FINAL REPORT ON FOODPANDA

MKT340 (SERVICE MARKETING)

SUMMER 2020
 FINAL REPORT ON FOODPANDA

Submitted To
Dr. Shamsun Nahar Momotaz
Assistant Professor

Department of Marketing
School of Business

Independent University, Bangladesh

Submitted by
THE ART OF POTANO

Azwad Arefin 1621137

Abu Tawbid Khan Badhan 1710042
Anika Rahman 1710195
Mirza Faiaz Sami 1711422
Shezeen Jahan Khan 1821522

Date of Submission
20 September 2020

Foodpanda BD
Dhaka, Bangladesh
www.foodpanda.com.bd

1.0 7p’s of Foodpanda

Services marketing mix is predominantly governed by the 7 Ps of marketing namely Product,
Price, Place, Promotion, People, Process and Physical evidence. The 7 P framework is one of
the most popular framework for deciding a marketing strategy, right from strategy formulation to
actual implementation. For our brand Foodpanda, we have broken the details down as such:

1.1 Product:
The main product Foodpanda offers to the customer base is its service. Foodpanda works as the
bridge between the users and the affiliated restaurants. Foodpanda ensures the healthy, tasty, and
unique experience of eating without the hassle of travelling or prior planning. It is all about
ordering through mobile and online as it connects customers to the restaurant of their choice.

As of today, foodpanda offers delivery service of not only food but groceries and medicine too.
For the food section, they offer a wide range of restaurants to the users based on their location
and interests. Grocery section is available to the users too based on their needs and proximity.

They primarily offer a virtual support for the users who may face issues or problems regarding
the order of the service.

The branding of foodpanda is seen on different platforms. The bright pink and white color works
as a brand itself as the color is very distinguishable. The logo of an illustrated panda bear is their
logo. This logo can be seen on the delivery vehicles and uniforms of the service providers.

1.2 Price:
Foodpanda has become a huge online portal and this has been possible because of several pricing
policies are undertaken by the brand. It has adopted a value-added pricing policy as it offers
quality items for a reasonable price to its customers. The pricing strategy of foodpanda is simple
and often transparent. The bill is generated using restaurant set rates. A delivery charge is added
to the total bill which is usually around BDT. 35 to BDT. 50. On average delivery for the orders
from nearby restaurants differ from 60tk- 100tk. Regular customers are gifted with free delivery
and they only have to pay for the food they order. The inclusion of tax depends on how the
restaurants set their prices on the application. While many restaurants set their price including
taxes, some other restaurants set their prices excluding taxes and the amount of taxes is added in
the total bill during the checkout process.

Restaurants can also be categorized in the application based on their price range. However,
foodpanda offers discounts and promotional codes every month for a wide range of occasions
and situations. The users benefit by availing discounts ranging from 10%-65%. Foodpanda faces
competition from several brands and hence has also adopted competitive pricing policy that
allows it to maintain reasonable prices for items. Customers are offered several incentives like
discounts and special offers to lure them away from rival brands. It also makes its services more
affordable and ultimately results in more orders and better revenues for Foodpanda.

1.3 Place:

Foodpanda is an international company that allows placing food orders from local restaurants
through websites and mobile applications. Its network is spread all over the world in nearly
forty-three countries with headquarters based in Berlin, Germany. Foodpanda has tie-ups and
deals with an estimated forty thousand restaurants in the global market.

It started from Singapore and by the beginning of the year 2016, it was operating in Latin
America, Eastern Europe, Russia, Africa and Asian countries like India, Bangladesh, Thailand,
Singapore, Malaysia, and Pakistan. Foodpanda is one of the most popular online sites in
Bangladesh for placing food orders.

Their delivery points are located over 30 plus cities throughout Bangladesh including Dhaka,
Chittagong, Syhlet, Cox’s Bazar, Rajshahi, Khulna, Comilla, Rangpur, etc. It has trained
employees to meet customer demands successfully.

1.4 Promotion:
Usage of digital marketing has played a huge role in creating brand awareness for Foodpanda.
The company believes in offering something new and inventive periodically in terms of food
festivals, offers, and incentives to maintain the loyalty of its customers through email marketing.

It has used social media to launch several commercials. It has a Facebook page displaying
regular updates and interactions, Pop-up, in-between show, and banner ads on YouTube, to
maintain visibility and brand value. It also has a huge number of followers on Twitter. Friendly
applications have been a great source of luring customers to its base in case of Foodpanda. One
of its taglines is an apt description that, “Foodpanda is in your pocket”. It reminds customers of
how easy and quickly available the app is through Apple and Google Play store.

Promotional ads are also placed on various apps to maintain brand recognition. Publicity events
have been launched in popular malls, television, radio, cinema, magazines, newspapers, train
hoardings, bus hoardings and billboards. Constant free delivery on many popular restaurants are
also given daily.

