Why Takeaway.com will deliver iPhone cables as well as pizza

Takeaway.com is expanding from home delivery of restaurant meals to delivering groceries or even non-food orders. “We have the knowledge, the vehicles and the people.”

Delivering groceries

In more and more Belgian cities, Takeway.com is launching its own delivery service, with the familiar orange brand ambassadors. The was initially launched in big cities such as Antwerp, Brussels and Ghent, but is now expanding to some smaller cities and regions. The couriers do not only deliver restaurant meals any more, but also increasingly groceries and soon even non-food orders.

Takeaway.com has already been delivering groceries from Carrefour’s city shop on Anspach Avenue in Brussels since autumn 2022: customers can choose from more than 500 products, ranging from fruit and vegetables to personal care products. Orders are delivered every day between 10 and 21.30h. “This test is successful and will soon be extended”, country director Siska De Lombaerde says. Even more: “We also already deliver for independent neighbourhood and convenience stores, liquor stores, coffee bars…”

Into non-food

In doing so, the delivery platform in Belgium is following a trend that is in full swing internationally: its range of services is expanding from delivering restaurant meals to other sectors. “Delivery as a service”, so to speak. At group level, parent company Just Eat Takeaway has entered into a partnership with Starbucks. The company also delivers groceries for Asda and Sainsbury’s in the United Kingdom and Thuisbezorgd.nl does so for Spar and Albert Heijn in the Netherlands. German sibling Lieferando opened two of its own dark stores in Berlin to deliver groceries from there, and in Canada, the group already delivers through its Skip Express Lane service.

It goes beyond food as well: “We also want to deliver non-food, from pet food over cosmetics to small electronics. In the Netherlands, Thuisbezorgd.nl has been working with Blokker since last summer. We are following that with great interest: if someone needs a new iPhone cable quickly, we always have the couriers on the street. The big advantage for us is that groceries and non-food do not necessarily have to be delivered around lunchtime or during the evening peak. This allows us to use our fleet more efficiently. We have the knowledge, the vehicles and the people. Moreover, we can appeal to new customers, who in turn may also have restaurant meals delivered. It all connects logically.”

Correct partner

However, do not think Takeaway.com’s model is the same as that of some flash delivery companies. “We do not promise to deliver within 15 minutes, because you can not keep doing that sustainably in the long run”, De Lombaerde explains. “We also want to take good care of our couriers: these are in-house employees, they are insured, receive training and accrue holiday pay and hours. If, as a customer, you do have to wait a bit longer, you know why. The fact that we want to be a correct partner is also important for retailers.”

Want to know more about Takeaway.com’s restaurant platform, the delivery service’s growth ambitions in hospitality and retail, its steps towards sustainability? Siska De Lombaerde is speaking at the RetailDetail Food Congress, which takes place on 29 June in Antwerp. Speakers from Colruyt Group, Unilever, IKEA, ChefChain, GraydonCreditsafe and Healthskouts will also take the stage that day in a varied programme that is a must-attend for any food professional.