Uber Eats is chopping thousands of “virtual brands” as delivery apps crack down on menu dupes
Browsing 10 menus… from the same joint. Uber Eats is going ghostbusting as hungry users get bogged down by menu dupes. The food-delivery app launched “virtual brands” (VBs) in 2017 to let restaurants offer unique online-only menus under different names. For example, IHOP has a “Thrilled Cheese” virtual shop that you wouldn’t associate with IHOP, and Denny’s operates “The Burger Den” brand for late-night orders. But some VBs are getting heat for effectively spamming the app, and Uber Eats plans to axe 5K of them, The Wall Street Journal reports.
- Taking out: The cuts mostly target VBs with duplicate menus, not the OG restaurants. For instance, a brunch spot offering the same breakfast burrito across a dozen different brands would get its dupes axed.
- Order up: More listings = more chances of being picked by scrollers. That’s why 41% of independent restaurant operators ran virtual brands last year. Uber Eats’ VBs have quadrupled since 2021, and make up 8% of US and Canada offerings (but less than 2% of orders).
Ghost kitchen, real problems… VBs were uber-popular during lockdowns as shuttered restaurants used their kitchens to whip up online orders to recoup sales. Big chains like Denny’s and IHOP parent Dine Brands have used VBs to market new delivery-only concepts (fine). But some restaurants have taken advantage by rolling out several brands with exactly the same menu (not fine). Now delivery apps are trying to reel it in:
Too many cooks in the kitchen can make a big mess… That’s why Uber wants to clean up a barrage of cooks on its app. Users can get frustrated by choice paralysis when there are too many options, especially when many are the same (like: endlessly browsing Netflix). For delivery apps, eliminating dupes and improving curation could ease selection fatigue and boost orders.