1.5 People:

People are crucial in service delivery when the offering is intangible. This involves anyone and
everyone who takes part in delivering the service of foodpanda. This would include the
employees working at foodpanda for the customer benefits and company management to the
personnel working at the help-line. The main people under the spotlight would be the delivery
man in this case since foodpanda is a food delivery service.

Foodpanda recruits hard working men and women who are willing to invest time to provide the
service by delivering the food. Foodpanda follows a business to business as well as business to
consumer approach, they usually interact with other business such as restaurant owners and
managers with the help of their skilled zone managers. The primary tasks of the zone manager
are to interact with the delivery boys and deal with any obstacles that the firm may face in that
particular area. The task of a delivery boy is to interact with the final consumer while the order is
being placed and then deliver the food from the restaurant to the consumer. The customer
support department of the Foodpanda deals with all sorts of complaints coming from their client
and resolve them to have good faith. They are also instructed to report any issues, problems or
bugs in the application, website or even complain of the customer.
1.6 Process:
The whole process is simply working as a link between the user and the restaurants. Since
foodpanda also provides service to the restaurants, they work effectively to maintain a constant
flow of this work process. In short, the whole process can be simplified by;
ordering food is a simple method. A customer has to enter postcodes on site and then browse for
food items from the list of available restaurants. Items can be easily selected while browsing
through the menu. Restaurants apply to foodpanda to be featured on the mobile application. On
the other hand, users get access to different restaurants based on their interests and mainly
location. The user then orders their desired cuisine from their picked restaurant using the
foodpanda application.

At the time of placing an order, the address where the food will be delivered is entered first then
it proceeds to check out. Foodpanda confirms the order and estimated delivery time by sending
notifications on the mobile app. Restaurants are told of orders and they are later delivered to the
customers. Foodpanda receives the order and forwards it to the nearest deliveryman based on
location and availability. The order is sent to the restaurants who are also using the foodpanda
application. They start preparing the food while the deliveryman reaches the restaurant. Once the
order is prepared, the deliveryman collects the order and delivers it to the user. The user may pay
cash on delivery or using their bank cards.

Foodpanda currently operates in 31 cities across Bangladesh and is expanding.

1.7 Physical evidence:

This would include everything foodpanda has to offer to establish their presence in the market.
Since the company is based on mobile application and a virtual platform on the internet, their
physical presence would primarily be the mobile application itself. Foodpanda provides access to
their service through their mobile application would can be found in both iOS and Android
devices. Their simple, user-friendly yet aesthetically pleasing interface connects the users to their
desired restaurants. Since foodpanda has two different sets of clients, they use two versions of
the application to cater to the need of their clients. One application is used by the restaurant
management who would have their restaurant placed in the application for the users to order
from. The other version is used by the majority of the users who would simply pick their desired
cuisine from the application. People can also order from foodpanda’s website which is another
example of its physical presence.

The logo of foodpanda and its signage would be seen at different restaurants. This would
establish the affiliation between foodpanda and the restaurant. Every time a customer would see
the logo of foodpanda on the gates or at the counters of the restaurant, the customer would be
confirmed that they could avail the service of foodpanda to order the same food from the same
restaurant. Other physical evidence may include their signature pink uniforms, bicycle with the
pink box at the back and more. All these physical artifacts have their signature colour and logo
visible.

2.0 The Gaps Model of Service Quality

2.1 GAP 1: (Listening Gap)

2.1.1 Inadequate customer research orientation

Insufficient customer research: Foodpanda does not focus on conducting surveys to collect more
input from their customers.

Research not focused on service quality: Foodpada conducts a very simple rating system
regarding their services which might have more room for improvisation. For example - asking
the customer if the meal was hot enough.

Inadequate use of market research: Foodpanda needs to conduct surveys in order to have a
complete understanding of their market. The market is distributed based on location, availability
of the restaurant and customer interest. This research would draw in more customers who would
be able to have their favorite restaurants in the app.

2.1.2 Lack of upward communication

Lack of interaction between management and customers: The management level barely
communicates with the customer base. It is usually the customer service department’s task to
interact with the customer but sometimes that also takes a while to get reviewed.

Insufficient communication between contact employees and managers: Not enough information.

Too many layers between contact personnel and top management: Not enough information.

2.1.3 Insufficient relationship focus

Lack of market segmentation: Foodpanda needs to subcategorize the market more in order to
recognise their customer base better which might play a key role in building better relationships
with their service users.

Focus on transactions rather than relationships: There is minimum effort from Foodpanda’s side
to interact with the customers to build a relationship. They focus more on their financially
beneficial approaches rather than creating customer loyalty and building relationships.

Focus on new customers rather than relationship customers: Foodpanda usually puts more effort
into gaining new customers rather than the old ones. For example- Offers and discounts are
usually more available to the new customers or the ex-customers who are not using their services
anymore.

