The Cost Of Using Food Delivery Services

[Big Boy]

This isn't the first time I've noticed this..................

Today has been a rush, so we thought rather than cook tonight, we'd have a take-away. We agreed it would be nice to eat Chinese.

We agreed upon:

Special fried rice
Curry chicken
Crispy aromatic duck
Steakhouse fries (frozen, yuk) x 2

We had viewed the sit-in menu online, and the cost would have been 900฿ exactly. We signed into the app, and the cost would have been 1,430฿, and there would have been a delivery charge on top of that. 530฿ (£12.68 approx) is an incredible on cost i.e. the food costs over 50% more.

When we realised the stupid on cost, we jumped in the car and ate at the restaurant. When we'd finished, they had to do the dishes.

How can they justify such stupid on-costs, and charge a delivery fee extra?

Pre-Covid, my DIL had a small food outlet, and she wanted to use Food Panda/Grab. At that time, she could have signed up easily enough, but there was a stipulation she could not charge more than her regular menu prices. Of course, she didn't bother because all of her profit would have gone to the delivery company.

[STEVE G]

^I completely agree with you, I never use food delivery services anywhere, or takeaway unless it's fast food. If I'm paying restaurant prices, I want to be sat in a restaurant, not at home.

[Bubba1]

Sounds like you don’t understand how the food apps work. The owner of Charcoal Grill(UK Chinese on grab) was hesitant to use Grab because they charge the restaurant more than 35%. It’s not him just adding to his margins it’s the charges from Grab to the restaurant. Plus they have the packaging costs.

Next time do a takeaway or use grab express

[Big Boy]

No, I understand how they work now, and how they worked pre-Covid, My gripe is the food app margin is OTT - they are making far more than the retailer for having an app. It is driving me away from using food delivery apps, and I just want to highlight the huge profit margins, because it wasn't always that way.

[Bubba1]

No, I understand how they work now, and how they worked pre-Covid, My gripe is the food app margin is OTT - they are making far more than the retailer for having an app. It is driving me away from using food delivery apps, and I just want to highlight the huge profit margins, because it wasn't always that way.

Send them a Line or WhatsApp message and they can arrange a grab express. You only pay for the motorcycle and the food is at the menu prices.

[Hahuahin]

Todays rant. The day I start using Grab or a similar delivery service I hope the coffin is ready. Biggest health step backwards in human history and not surprised if it started in the US of A. Not only that, but the delivery drivers also make the traffic here even more dangerous for other road users and have myself been hit by one of their drugged drivers.
hahuahin

[404cameljockey]

delivery charge on top of that. 530฿ (£12.68 approx) is an incredible on cost i.e. the food costs over 50% more.

Were you ordering from a Bangkok restaurant??

530 Baht for a Grab delivery? I just find that hard to believe. I do use Grab delivery sometimes.

[404cameljockey]

Todays rant. The day I start using Grab or a similar delivery service I hope the coffin is ready. Biggest health step backwards in human history and not surprised if it started in the US of A. Not only that, but the delivery drivers also make the traffic here even more dangerous for other road users and have myself been hit by one of their drugged drivers.
hahuahin

There are plenty of cheap and healthy Thai food options on Grab and Lineman. The farang options tend to be silly money compared to eating in a restaurant, I only use them when I need hangover food at home. I agree about the road manners of the delivery bikes.

[Big Boy]

I don't blame the retailers, it is the necessary delivery service mark-up that leaves the bad taste. They take such a huge cut, and then charge extra for delivery.

Going back to my DIL again, there was a time when she signed up for Grab and Food Panda, working from home. Everything in the garden was rosy for about 4 weeks, then her business was difficult to find on the listings. They started demanding extra money for this and extra money for that. She was back to the situation where she either passed the oncost to the consumer, or quit. She chose the latter - the oncost would have made her products very unattractive.

[404cameljockey]

You sound like a grumpy old man that can’t keep up with the times and blames technology on your own incompetence

That's a complete non sequitur, having a bad day?

[Bubba1]

I don't blame the retailers, it is the necessary delivery service mark-up that leaves the bad taste. They take such a huge cut, and then charge extra for delivery.

Going back to my DIL again, there was a time when she signed up for Grab and Food Panda, working from home. Everything in the garden was rosy for about 4 weeks, then her business was difficult to find on the listings. They started demanding extra money for this and extra money for that. She was back to the situation where she either passed the oncost to the consumer, or quit. She chose the latter - the oncost would have made her products very unattractive.

So you’re blaming her business failure on both grab and food panda?

[Hahuahin]

Todays rant. The day I start using Grab or a similar delivery service I hope the coffin is ready. Biggest health step backwards in human history and not surprised if it started in the US of A. Not only that, but the delivery drivers also make the traffic here even more dangerous for other road users and have myself been hit by one of their drugged drivers.
hahuahin

You sound like a grumpy old man that can’t keep up with the times and blames technology on your own incompetence

Yeah, I'm not sure who's more incompetent. Is it the one who pays various businesses for a meal and need it delivered on the door, or the one who buys it locally and is able to cook for themselves!
hahuahin

[Dannie Boy]

Although I largely sit on the fence with this debate, I understand many of the comments that have been made. BB says his DIL started a business based at home, with the intent on using the likes of Grab and Food Panda to deliver, but they then hike their charges to make it unviable. Some people prefer to buy ingredients and cook themselves (I’m one of those), whereas others either can’t or don’t want to cook (at least not all the time) so rely on home deliveries as well as presumably eating out.

I can honestly say that in Thailand I have never ordered a home delivery - I either cook myself or very occasionally go to a restaurant. When I’m in the UK I will sometimes order food for delivery but more often if I’m looking for ready made food I’ll order and collect myself.

Horses for courses - no need to slag people’s personal preferences off!!

[404cameljockey]

Yes, I don't understand these comments about incompetence. I can cook farang food and do (baking sausage rolls and bread today), my partner can cook Thai food and does most days. Very occasionally I order a farang food delivery (I'm 8kms outside of town), we never order Thai delivery although it's ridiculously cheap. We eat lunch 3-4 times a week at an Isan-food local restaurant when coming home from shopping.

The cost of delivery is not something I think about. Say 40 Baht, OK, but so what unless you did it every day?

Where does incompetence come into it, when you occasionally want to be fed without cooking and washing up? Some people just like to poke holes in other people, they must have some lack in their lives, or be the ultimate Cheap Charlies ....

[Hahuahin]

Social inequalities in the use of online food delivery services and associations with weight status: cross-sectional analysis of survey and consumer data
https://bmjpublichealth.bmj.com/content/2/2/e000487

Food Delivery Apps: Usage and Demographics — Winners, Losers and Laggards
https://www.zionandzion.com/research/fo ... 0by%202030.

Use of Online Food Delivery Services to Order Food Prepared Away-From-Home and Associated Sociodemographic Characteristics: A Cross-Sectional, Multi-Country Analysis
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/17/14/5190