A new takeaway ordering app first launched in Scotland is coming to Manchester, which promises to save money for both customers and independent restaurants.
Secret Takeaways is taking aim at the likes of Uber Eats and Deliveroo in charging as much as 35% less commission to the restaurants who use their service, and with customers paying on average 23% less for their food.
The app launched in June 2021 in Edinburgh and Glasgow, and quickly gained over 150,000 users.
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It launches today in Manchester, with 150 restaurants listed, including well-known names like Almost Famous, Honest Burger, Rudy’s, Pie Minister, Wholesome Junkies, Northern Soul, Yard & Coop and Ramona.
Founder Callum McPherson told the MEN: “During the pandemic, [takeaway business] was a bit of a lifeline to a lot of restaurants, but now we’re opening up, restaurants want to build a more sustainable way of doing takeaway delivery, and not have to give 30% of their revenues away.
“Delivery apps add a lot of fees on, and restaurants then have to add their own expenses on to absorb those fees.”
The app redirects users to the restaurant’s own menus and ordering systems, with the restaurant then taking on the order and delivery part themselves.
Secret Takeaways then gets a small commission for the referral, rather than charging a larger commission for the fulfillment.
Paul Corrigan, from I Knead Pizza in Reddish, said: “Direct orders are so important, they can be the difference between making a business profitable and ending it. Commission based apps really eat into profits. Direct orders really help.”
“When you order through a delivery app, you’re the delivery app’s customer, not the restaurant’s customer,” McPherson added.
“So it’s not just the commission they charge, they then own all the data too. When you order directly from a restaurant, the restaurant then has your email address, they know you’re a loyal customer, and we want restaurants to have that direct relationship, and we get out of the way.
“We’re like a search engine, like Skyscanner but for food. We want the restaurants to be getting the orders, not the delivery apps.”
McPherson started out with just a shared spreadsheet that he published with the names of local restaurants which had started offering take-out at the beginning of the pandemic.
He then developed it to become an app, and has raised £1 million in funding.