2.1.4 Inadequate service recovery

Lack of encouragement to listen to customer complaints: The customer service department of

Foodpanda sometimes lacks the encouragement to respond to customer complaints. They tend to
take a while to respond to the customer complaints. For example- A complaint placed at 5:30
P.M. gets reviewed at 7:30 P.M.
Failure to make amends when things go wrong: Foodpanda usually expects that the error was
made from the customers side and not theirs unless they are proven guilty. For example - if the
order was delivered at a wrong delivery location then the customer has to go through a hefty
procedure to assure that the mistake was made by Foodpanda.

No appropriate recovery mechanisms in place for service failures: Refunds are usually given out
as codes for future use. No direct refunds are given out to the customers. Customers can use the
code to get discounts on their next purchase.

GAP 2: (Service Design and Standards Gap)

2.2.1 Poor service design

Unsystematic new service development process: The complete design/plan, how the company
will run from the management to the service provided and received by the customer is set by the
company but the employees failed to give it to the customer.

A delivery boy not delivering the food on promised time, not having a proper communication
with the customer or behaving rude in general hampers the company’s image as well as the
customers experience with the company even when the company hired the employee expecting
they would fulfil their part properly.

For example (1): There were cases where the delivery boy confirmed the order and was
promised to be the customer of delivering in 15 minutes, the order ended up coming to the
customer almost 3 hours later in prior and there was no notification to the customer for the delay.

For example (2): After a customer places the order there is no time frame for him/her to rethink
the order and cancel it. However in UberEats, another food delivery app, after the customer has
confirmed the order he/she gets a short time frame of 3-5 minutes to rethink the order and cancel
it. In Foodpanda, if a customer decides to cancel the order it is a much more elaborate process;
he/she has to email Foodpanda about the order and wait for a significant amount of time for a
response.
Vague, undefined service designs: Not enough information.

Failure to connect service design to service positioning: Not enough information.

2.2.2 Absence of customer-driven standards

Unsystematic new service development process: The management failed to understand what the
customers wanted because there wasn’t any proper survey done.

For example: The restaurants that are shown on the apps are the ones that the Foodpanda decided
based on monetary transactions between the restaurants and Foodpanda, not what the customers
(final consumers) want or prefer. No formal surveys are done from the customers to ask which
restaurant they prefer or want on their list.

Absence of process management to focus on customer requirements: Not enough information.

Absence of formal process for setting service quality goals: Not enough information.

2.2.3 Inappropriate physical evidence and servicescape

Failure to develop tangibles in line with customer expectations: Foodpanda fails to develop
images of the offering food in their app which do not match the actual food being provided
during service.

Servicescape design that does not meet customer and employee needs: Not enough information.

Inadequate maintenance and updating of the servicescape: Not enough information.

GAP 3: (Service Performance Gap)

2.3.1 Deficiencies in human resource policies

Ineffective recruitment: Sometimes Foodpanda recruits employees (ie. delivery men) who don’t
fit the standards that they set for themselves. They sometimes lack the knowledge of how the
service needs to be carried out and/or the proper etiquette to deal with customers. Delivery men
sometimes lack the knowledge of how to properly use the app.

For example: There were a few cases where customers experienced that the delivery status
showed “Arrived” whereas it didn’t. The delivery man ended the order before it actually did.

Role ambiguity and role conflict: Some of foodpanda employees are confused about the role they
have in the organization. For example, during a customer service phone call 1

Poor employee-technology job fit: Due to ineffective recruitment Foodpanda has to deal with
poor employee-technology job fit. This also can be due to lack of training of the employees (ie.
delivery men). As Foodpanda is entirely app and website based they need to ensure that their
delivery men are technologically savvy to a certain extent.

For example: An order was placed using the credit card payment method, that is, the order has
already been paid in advance. When the food finally arrived, during the exchange of the food, the
delivery man asked for money (cash) as payment and then the customer was confused and said
that the order had already been paid for via credit card. The delivery man had to double check
the receipt.

Inappropriate evaluation and compensation systems: Not enough information.

Lack of empowerment, perceived control, and teamwork: Not enough information.

2.3.2 Customers not fulfilling roles

Customers lack knowledge of their roles and responsibilities: Not all consumers are tech-savvy
and may face certain difficulties while placing an order using the foodpanda app. There have
been reported cases where the customer has put in the wrong information into the app regarding
their address or phone number which only hampered the service. Also, when the app asks for
rating or feedback, majority of the users skip that option. This blocks the communication
between the user and the company and doesn't allow the components to rectify any mistakes.

Customers negatively impact each other: Sometimes the brand fails to deliver according to the
user's expectations. In such cases, the user is disappointed and may share their experience with
other existing or potential consumers. This largely has a negative impact on the company as
some users may decide to not further use their services.

For example, if the delivery time shown on the app is 30 mins and the food arrives 3 hours later,
that particular consumer will be dissatisfied with the service. As a result, they will spread the
word of their inconvenience causing other users to shift to a different app.

