Food delivery: an analysis of existing and future business models based on digital platforms

Abstract

The goal of this thesis is not just to explain in details how business models of food delivery platforms work, but especially to understand which are the requisites to survive and win in the “New Normal” environment of the huge food delivery industry after the arrival of Coronavirus outbreak. The perspective of the analysis will be broader and global oriented at the beginning, to be more specific and concrete while analyzing practical case studies then. In this way, the research aims to demonstrate which business models struggled during lockdowns and which ones were able to face the complicated scenario in a successful way, thus highlighting winning business models features. The research will start by showing an overview of the global food delivery’s business since the outset, trying to find out which were the factors that permitted the birth and growth of this industry over time. In the second chapter there will be a deep examination of food delivery platforms business models, that are all examples of “Multi-sided platform” configurations. Chapter number three will be devoted to marketing and communication strategies and operations of food delivery platforms. The forth chapter represents the core of the entire research because practical case studies of food delivery platforms will be analysed, in order to highlight the key elements to survive and be successful in the food delivery sector during and after Covid-19 era. To conclude the empirical analysis, there will be an exploration about how to render more sustainable the whole of food delivery chain from an economic, environmental and social point of view.