is currently making its way through the loopholes but the promising service provided by UberEats still holds its position firmly.
Let’s look at how UberEats raged through the market and how it changed the Sri Lankan lifestyle.
Choice
Unlike Western countries, the Sri Lankan culture is all about preserving traditions with homemade meals. Eating out was a fancy deal which was limited maybe to once a week or twice a month back in the day. Mainly because it was expensive and the choices were very limited. In the early 2000s, the only restaurant-worthy food stores were fast-food franchises like McDonald’s and KFC while others were quite high-end or located in hotels.
However in the recent past, with Tourism placing its roots, chic cafes and themed restaurants began popping up around Colombo. Now that the choice is quite wide and new for Sri Lanka, people are looking to experience something new every day. What better way to do the same by trying new food at home itself. UberEats has over 30 worldwide cuisines with over 4 digit number of restaurants under its wing. (well, the app)
Target Market
When it comes to eating a healthy meal daily, nobody understands the struggle other than the working class. One of the worst time of the day would be lunch where we all waste hours trying to make a decision that would fit our budget. It’s not easy especially if your workplace is located alienated from the city side.
However with UberEats stepping into the game, now people can order a meal from wherever they like and have it delivered to their doorstep without a hassle.
Covering Areas
All delivery solution providers who were in the market previously always had limitations when it came to delivery areas. They would only cover the high-end residential and corporate areas, but when UberEats stepped in, it captured the rest of the market and outstation as well (recently!) who were willing to pay for delivered food. This majorly changed the Sri Lankan food lifestyle.
Rider Mindset
UberEats focuses on the relationships they build through their journey. According to Dadlani, it’s all about maintaining the key pillars, which is the business, the customer, the delivery partners and the restaurants. Keeping all these sectors happy is their way forward. They made the whole process feel like a joint effort in which even the customer can be a rider.
This comfortable yet tactical atmosphere is also another reason for their success. This drastically changed the Sri Lankan mindset where the driver is no less important than the customer.
No Calls necessary
Many of us are foodies but introverts who loathes making calls. The UberEats app eliminates that awful requirement for deliveries. We can simply click and place our order and the delivery person shall find your entered address. Although few would call to reconfirm the address, other riders would simply arrive at your door with no hassle at all.
Offers
As Sri Lankans, there’s something we adore more than anything else. OFFERS! Wherever there’s an offer somewhere, we would rush towards it. UberEats discovered this need and started giving out daily or weekly offers. Some are creative polls, through which we are supposed to vote for our preferences and the highest voted will be given a discount overall.
With offers raging through, we are tempted to purchase more and more, which is gradually changing the Sri Lankan lifestyle of cooking food at home to buying out on a regular basis.
Conclusion
So there you go! All you need to know about UberEats arrival to the market of Sri Lanka. We can honestly say that UberEats has successfully filled in the gaps that remained all along in the food market of Sri Lanka. If you look into the details, you would find many cons of such delivery solution providers, but let’s look at the bright side. Sri Lanka is growing, and such support for the economy should be appreciated.