2.3.3 Problems with service intermediaries (Inside information)

Channel conflict over objectives and performance: Not enough information

Channel conflict over costs and rewards: Not enough information

Difficulty controlling quality and consistency: Not enough information

Tension between empowerment and control: Not enough information

2.3.4 Failure to match supply and demand (Inside information)

Failure to smooth peaks and valleys of demand: Not enough information

Inappropriate customer mix: Not enough information

Overreliance on price to smooth demand: Not enough information

GAP 4: (Communication Gap)

2.4.1 Lack of integrated services marketing communications

Tendency to view each external communication as independent: Not enough information.

Not including interactive marketing in communications plan: Foodpanda as a brand does not
incorporate interactive marketing in their communication plan. Interactive marketing includes
two-way communication between the user and the company. Most of their advertisements are
one-way communication that doesn't allow any feedback from the customers. They feature ads in
multiple social media platforms and heavily use digital marketing. Despite using such platforms,
they fail to engage the customers.

Absence of strong internal marketing program: Not enough information.

2.4.2 Ineffective management of customer expectations

Not managing customer expectation through all forms of communication: A gap is created when
Foodpanda fails to manage customer expectations through all forms of communication. After a
delivered service, Foodpanda asks the user of the app to leave a rating of the restaurant and their
food. However they do not ask for a review of their service which Foodpanda is providing.
Foodpanda should be asking for customer feedback after every delivered service.

A customer may face an issue with the service and may lodge a complaint. Foodpanda
sometimes fails to communicate with the customer and ask for an update regarding the issue
providing the issue has been resolved. They should reach out to the customer through phone calls
and emails which the customer expects.

They are not often transparent about the issues being informed about their service and do not
offer a range of solutions to those problems.

Not adequately educating customers: As customers, we sometimes fail to understand a lot of in-
app techniques which are necessary. Foodpanda does not offer tutorials unless asked. They do
not offer tutorials once we start the application. Thus, a lot of customers face problems while
ordering due to the lack of complete application knowledge. For example, a customer may not
know where to go if we want to pay using a banking card instead of cash-on-delivery. A
customer may even not know where to go to file a complaint or an issue with the delivery
service. Thus, Foodpanda should educate the customers about the providing service using
tutorials before the customers start using the app and their service.

2.4.3 Overpromising

Overpromising in advertising: In almost all of Foodpanda’s advertisements they promise to

deliver everywhere - but that is not the case. They don’t deliver to all areas for example: Mirpur
DOHS.

They also come out with new advertisements that they’re doing 30% off on orders but in reality
they give a discount of 30TK - hence their ads are misleading and overpromising.

Overpromising through physical evidence cues: In ads we see that the delivery men are all in
uniform but sometimes that is not the case hence it’s overpromising its physical evidence.

While using the app, we come across pictures of the food which we may order, however we do
not receive the same food as shown in the app.

2.4.4 Inadequate horizontal communications

Insufficient communication between sales and operations: Not enough information

Insufficient communication between advertising and operations: Not enough information.

Differences in policies and procedures across branches or units: Not enough information

2.4.5 Inappropriate pricing

High prices that raise customer expectations: Not enough information

Prices that are not tied to customer perceptions of value: In this time and age, it's very easy to
compare prices offered by restaurants between different apps. So before a consumer decides to
make a purchase, they are able to judge whether or not that price is in line with the competition.
In the case of Foodpanda, they rarely offer coupons. Pricing strategy such as everyday-low
pricing is used which promises the consumers a low-price without the need to wait for sale price
events.The restaurants featured in the app are the ones who offer discounts on their products as
opposed to foodpanda giving discounts for using their app in particular.

3.0 Customer Expectation of Services

3.1. Sources of Desired Service Expectations

3.1.1 Personal Needs: are those states or conditions basic to the physical or mental
prosperity of the client and are significant elements that shape what clients want in service.
Personal needs can fall into numerous classifications, including physical, social,
psychological, and functional. For example - a customer may have the personal need from
Foodpanda to get their food delivered urgently due to some personal emergency.

3.1.2 Personal Service Philosophy: customer expectations are driven from past experiences
and may or may not change in the next experience depending on the service provided the
next time. For example - a customer’s delivery time the first time was 20 minutes but the
next time Foodpanda took 30 minutes to deliver. This may or may not change the customer’s
perception of the brand depending on personal choices.

3.1.3 Derived Service Expectations: customer expectations are driven by another person or
group of people. For Example - a daughter chooses to order a meal from Foodpanda for her
family on her mother’s birthday party.

3.2. Sources of Adequate Service Expectations

A different set of determinants affects adequate service, the level of service the customer finds
acceptable. In general, these influences are short-term and tend to fluctuate more than the factors
that influence desired service.

3.2.1 Perceived Service Alternatives: In Bangladesh there are other food delivery services
other than Foodpanda, such as HungryNaki. If a customer were to be used to proper
timeliness in food orders (such as, delivery within 30 minutes) a customer would look for a
service provider that would comply with this expectation. If Foodpanda were to deliver food
within 45 minutes and HungryNaki were to deliver within 20 minutes, then the customer
would go for HungryNaki as it would meet the customer’s zone of tolerance.

