With more than six million Internet users across the UAE, online ordering is fast becoming a preferred mechanism for food delivery among consumers, said a leading player in the sector.

The UAE’s high mobile and smart phone penetration rates has also contributed tremendously in this regard, according to a leading online food delivery portal Foodonclick.com.

Established by Turkish online food delivery pioneer Yemeksepeti, foodonclick.com is the first company to bring online food delivery to the UAE.

Since its launch in June 2010, the website has attracted over 35,000 subscribers and is averaging 2,500 new users every month. More than 750 restaurants and cafés are currently listed on the website and at least 10 new outlets are added weekly, the company said in a statement.

With a fast-paced lifestyle and high pressured work environment experienced by many residents in the UAE, the site is a reliable source of up-to-date information about food delivery options in their respective neighbourhoods, it stated.

Offering a convenient and accessible platform, foodonclick.com lets users search food offerings by cuisine, location, budget or special offers and place orders seamlessly at no extra cost, said a senior official.

"Additionally, this web-based process helps to save consumers’ time and minimise discrepancies that occur due to language barriers or human error when ordering food delivery by phone – no more getting “pepperoni instead of pepper only,” remarked Gokhan Akan, the co-founder of foodonclick.com.

The UAE’s high mobile and smart phone penetration rates are also contributing to foodonclick.com’s exceptional business performance, he stated.

"At least 11 per cent of all orders processed by foodonclick.com are received through its iPhone application which was launched in September 2011. Applications for Android and Windows operating systems are currently under development," he added.

Commenting on the growth, Akan said, “The increased level of interest among UAE consumers in our online ordering and delivery concept is remarkable. In 2012 alone, foodonclick.com processed over 147,000 orders, representing a growth of 300 per cent from 2011."

"As mobile and internet penetration in the country continue to improve, we believe that online ordering will become the de-facto mechanism for food delivery among consumers. This is already the case in Turkey," he added.

Listed restaurants on foodonclick.com are also reaping the benefits of online ordering, recording an average 20 per cent increase in food orders since partnering with the portal.

Restaurants have also reported increased efficiency in operations resulting from foodonclick.com’s centralised and accurate ordering system. Orders submitted on the site are transmitted to the respective outlet in no more than seven seconds, said Akan.

Nilesh Bandali, the business development manager at Pizza Express, a Foodonclick.com partner said, “It is an excellent platform for businesses to target consumers who prefer to order online. Our food delivery business has been much more profitable since we partnered with them two years ago."

"As a result, we decided to integrate our own online ordering service with foodonclick.com. This helped us to centralise online orders via the site, improve efficiency and save costs on additional resources,” he noted.

With aggressive expansion plans on the horizon, foodonclick.com is well on its way to becoming the first choice for hungry residents in the GCC, said Akan.

The company recently expanded its operations to Oman capital Muscat and is now planning a Gulf foray.

"In addition to adding more food outlets and city locations to the site, foodonclick.com plans to establish a presence in every Gulf country over the next two years," added Akan.-TradeArabia News Service