Uber Eats, the online food delivery service, plans to increase affordable menu options with an aim to increase the frequency of customer orders and capitalise on the country's 26-billion-baht food delivery market.
Traffic jams, the growth of mobile internet users and changes in urban lifestyles have contributed to the boom of online and offline food delivery, creating a huge market, said Siripa Jungsawat, general manager of Uber Thailand.
She cited Euromonitor research on the value of food delivery service in Thailand at 26 billion baht in 2017.
Uber Eats delivered about 1 million dishes in its first year of operation. The number of restaurant partners has risen from 100 at first to 1,300.
"Uber offers the cheapest food delivery service in the market with a flat rate of 30 baht per trip within five kilometres of users' locations, covering 30 districts in Bangkok and with an average delivery time of 30 minutes," Ms Siripa said.
This year it aims to provide the service throughout the capital and in some parts of Nonthaburi and Samut Prakan provinces.
"We will increase the variety of cuisines and affordable menu items that are below 100 baht, of which there are 10,000 menu items," Ms Siripa said.
Uber Eats aims to raise awareness to inform users that the company can deliver food at any price point, not just from premium restaurants, to increase frequent usage.
The top cuisines ordered via Uber Eats are Thai dishes such as som tam and noodles, as well as Japanese and Chinese dishes. Peak hours are weekends, dinner, lunch and late at night. The peak ordering areas are business districts.
Uber earns revenue through commissions from partner restaurants. The company plans to make its app more personalised and capable of recommending menu items.
To date, Uber Eats is in 34 cities in Asia-Pacific and 200 cities globally.
Yesterday, Uber Eats announced its People's Choice 2017 Awards. The five restaurant partners awarded were Sabsaded, Easy Ribs & Wings, Daniel Thaiger, Pu Yen Ta Fo and Khao Moo Dang Si Morakot.
Uber Eats is not the sole food delivery service in Thailand. Line Thailand stepped into the business in May 2016.
Line Man claims to be the top food delivery service in Thailand, citing 30,000 partners that span street food to high-end restaurants and more than 500,000 active users per month.
Line Man last year signed a memorandum of understanding with Bangkok Taxi Cooperative under the service name Line Taxi to cater to food delivery demand.
