Foodpanda now does its own deliveries in Pakistan

As part of a global strategy to move away from a pure marketplace model, Foodpanda in Pakistan today announced the launch of its own delivery service. The launch comes shortly after similar announcements were made in India, Singapore, Vietnam, and Bangladesh.

Prior to this, Foodpanda functioned as a restaurant aggregator, allowing customers to browse through all available options and choose whatever they liked. Orders would then be routed back to the restaurant, who would simply add them to their existing delivery systems. However, this is now about to change.

Initially Foodpanda’s own delivery network is available only in Karachi, Lahore, and Islamabad, but it is likely that more cities will be introduced soon. Foodpanda MD Talha Ansari reveals to Tech in Asia that Rocket Internet’s startup has been experimenting with this service for the past several weeks and tweaking the process before deciding to go public with it. The eventual goal is to manage delivery solutions for all restaurants available on the site whilst also introducing new categories.

“We have been inundated with requests from restaurants, cafes, and bakeries to create and manage their delivery systems,” Ansari tells Tech in Asia. “Our decision to launch the service came after we were convinced that there was significant opportunity in the sector,” he adds.

One of the unique features of the delivery service is a high degree of transparency, where customers will be able to track their orders in real time via Google Maps. Each delivery rider will be equipped with a smartphone, whose coordinates will be available to a customer after placing an order. Furthermore, the delivery rider will also be able to track the customers’ address using Google Maps, preventing delays and increasing the overall efficiency of the order.

The announcement comes at a time when Foodpanda is rapidly scaling operations in Pakistan. After acquiring local competitor EatOye, and revealing that its business has grown by 100 percent since August 2014, the site is pursuing a typically Rocket-like aggressive strategy to dominate the local market.