Just Eat Takeaway orders soar 50 per cent amid coronavirus lockdown
Just Eat Takeaway orders soared 50 per cent in the first quarter of the year as more people opted for food deliveries after governments imposed restrictions on movement due to the coronavirus crisis.
Just Eat Takeaway also said it suffered “severe” denial of service attacks in the week beginning 16 March which affected hundreds of thousands of orders.
The onset of the coronavirus in Europe in the middle of March caused a dip in orders as restaurants closed and people shifted towards working from home.
However volumes recovered strongly by the end of the month, and average order values “increased markedly”.
Dutch food delivery firm Takeaway.com bought the UK’s Just Eat last year, however the companies are still being operated as separate entities under orders from the Competition and Markets Authority.
The figures released this morning only include Takeaway.com’s performance.
Takeaway.com chief executive Jitse Groen said: “In these uncertain and unprecedented times, our top priority has been the well-being of our staff, partner restaurants and consumers.
“I am proud that our employees have been able to serve so many people, even while undergoing restrictive measures themselves.
“Takeaway.com is one of the few, and privileged, companies that has only modestly been affected by the crisis.
“The most notable effect on our figures has been, what we now believe to be, a temporary impact on our March orders. Despite enormous shifts in user behaviour and restaurant composition, our business continues to be very strong and resilient.”
Orders declined mostly at Takeaway’s own delivery service Scoober in March, as this unit caters to restaurants which are primarily focused on dine-in customers.
Many of these restaurants throughout Europe, including all Dutch and German ones, were forced to close in March, while restaurants focused on home delivery could often continue their services.