The UK’s online food revolution driven by technological innovation, breadth of choice and Britain’s consumers finding new occasions to order, has helped ensure that Just Eat has hit 300 million orders only 12 months after breaking through the 200 million mark.
In 2006, Just Eat launched in the UK signing up its first restaurant partner Verona Pizza in Morden which is still on the platform today. Since then, it has grown to 27,600 restaurant partners nationwide and over 100 cuisines types. Although it took eight years for Just Eat to reach 100 million orders, Just Eat has reached 300 million orders just 12 months after hitting 200 million.
A leading global marketplace for online food delivery, Just Eat has processed, on average, three orders per second in the UK in the last 12 months thanks to its nine million customers, which are helping driving the UK’s online food revolution. Today it has rewarded the customer who made the 300 millionth order with a free holiday.
Emma Black from Gateshead unknowingly placed Just Eat’s 300 millionth order after opting for a takeaway pizza from local restaurant Santos. Just Eat surprised the lucky customer with a holiday to Italy - paying homage to the cuisine’s origin country that marks Just Eat’s 300 millionth order.
Black said, “I'm absolutely gobsmacked, I never win anything in my life. I use Just Eat a lot so to have placed its 300 millionth order is fantastic. I ordered takeaway pizza from my favourite local restaurant Santos and now I have won a holiday to Italy, I'm over the moon.'
To further celebrate the landmark occasion of its 300 millionth order, Just Eat is rewarding Santos with a monetary donation to invest back into the business and a bespoke advertising campaign to help raise awareness of Santos within the local community.
In addition, Just Eat has launched ‘The Great May Giveaway’ where it will ‘surprise and delight’ hundreds of customers with free meals until the end of the month. There will also be amazing discounts and offers up for grabs as well as a package to win the ‘Ultimate Night In’ made up of prizes including a television, games console and takeaway for the whole family.
Graham Corfield, UK Managing Director, said, “We could not have reached our 300 millionth order without the support of our loyal customers and dedicated restaurant partners. From one restaurant in 2006 we have grown to 27,600 and in the process helped create a fantastic and competitive marketplace for independent restaurants.
“Historically, independent restaurants have had neither the resources nor technology to digitalise their businesses. Providing the platform for them to move online and reach a significantly broader customer base has helped to grow their businesses. We are proud of the job Just Eat has done in helping to grow the sector and the technological developments we have implemented to help make food discovery more exciting.”
Just Eat’s 300 millionth order caps a strong year of tech innovation, which includes delivering the world’s first takeaway by robot and creating a Chatbot to help customers find their flavour. With collaborations with leaders in social media, augmented reality, gaming and virtual reality, consumers will see Just Eat continue to push boundaries.
The UK’s food delivery market grew to more than £6 billion for the first time in 2016, up from £5.5 billion in 2015. Brits made a total of 88.1 million takeaway orders through Just Eat last year, while the number of restaurants on Just Eat’s platform across the country grew to 27,600.
Brits are becoming more adventurous in their tastes too. Just Eat offer over 100 cuisines in the UK, everything from Lebanese to Mexican. Italian, Chinese and Indian remain its top selling categories, but the fastest growing categories are breakfast dishes and dessert, which means UK consumers are finding new occasions to order. In addition, the recent launch of branded restaurant partners on Just Eat such as iconic food establishments like KFC now offer customers more choice of food than ever before.