Deliveroo’s teal-coloured delivery boxes are always a welcome sight for legions of hungry foodies in Singapore. With more than 4,500 restaurant partners and 6,300 riders across the island, the company is one of the go-to choices when it comes to food delivery.

Following our chat with Siddharth Shanker, General Manager of Deliveroo Singapore last month, we invited him to DBS Asia X for a brown bag session where he shared about disruptions in the food delivery space and what goes on behind the scenes at Deliveroo.

Hungry to learn what went down at the talk? Here are three key takeaways.

Siddharth Shanker speaking at DBS Asia X as part of DAX U, a talk series consisting of curated curriculum about innovation in different fields

Online is the way, but not the only way

In this era of digitalisation, we see many big brands and companies going from physical stores to building an online presence. It might hence seem counterintuitive for Deliveroo to open its Editions stores at three locations in Singapore.

But all this is part of their efforts to invest more in food innovations to meet unmet customer demands. Their Editions outlets are located in areas that they have identified to be short of attractive food options. At the same time, the central kitchen concept allows them to help their restaurant partners expand their reach to more customers. By going brick-and-mortar, and a high-tech fully automated one at that, Deliveroo can satisfy customer demands for better food options while providing greater value to their restaurant partners.

Less is more — invisible tech behind each order

Deliveroo has more than 4,500 restaurant partners on its platform but you don’t necessarily see all these choices. It depends on your location and the time of the day. Why can’t you see more options? There’s a good reason for that.

Food safety and quality are factors that feed into the algorithm to determine which eateries show up on your Deliveroo page. Besides factors like proximity, the platform also considers the type of food and the most appropriate time within which that specific type of food should be delivered and consumed. So the next time you place your order, think about the invisible tech that goes into each delivery.

Innovation is the recipe for success

Deliveroo operates in a crowded and saturated landscape but a price war is not a winning strategy, according to Sid. While introducing low prices is often deemed a popular option to woo new customers, it is not a sustainable business model for the company’s long-term growth.

Instead, the company focuses on meaningful innovation. Editions is just one example of how Deliveroo finds new ways to meet changing customer demands. Another is exploring the use of hyper-personalisation to make the food delivery platform more reflective of users’ tastes.

This formula seems to be working for Deliveroo. It was reported that the food delivery business posted a 69 per cent rise in revenue in 2018. Watch this space to find out where the appetite for innovation will take the company next.