Outranking the Competition: How Restaurants Win on Food-Delivery Apps
An inside look at how brands dominate search results on food-delivery apps, using this hidden revenue driver to go from page 3 to prime positioning—and how you can too!
Nuno Freitas
CEO & Co-Founder
What is Search Ranking?
In the cutthroat world of food delivery, even the tastiest dishes can go unnoticed. If you're not on the first page of delivery apps, you're invisible. Hungry customers are impatient – they click the top results, not endless options. Your competitors are stealing your customers, and it's happening right now.
Two-thirds of restaurants are missing a crucial trick: search ranking. Deliveroo, Noon, Zomato, Grubhub, Doordash, UberEats – it doesn't matter. Higher ranking = more orders. Period. It's not just about being seen; it's about being seen first. Customers crave speed and convenience. They're clicking those top spots – restaurants that have mastered food-delivery SEO (Search Engine Optimization). Ignore it, and you're missing out on serious cash.
But it’s not just about your food, your prices, or even your reviews. It’s about how the algorithms behind these apps work, how they change based on location, time of day, and even what type of cuisine the customer is searching for. And this isn’t a one-size-fits-all formula. In cities around the world—from bustling metropolises to smaller towns—there are constantly shifting dynamics that determine who gets seen and who gets sidelined.
Let’s take the UAE as an example, where food delivery is a way of life, and apps like Deliveroo and Noon are the go-to for ordering everything from burgers to biryani.
Important
The sheer volume of culinary options can be overwhelming for customers. So, when someone opens the app, the restaurants that appear first have a distinct advantage on a search term.
What Can Restaurants Do About it?
The upside? This is a battle you can win. The factors that determine ranking are dynamic, meaning they’re always shifting based on factors like neighborhood trends, cuisine popularity, and even the day of the week. This gives you countless opportunities to improve your position, boost visibility, and outshine the competition. Whether you’re a local eatery or a nationwide chain, the algorithms driving food-delivery apps are fluid. What’s working today might not work tomorrow, which means there’s always an opportunity to leap ahead.
What works on Deliveroo might tank on Noon. Keeping up with this chaos is a full-time job – and who has time for that? Your ranking can plummet overnight thanks to a competitor's ad or a sudden shift in customer cravings.
That’s where the need for real-time, actionable insights comes into play. Instead of manually checking your rank on every app, you need a system that does the heavy lifting for you—one that’s always measuring your position and alerting you when something important happens. Whether a competitor suddenly takes your spot with a paid ad or an organic search trend gives you a chance to jump ahead, having market observability means you're never in the dark
Important
Market observability is your secret weapon. Automated tracking and alerts mean you're always in control, ready to react and protect your top spot.
How Does Market Intelligence Help?
Keeping a track of the market and the competition, in this case through the lens of search ranking can be beneficial because it's essentially about taking constant measurements across a city, across locations and search queries to see short-term and long-term trends.
Let's compare a few coffee brands in Dubai between the two nucleus neighbourhood clusters of the city. One near the Palm, and the other near the Burj Khalifa.
- 📆 TIMELINE: Sep 1 2024 - Sep 30 2024
- 🕰 TIME OF DAY: Breakfast
- 🔍 SEARCH QUERY: Coffee
- 📲 FOOD-DELIVERY APPS: Deliveroo, Noon
North Dubai: Business Bay, Downtown Dubai, DIFC, Burj Khalifa / Dubai Mall
South Dubai: JLT + JBR, Marina, Palm Jumeirah, Al Sufouh 2
Notice how Costa Coffee underperforms in North neighbourhoods, despite being competitive during the middle of the month. Likewise, Peet's Coffee has a high standing in North Dubai, but is miles away from the competition in South Dubai. Likewise, Starbucks which held the top rank is now facing stiff competition from Joe & the Juice.
Knowing is not Owning
Getting to the top of food delivery app rankings doesn’t happen by accident. It requires deliberate, data-driven actions. Market information is the first step to visibility, because you can't solve a problem if you don't know it exists. What can you do once you know?
- Menu Optimization: If searches for healthy options spike in your area, highlight those items in your menu or introduce new ones that match customer demand.
- Dynamic Pricing: Food delivery apps often push restaurants with competitive or promotional pricing. Offering time-sensitive discounts or bundling items during off-peak hours can give your restaurant a quick ranking boost.
- Timing Your Promotions: Timing is key. Analyze the market data to identify when demand spikes for your cuisine or region. Run targeted promotions that coincide with those times.
- Ad Budget Strategy: Consider allocating a portion of your marketing budget to sponsored ads, especially during high-demand periods. Even a short-term campaign can push your restaurant into prime visibility. Balance this with organic efforts, so you're not fully reliant on ads
Unconvinced?
Food delivery apps aren't just a platform for customers to find their next meal—they are a battleground where brands fight for visibility. Competitors can easily buy their way to the top with sponsored ads, but with real-time insights, you can react faster, outmaneuver them, and secure your share of the market. Don’t let your restaurant get left behind—leverage the power of data and stay ahead of the curve.
Note
If you're still skeptical, book a free call with us below and we'll help you craft a competitive strategy that helps you stay ahead of the curve.
