UberEATS’s David Kitley on expansion plans and more

UberEATS launched in Cape Town this week, offering a trendy food delivery service to take on the likes of OrderIn and Mr Delivery.

What should you expect from the service? Are there any plans for expansion? We interviewed David Kitley of UberEATS South Africa at the Cape Town launch event.

UberEATS will launch in the city centre, Atlantic Seaboard, Woodstock and Observatory, but Kitley says that there are plans to expand.

“Southern Suburbs is a priority of ours, we’re actually working on that at the moment. And then hopefully even expanding to other areas, you know… obviously Constantia… and even looking as far as Stellenbosch and other areas,” the executive told Memeburn.

So how long until we see expansions taking place? Kitley couldn’t give a timeframe, but agreed that it could take place within the next three months.

UberEATS in Cape Town will expand to the Southern Suburbs and more areas, the firm said

How does UberEATS aim to stand out from other players in the sector though?

“We’ve partnered with a lot of local favourites… there are particular restaurants/chefs on there that you aren’t able to get on other platforms,” the UberEATS representative says, adding that Uber’s logistics and infrastructure as well as pricing makes the difference.

Interestingly enough, Kitley says that UberEATS is also able to offer plenty of data to restaurants, enabling better decision-making. What kind of data are these establishments receiving?

“Some of the data we share with restaurants is obviously different order breakdowns, so looking at what are their most popular cuisines,” the UberEATS executive says. Kitley adds that order patterns, average meal prep times and online queries outside operating hours are also accounted for.

What next for UberEATS in SA?

Of course, cold food and late orders in general can be a huge downer, but what’s the policy here?

Kitley said they have the same level of customer service as Uber in general and will work to ensure that the “applicable refunds apply”. He adds that UberEATS will generally work with restaurants to understand what happened.

Finally, where to next for the service in South Africa?

“So, obviously getting Gauteng and Cape Town right is the priority for us at the moment,” the executive says, but adds that Durban and Port Elizabeth is on their radar.

Could we definitely see Durban and Port Elizabeth by the end of the year then?

“(We) could not definitely say that. But Durban specifically is on our radar and if we can get there by the end of the year, it’d be really exciting.”

Missed the launch info? Here are four things to know about UberEATS in Cape Town.