Foodpanda and Mobile Marketing

Foodpanda, a relatively young but immensely successful global company launched in 2012, offers an online food delivery service which allows customers to order from nearby partner restaurants via Foodpanda's mobile app or website. I have long been a Foodpanda customer in the Philippines, and though using its service obviously costs more than actually going to a restaurant and placing an order in person, I believe the convenience and ease the service provides makes the additional fee worth it.

Foodpanda and Mobile Marketing

From my observation, one factor that has enabled Foodpanda to become the huge success that it is now was its ability to successfully capitalize on the public's heavy reliance on smartphones. In fact, in line with its mobile-first strategy, Foodpanda recently decided get rid of phone ordering in favor of purely web and mobile orders.

An example of one of Foodpanda's many mobile discount alerts.

To entice more customers to order through Foodpanda, the company regularly sends promo emails, as well as mobile alerts, via the company's mobile app. They also make use of social media promotions, such as giving out discount codes on Facebook and Twitter during special events or holidays. I personally receive regular email and mobile discount alerts on my phone, and while the frequency of this may be bothersome for others*, I believe that for most Foodpanda customers - those who work on a tight schedule and have little to no time to drop by restaurants - regular discount alerts are a good way of retaining loyalty. In addition, this allows Foodpanda to promote its new partner-restaurants, as well as new food offerings from its existing partners.

Foodpanda also gives its users special deals depending on location.

Indeed, by leveraging on the public's high dependence on smartphones and data, as well as today's increasingly fast-paced lifestyle, Foodpanda has been able to - and, I believe, will continue to - successfully penetrate the growing tech-savvy, food delivery market.

*Customers are always given a choice to stop receiving alerts and emails.