Uber Eats is a convenience for those who can't spare time to cook or buy food, and it gives virtual restaurants (VRs) a way to run their business without having the option of dining in. However, the food delivery app is weeding out VRs with similar menus.
Removing Certain Delivery-Only Restaurants
Uber Eats is cleaning out its listings by removing low-quality listings as well as ones that do not pass its new standards. Virtual restaurants or "ghost kitchens" basically exist only for people to order food from them through food delivery services such as DoorDash or Uber Eats
It has come to the company's attention that some of the restaurants have the same menu despite having different brand names. These brands are usually owned by larger companies and operate at the same locations.
For the sake of cleaning out the app and eliminating repetitiveness, Uber Eats now requires ghost kitchens to at least be 60% different from other virtual restaurants that are run from the same physical location, which also applies to the "parent restaurant" that owns it.
Both will also have to maintain a 4.3-star rating on the app, as well as only have a five percent order cancellation or inaccurate order rate. As mentioned in The Verge, the move will affect around 5,000 virtual restaurants in the app that do not comply with the new standards.
For comparison, there are approximately 40,000 ghost kitchens in the Uber Eats app, which means around 12.5% are going to be removed by the food delivery service. Uber's virtual restaurant head John Mullenholz expressed that this benefits both consumers and merchants.
He added that the standards are introduced to let restaurants "flex their creativity" since delivery-only concepts are an "exciting way for operators to invest in the growth of their business."
Virtual Restaurants
Almost anyone can create a virtual restaurant for themselves and list them on Uber Eats. It's a good way to start a food business without having to worry about the costs of a physical space, which can significantly reduce your profit.
According to Uber Eats, you can start by establishing a unique brand that will represent the food that you will sell. You will also have to design a logo you'll use for your app profile, delivery menu, packaging, and more.
Within the app, you can list down menu items by groups and cuisine types, as well as descriptions that range from 140 to 260 characters so customers would know more about what they are ordering.
For drinks, make sure to add details about the beverage and provide details such as flavors and size choices. Of course, your products will need photos to draw in hungry customers, and sp they will know what to expect.
Of course, you will have to create a menu that is suitable for delivery-only services. You should also pay attention to your packaging, and make sure that it is able to maintain the quality of the food after it is delivered to the customer.