3.2.2 Situational Factors: In a personal experience, a customer ordered a pizza through

Foodpanda and when the food arrived the customer saw that the whole pizza was ruined.
Then the customer complained to the restaurant and upon further investigation the manager
found out that the delivery man got into a minor accident on the way of delivering the pizza.
This minor accident is a situational factor here.

3.2.3 Personal Situational Factors: These are typically dictated by proximity, intimacy, and
nature of the consumers' personal relationships. For example, someone living alone ordering
through Foodpanda would have a different urgency than someone who's ordering lunch to
their workplace. The customer who's ordering lunch to their workplace has to get their food
delivered within a certain time as they have a fixed lunch hour. So their personal situational
factors are different from each other.

3.2.4 Predicted Service: This is decided by several external factors like situation, time,
place, past experience, etc. If the past experience has been unsatisfactory, the predicted
expectation for the next service is likely to be low. An example of this would be that if
Foodpanda informs the customer that it would take longer to deliver the food because the
 service in the restaurant is slower than usual. But Foodpanda still manages to deliver within
the scheduled time. This would increase the expectations of the customer for the next time he
decides to order. However, this is not always the case thus it can also have a negative effect
on certain customers.

3.3. Factors affecting both Predicted and Desired Service

3. 3.1 Explicit Service Promises: Foodpanda being a food delivery service, primarily and
explicitly promises its customers the fact that they would deliver the food to their doorstep at any
cost. This promise can be seen on their website where there is a quote “You prepare the food, we
handle the rest” to the restaurants and “it’s the food you love, delivered.” to the users. Users are
also explicitly promised the delivery time which can be seen on the screen after placing an order.
This will help the users to predict how Foodpanda will work in the next orders. These promises
affect the predicted and desired service in ways which we start to perceive about the services
which we would be availing from Foodpanda. We would expect our orders to be delivered at any
cost within the time frame they promise. In cases where the orders are delivered after long delays
or being delivered faster than promised time leads us to have different impressions and thoughts
about the service depending on the scenario.

3.3.2 Implicit Service Promises: Implicit service promises are usually found only when we are
using the Foodpanda app. This may be either when we have a perception about restaurants based
on the way they are presented in the app. This can be met in two ways. Firstly, Foodpanda uses
“$, $$, $$$” symbols to denote the price range of restaurants. As customers, we may infer that
the restaurants with “$$” tagged with them would be more expensive and thus tastier and be of
better quality than the restaurants tagged with “$”. Hence, we expect more quality food with
better packaging for delivery from foodpanda. This also shifts our predicted service expectations
as these certain elements of the Foodpanda app are what's causing the customers to have a
different set of expectations from them when it comes to receiving quality delivery service.
3.3.3 Word of Mouth: Word of Mouth affects both predicted and desired services as we in
general consider these statements to be unbiased. In the case of Foodpanda, user experience and
the explanation of it can be found in the app’s review section as well as on social media
platforms such as Facebook. Users usually either praise or criticize the service they availed from
foodpanda. This statement comes from two parties; customers and restaurants as Foodpanda
caters to both types of customers. Users may write about experiences such as delayed delivery,
rude delivery boy or even the order never being delivered. In one case, a person on Facebook
shared her experience with the community where the delivery man allegedly ate her food which
was supposed to be delivered. However, in other cases people have actually praised the delivery
service where the delivery man ended up delivering the order even in harsh weather conditions.
This would affect our predicted and desired services in the future when we would be aware and
cautious about what might happen with our orders. The good reviews make us have more
expectations of better and faster delivery with our food still intact and warm. The bad reviews
leaves us with having negative predictions about how situations might actually go wrong.

3.3.4 Past Experience: Personal past experience impacts our predicted and desired services
when we come to conclusions about the future services due to the past experiences, we have with
the service company. A good experience with Foodpanda would make us hope that we might
receive the same quality of service in the upcoming orders too while bad past experiences makes
us believe that the same bad experience might happen again, and we usually expect that. Bad
experiences also push us to avid availing the services too. We tend to compare Foodpanda with
other services such as Hungrynaki or Pathao Food as we try to analyze how Foodpanda falls
short and why. This tends to make us choose alternatives and we would try to pick the best
service available. On the other hand, good past experience would push us to be biased to these
services as we meet our desired expectations and service.

3.4. How should a company delight the customers?

3.4.1 Musts- Foodpanda is a food delivering service company. They should take the food from
the restaurant and deliver the food at our doorsteps by their given time period. The facilities
should be clean and hygiene. The parcel should be taken good care of and no damage should
come to the food inside the package.

3.4.2 Satisfiers- The app they provide to the customers for them to search and order food online
should be user friendly and should not have any bug. The user experience on the usage of app is
not noticeable but if the app is buggy and difficult to use, the absence of smooth performance of
the app will be noticeable.

3.4.3 Delights- There are times when Foodpanda sends coupons/vouchers code over text
message to avail discounts on restaurants and free delivery. Even on the app, the company
provides certain percentage discounts as well as BOGO (buy one get one free) offers on certain
restaurants. These unexpected sudden extra benefits make the experience of the users more
delighted.

