The Market Supervision Bureau of Lianyun District, Lianyungang City, Jiangsu Province, together with some express delivery and takeaway industry associations, launched the "Food Safety, Co-Governance and Sharing" Riders Food Safety Week publicity activity. More than 250 takeaway brothers turned into "food safety propagandists" and brought food safety knowledge into the streets and alleys. The picture shows several riders in Lianyun District displaying the "Food Safety" green label.
Photo by Wang Chun (People’s Picture)
Takeaway stores with monthly sales of over 10,000 cannot find physical stores according to the registered address of the platform; the street stores displayed on the platform are actually small windows "hidden" in the corner of the food city; the picture environment of the online store is clean and hygienic, and the hygiene situation of on-site visits is worrying… "Takeaway stores seem to be big stores, but they are actually small workshops" "Do you care about the store environment when you order takeout?" "It turns out that the photos of takeout stores can be faked" and other topics have recently caused heated discussions on social media platforms.
Platform multi-category business attracts entry
Nowadays, takeaway delivery is becoming more and more convenient and fast. Ordering three meals a day, desserts and snacks, milk tea and coffee through takeaway platforms has become the consumption habit of many users. According to the 51st "Statistical Report on the Development of China’s Internet Network" released by China Internet Network Information Center, as of December 2022, the scale of online takeaway users in China reached 521 million, accounting for 48.8% of the total Internet users.
"Fitness requires precise control of diet intake, but making your own fitness meals is not only time-consuming and laborious, but also lacks the taste and richness of ingredients compared to the fitness meals prepared by professional stores." For Xiao Tan, a fitness enthusiast who lives in Chaoyang District, Beijing, the takeaway APP is "almost a daily necessity".
Xiao Duan, a white-collar worker in the financial industry who works in Xuhui District, Shanghai, told reporters that although three meals a day can also be solved in the company canteen, sometimes overtime is too late or on weekends, a takeaway meal becomes an option to adjust life. "Ordering a few hometown dishes, or dishes that you like to eat but the canteen does not often cook, not only saves the preparation and cleaning process before and after meals, but also a treat for yourself."
The convenience of takeaway has attracted a huge client base, and the huge client base has brought a steady stream of orders to the takeaway platform. In recent years, the size of the takeaway market has continued to expand, and the takeaway platform has developed rapidly. By expanding multi-category businesses such as breakfast, afternoon tea, and supper, iterative marketing tools help merchants attract and retain customers, improve operational efficiency, and continuously optimize the user experience of platform users and settled merchants, and promote the digital transformation of the catering industry.
The store photos do not match the actual situation.
At 3pm, ordering a cup of milk tea on the takeaway platform to "recharge" is the daily routine of Xiao Yuan, an employee of an Internet company in Haidian District, Beijing. "Working until the afternoon, a cup of iced milk tea or iced coffee is the biggest comfort. I didn’t expect that the brand I often order has also appeared in negative news recently. Although it is not the store where I often place orders, I feel a little uncomfortable." Xiao Yuan said.
The "news" mentioned by Xiao Yuan is a recent incident related to takeaway "photo deception" that has attracted attention. "Some netizens visited and found that a small store actually hung two signs of milk tea brands. Under the big sign of a local brand, the’small sign ‘of the brand I often order is hung in a corner alone, which is a world of difference from the bright store photos on the takeaway platform." Xiao Yuan described the relevant scene in the news to reporters. He believes that similar situations may be rare, but this kind of "photo deception" behavior is undoubtedly irresponsible to consumers and betrays consumers’ trust in the brand.
A sushi restaurant chain with a monthly sales volume of 2,000 + has exquisite posters, claiming that there are 22 direct-operated stores in Shanghai, and takeaway starts at 80 yuan. However, when the offline store was found according to the address, the fabled facade lobby of Japanese-style decoration was nowhere to be seen, only a simple shop hanging "does not accept dine-in food". Among the related reports that "the photos of takeaway stores can be faked", the results of media visits are worrying.
In addition to fake store photos, many netizens shared another kind of fake chaos – address confusion. Some netizens found that takeaway stores with monthly sales of more than 10,000 could not find brick and mortar stores according to the registered address of the platform. After a lot of effort, they finally found that they were in a food city with dozens of brands. "If it is a food city, it’s fine, but some merchants don’t even have regular stalls, just a small workshop hiding in the basement." Many netizens said in the comment area that takeaway chaos occurs frequently, and many problems need to be standardized and optimized.
Regular inspection to ensure food safety
Where did the takeaway chaos come from? On the one hand, in the era of word-of-mouth reading, store photos, videos, and comments from netizens have become an important basis for many users to choose; on the other hand, the rental cost of stores in central areas is getting higher and higher, and the operating cost of takeaway stores is constantly rising. It is not uncommon for takeaway merchants to "retreat into the’behind the scenes’ with’photo deception ‘".
In this context, the business of "Photos of PS Catering Takeaway Doors" was even spawned. In the comment area of the relevant online shopping platform, there was no shortage of feedback such as "Just like the real thing" and "One pass", and different merchants bought the same facade photo.
"When users order takeout’only dare to order the restaurant they have eaten in ‘, there has been a trust rift between users and merchants, and between users and platforms." Industry insiders believe that in the face of a large number of settled merchants, there are certain difficulties in the control and governance of the platform, and it is necessary to solve the problem of "photo fraud" completely. Catering brands need to strengthen the review of franchisees and strengthen daily supervision; takeout platforms should also give full play to their own technical and platform advantages. They should not only use high-tech means to identify and judge "photo fraud", but also organize platform staff and takeout riders to conduct regular inspections. They should pay more attention to user feedback and take multiple measures to standardize the business behavior of settled merchants. The relevant departments should constantly track new problems in the takeaway industry and strengthen supervision and law enforcement in accordance with laws and regulations.
In the era of mobile Internet, make good use of "Internet + supervision", promote the intelligent supervision of the whole process of takeaway from entry qualification review to production, transportation and distribution to consumer supervision and feedback, and "bask in the sun" food safety. Only by working together can all parties build a transparent and safe online catering environment, so that consumers can truly enjoy the convenience brought by takeaway with confidence.