Uber Eats will launch in Ballarat on Wednesday, but consumers should be aware the service comes at a “premium”.
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Twenty-five restaurants will be available on the service between 10am and 10pm, including The Forge Pizzeria, Golden City Hotel and Curry Star.
Customers will pay a $6.95 delivery fee, with delivery from cars, motorcycles and bicycles, as in metro centres.
The service will cover Ballarat Central, Lake Wendouree, Lake Gardens, Newington, Delacombe, Redan, Mount Pleasant, Golden Point, Canadian, Eureka, Ballarat East, Black Hill, Soldiers Hill, Ballarat North and parts of Wendouree.
The Forge Pizzeria’s director Tim Matthews said the ready-made platform of users on the Uber Eats app was attractive in meeting Ballarat consumer demand.
“The bulk of what we do is as a restaurant, so we don’t want to be spending too much time on the delivery side of it,” he said.
“So to have a third-party come in and manage that process and make it seamless with the app… it makes our job easier, because we can just do what we want to do.
“We don’t think it will affect our current sales, because the premium on delivery is there on top of it, but for those that don’t want to go out in Ballarat’s weather it gives them the opportunity.”
READ MORE: Uber launches in Ballarat (October, 2017)
Uber’s new venture also signals competition for Ballarat’s delivery services Delivr and Haulr.
Delivr founder Alex Power said he “wasn’t worried” about competition from corporate delivery services, which he believe “quite literally starve restaurants on the fear of missing out” by taking high commissions on food.
“It shouldn't be that way, if you want to support your favourite restaurant, we take less than half of the commission on food by those nation-wide corporate groups,” he said.
“Fundamentally we’re trying to create a sustainable environment for customers and where restaurants are actually making money, and we’ve done very well on that so far.”
Mr Matthews said Uber took “quite a considerable amount” for a commission on deliveries, but the restaurant didn’t “have to manage any of the costs associated with the cars, petrol and the wages” that they would have to pass on otherwise.
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