4.0 Factors Influencing Customer Satisfaction and Service

Quality (Five Dimensions of Service Attributes)
4.1) Factors Influencing Customer Satisfaction.

4.1.1 Product/service attributes or features:

Customer satisfaction with a product or service depends on the customer’s evaluation of the
product. In case of Foodpanda, the delivery time, offers, ability to track your meals, mobile
application, website, online payment service and advanced 24/7 customer service are the features
which enhance customer satisfaction. Foodpanda works regularly to come up with new features
which may promote the brand and increase customer satisfaction. For example, a new customer
may derive satisfaction from the ability to track meals and then schedule his/her activities around
it.

4.1.2 Consumer Emotions:

Emotional service expectations have a positive effect on perceived quality. Certain service
quality components increase the satisfaction of customers. In a situation where the needs and
wants of the consumer are fulfilled by the service, they feel positively towards the brand. For
example, if someone orders through Foodpanda and their order is said to arrive in 45 mins, but
the food arrives earlier, this will lead to a positive emotion in the consumer. However, if this
order took longer to get delivered or doesn't get delivered at all, this evokes a negative emotion
in the consumer. When a customer feels positively about a service, they're likely to use this
service more in the future. They may even attract new and potential consumers by word-of-
mouth regarding their satisfactory experience.

4.1.3 Attributions for product/service success or failure:

When customers have been surprised by an outcome (the service is either much better or much
worse than expected). For Foodpanda, the service attribution of timeliness; a customer was in a
time crunch and ordered a burger because it was written that it would be delivered in 15 minutes.
To the customer’s surprise, it was delivered within 10 minutes. This was a case of service
success.

An experience where it was a failure; a customer ordered a pizza and she selected the credit card
payment method, when the pizza arrived, and she went to receive the food the delivery man
asked for cash. Whereas the customer selected the credit card payment method, she told the
delivery man this information and then he took about 5 minutes to check. This might have been a
result because the delivery man was not as tech-savvy and he did not notice this payment method
on the app. This is a case of service failure.

4.1.4. Perception of Equity or fairness:

Customers often ask themselves whether they have been treated fairly or whether they have paid
the fair price for the service or not and the question of equity often arises in terms of availing the
service. A new customer availing Foodpanda’s service is likely to receive more promotional
offers and discounts than existing customers who have been using the service for a longer time
period. This is because the service often wants to grab the customer’s interest and the will to
order more from their platform or to avail their service more frequently. However, an existing
customer will receive the same offers but less frequently. On the other hand, an existing
customer who has been availing the service from Foodpanda on a long run is likely to receive
“free delivery” more than in comparison with the newer customers. This brings a question to the
minds of the customers who often ask themselves whether they are being treated fairly or not in
comparison with the other customers. On other occasions, everytime a customer has a bad
experience, he or she will think and question themselves if other customers are facing the same
inconvenience or not. Once the problem is addressed to the authority, Foodpanda usually solves
the issue and contacts the customer either through email or phone call which assures customer
satisfaction.

4.1.5. Other customers, Family members & Coworkers:

A customer’s experience changes when their family members, coworkers or peers tend to share
their better experience about the service that they received themselves. This makes them perceive
the service in a more positive way. There are even cases where a family member or friends
working for foodpanda changes the perception of the other members in the family as well. From
a personal experience my friend always preferred pathao food over foodpanda as he had a bad
experience in the past, but once I shared my experience and what I have been getting from them,
he started using it, and seeing it in a more positive manner. This change in perception helped him
avail the service more frequently and receive better service from Foodpanda eventually.
4.2) Service Quality(Five Dimensions of Service Attributes)

Share your experience of the five dimensions of service quality of your given company

4.2.1. Reliability:
4.2.1.1 Providing service as promised- They usually provide the correct orders within the
appropriate time frame. A customer ordered pasta from a restaurant and they delivered the
correct pasta in a proper manner.

4.2.1.2 Dependability in handling customers’ service problems- Handling customers’ service

complaints is very poor. A customer ordered 4 biryanis but only received 3 and when the
complaint was placed they handled it in a very poor manner- they did not want to take the blame,
and they took 3 days to resolve the whole issue.

4.2.1.3 Performing services right the first time- Yes, they mostly get all the first-time orders right
without any hassle.

4.2.1.4 Providing services at the promised time- A customer ordered a burger because it was
written that it would be delivered in 15 minutes and it was delivered within the correct time
frame.

