UberEATS versus Deliveroo versus Foodpanda: Which app should you use?

SINGAPORE — The proliferation of delivery services is a boon for people who are either too lazy to cook or too busy to eat out. I order food in at least once a week because I just can’t be bothered to get dressed for brunch on Sundays. While Foodpanda and Deliveroo have pretty much covered the island and, together, offer quite a selection for a range of budgets, I believe there is still room for more innovative players offering better experiences. With UberEATS entering the food delivery scene last week, sitting around and pining away for lunch to be delivered sounds like a thing of the past. Waiting is simply not an option now that three multi-restaurant delivery services are at our beck and call.

Now that UberEATS has had a week to settle in, it’s time we put the newest entry and the rest to the test.

So which comes up tops in terms of user experience, food quality and, of course, speed? We test them out by ordering similar types and quantity of food using their apps, at around the same time and on the same day.

The weigh-in

All three apps operate more or less in the same manner. You launch one on your smartphone, it detects your location or waits for you to enter the postal code of your delivery address, and shows you the restaurants that deliver to you.

At the moment, UberEATS serves only the central business district, River Valley, Orchard Road and Tanjong Pagar, while competitors Foodpanda and Deliveroo cover almost the entire island.

The experiment

Even the gods are on my side; perhaps they are curious too. It’s 11am and raining cats and dogs. The inclement weather should pose a challenge to the services since all of them use motorcyclists to deliver the orders. I open Deliveroo’s app first and I’m immediately notified that since it’s raining, customers may experience a delay. Managing expectations, smart.

For each service, I order a noodle dish and a side. I choose Orange Lantern from Deliveroo, ordering a grilled beef vermicelli, and rice paper rolls. My order is accepted immediately and the estimated time of arrival (ETA) is 40 minutes later at 11.58am.

Next, I fire up my Foodpanda app and select Haha Thai, ordering a seafood glass noodles and a mango salad. After completing my payment, I arrive at a screen telling me my order is being processed. This goes on for a minute before I decide to leave the app and head over to UberEATS.

On UberEATS, I choose Sum Yi Tai and order a minced meat noodles and deep-fried fish skin. UberEATS has an “aim to get your food to you in 35 minutes” promise and so I expect my order to arrive at 12.05pm. This done, I return to Foodpanda only to find that my order is still being processed.

At 11.44am, I get a call from the Deliveroo man telling me he has arrived with my food. He is ahead of schedule and I’m impressed. I look at the Foodpanda app and see that the situation with my order has not changed.

Finally, at 11.52am, I receive an SMS informing me that Haha Thai has received my order. Shortly after, I get a message from UberEATS saying my food is on the way and it should arrive by 12.15pm — 10 minutes more than the promised 35.

In the end, UberEATS got to my office at 12.20pm and Foodpanda arrived last at 12.30pm.

The verdict

In terms of user interface, Deliveroo’s and UberEATS’ are way more attractive, whetting the appetite with beautiful food images. The former looks the most professional, with branding from head to toe. Both UberEATS and Deliveroo also let you track the location of the deliveryman. If you’re impatient and want your food delivered ASAP, Foodpanda may frustrate you with its laggy updates. I have ordered from Foodpanda numerous times and a waiting time of at least 45 minutes is the norm.

For all three services, the food got to me in good condition — well protected from the rain and journey. Deliveroo is, in this experiment, the clear winner arriving before the promised time despite the wet weather. That, I must say, is the icing to an already delicious cake.