4.2.1.5 Maintaining error-free records- Not enough information.

4.2.2. Responsiveness:
4.2.2.1 Keeping customers informed as to when services will be performed - they usually show
an estimated time of arrival depending on restaurants and meal ordered. A burger is usually
delivered within 30-35 minutes. On the other hand it takes minimum 40 to deliver pizza.
4.2.2.2 Prompt service to customers - Foodpanda often delivers instant service to its customers
by sending them a confirmation email right after an order is placed. Newer customers receive a
phone call from Foodpanda within minutes once their orders are placed. Users are also able to
trace their orders on the app from the moment they place the order until they receive the food
from the delivery man. A live-chat option is also available to the users on the app if they have
any queries or if they have any issues regarding the order. Users are also able to chat with the
delivery man assigned to the order on the app which allows the user to send any message to the
delivery man about the delivery.
4.2.2.3 Willingness to help customers - A customer once ordered a shawarma and received a
half-eaten shawarma, when he approached the customer service department they denied the
allegations and refused to help the customer until a post in facebook revealed their actions.
4.2.2.4 Readiness to respond to customers’ requests- Users are able to communicate with the
customer-care service of Foodpanda with the live-chat feature on the app. In the case of serious
issues such as a transactional problem and or a food not being delivered at all, users are able to
address their issue through emails. This form of communication however takes 1-2 business days
to generate feedback from Foodpanda.

4.2.3 Assurance:

4.2.3.1 Employees who instill confidence in customers- There is no direct interaction other than
the delivery boy telling the customers that their food is on its way.

4.2.3.2 Making customers feel safe in their transactions- Yes, as the transactions go through
either bKash or cash on delivery. From the delivering perspective the food is delivered at your
doorstep. Thus, assurance on both transactions.

4.2.3.3 Employees who are consistently courteous- Yes, the employees who have delivered the
food at our doorstep were all humble and respectful.

4.2.3.4 Employees who have the knowledge to answer customer questions- Not always. Once the
customer asked if the payment can be done with an international card and they failed to answer
or provide any information about it.

4.2.4. Empathy:
2.4.4.1 Giving customers individual attention - Foodpanda does not inquire about their service
after the meal has been delivered. This alone shows that they are not interested in giving
customers individual attention.
4.2.4.2 Employees who deal with customers in a caring fashion - There was an event where the
customer did not have enough change and neither did the delivery boy. The delivery boy himself
took the responsibility to change the big note into small notes for the customer. Actions like
these show that the employees deal with customers in a caring fashion.

4.2.4.3 Having the customer’s best interest at heart - A delivery boy denied a tip from a customer
because he felt it was unfair for the customer as he is already paying for the service provided.
This resembles that Foodpanda’s employees have the best interest at heart for their customers.

4.2.4.4 Employees who understand the needs of their customers - Recently a customer was
delivered in the waterlogged streets of Dhaka by Foodpanda. This proves that the employees
understand enough to risk their lives to fulfill the needs of their customers.

4.2.4.5 Convenient business hours: Foodpanda operates during the business hours of the
restaurants. They usually start processing orders from 8:30 am until 11:30pm. Their live-chat and
customer care is also available during these hours. Users can also communicate with the
Foodpanda authority regarding any issue through emails. During the month of Ramadhan they
also deliver during the Suhoor time period.

4.2.5. Tangibles:
4.2.5.1 Modern equipment - Foodpanda App, through which orders are placed and received. Heat
insulated delivery box, which keeps the food fresh and warm till it reaches its customers.

4.2.5.2 Visually appealing facilities- The Foodpanda app has a visually pleasing user interface.
The consumers are easily able to see the different kinds of food offered by various restaurants
and pick what they want to order.

4.2.5.3 Employees who have a neat, professional appearance: Pink colored modern uniform for
the delivery man, usage of facemask and gloves during a pandemic.

4.2.5.4 Visually appealing materials associated with the service: Foodpanda's brand colors are a
bright eye-catching pink and white. The uniforms of delivery men easily stand out among the
other food delivery services.
5.0 CAUSES OF SERVICE FAILURE, SERVICE
RECOVERY IN RESPONSE TO THAT FAILURE AND
PROBABLE CAUSES BEHIND SERVICE SWITCHING

5.1 Causes of Service Failure

5.1.1 Unavailable when promised: A customer ordered burgers for him and his friends,this
was supposed to be their dinner, the order was to arrive at 11:45pm. The customer called
them around 11:50pm, that is when they let him know that they would not be able to deliver
the food, and they did not give him any solution or alternate options to help him.

5.1.2 Delivered late or too slow: A customer ordered a pizza where it showed on the app
that it would be delivered within 20 minutes but it was delivered after an hour. Hence service
failure has occurred- delivered late.

5.1.3 Incorrect or Poor Outcome: A customer ordered Buffalo wings through Foodpanda
and when she went to check the box she realized that she received Naga wings instead.
Hence she received a poor outcome.

5.1.4 Rude or Uncaring Employees: Once a customer was not delivered the actual quantity
of food he ordered through Foodpanda. He contacted the Help Center through the Live Chat
feature in the app. The customer service agent initially did not want to accept the charges that
had been placed against Foodpanda and tried to manipulate the customer into thinking that
the fault was the customer’s instead. The customer then had to email Foodpanda’s senior
official with photo evidence. The issue was later resolved with Foodpanda paying refunds
back to the customer. However, the organization did not take any responsibility for the acts
 of the customer service representative who was rude and acted in an uncaring manner.

5.2 Service recovery in response to that failure:

5.2.1 Fix the customer: Foodpanda should respond quickly, effectively and efficiently to
the problems the customers bring up. Foodpanda should communicate effectively and
properly with these customers. They should provide all the necessary information regarding
the issue. They should treat these customers by fair and ethical means. They should re-
develop and cultivate the relationship with these customers for better customer relationships
and loyalty.

5.2.2 Fix the problem: Foodpanda should track the problem and focus on solving the issue
raised by the customers. Foodpanda should recall their past knowledge on problem solving
tactics. Foodpanda should try to contact the lost customers and try to figure out the issues
that have caused them to switch to another service provider. The main target of Foodpanda
should be to provide absolute satisfaction to the customers and make sure the provided
problems do not arise in the future.

5.3 Probable causes behind service switching:

5.3.1 Pricing: (Deceptive pricing) :Consumers may consider switching to other options
because of deceptive pricing strategies when certain offers are provided like 70% off upto
40tk only.

5.3.2 Inconvenience: (Location): Foodpanda may provide their service to 35 cities in

Bangladesh, however, they sometimes fail to provide their service in certain areas inside
those cities. This has led to Foodpanda become very inconvenient for the residents of those
areas. (For example: Mirpur DOHS)

5.3.3 Core Service Failure: (Service Mistakes & Billing Errors) : An order was placed
 and charged for four people but only 3 meals were delivered. This can be a major drawback
for Foodpanda.

5.3.4 Service Encounter Failure: (Uncaring and Unresponsive) : A customer once made a
query if he could pay half through online payment and half in cash but the query was never
answered by the Customer Support department.

5.3.5 Response to Service Failure: (Negative and Reluctant Response): Foodpanda

sometimes fails to deliver the response to service failure. In the case stated above in point
number 1.4, Foodpanda proved a negative response to the charges placed in front of them.
This may cause the person who avails the services of Foodpanda to switch to a different
service provider.

5.3.6 Competition: (Found better service) A customer has switched from Foodpanda to
HungryNaki because she received better service and discounts.

5.3.7 Ethical Problems: (Hard Sell): Foodpanda provides their advertisement in all forms
of media. This constant advertising ends up interrupting the videos the viewers try to watch.
This force of hard sell is making the consumers be manipulated and also annoyed by what
Foodpanda is offering.

5.3.8 Involuntary Switching: (Customer moved): A customer moved from Dhanmondi to

Mirpur DOHS, and FoodPanda is not available at that area, for that the customer had to shift
to another service.

6.0 SERVICE BLUEPRINT OF FOODPANDA

7.0 Five Dimensions of Service Quality

5 Dimensions of Service Quality:

7.1 Reliability: Reliability refers to the probability that the system will meet certain performance
standards in yielding correct output for a desired time duration. Reliability can be used to
understand how well the service will be available in context of different real-world conditions.
A person ordered food and the food was delivered within the shown and promised time frame.
The order was also delivered correctly without any issue or problem. The person received all the
food that he ordered.
7.2 Responsiveness: Responsiveness refers to as the willingness to help customers and provide
prompt service. There were times when the weather conditions were not favorable and the
delivery men still had to deliver food. For example, this one time the food was delivered during
heavy rainfall even though it was really late at night. The food arrived in perfect condition.

In another case, while ordering food the address that I put in the app was incorrect. So, I had to
call the delivery man to inform him that the delivery address is different. The delivery man was
not upset and did not complain about the change in location. He was prompt and managed to find
my address without any trouble.

7.3 Assurance: Assurance refers to the knowledge and courtesy of the frontline employees and
their ability to convey trust and confidence.

The front-line employees of Foodpanda (delivery man) would instill confidence in customers
about any issue. They would make the customers feel safe regarding the transactions they are
making. The delivery man would also be courteous with their customers. They would have all
the required information and knowledge about the work they are doing and the answers they
have for the customers. Example: I once wanted to order some food from Foodpanda and make
them deliver the packageThrough to my friend’s doorstep. I made the payment using my bank
card right after placing the order on the app. The transaction was made and all I had to do was
wait. I received a phone call from the delivery man within minutes who assured me that he was
going to deliver the food to my friend’s doorsteps. Throughout the conversation, the delivery
man was very kind and polite. He answered all the questions I had for him with full confidence
and absolute knowledge. I received a phone call from my friend who picked up the delivery from
the delivery man and informed me that the delivery man was very professional, polite and kind
when he handed her the food. He even said, “Hope you enjoy your food ma’am.” With this I was
really surprised and delighted with the service Foodpanda provided and was even felt safe with
the early or pre-delivery transaction I made.

7.4 Empathy: Understanding the needs of their customers, having their best interest in heart and
giving them individual attention. The frontline employees -delivery men- delivering the food
with a positive attitude, and a good greeting really assures the customer that their money was
well spent in this organization. These little things really delights a customer. It shows that the
company and its employees are empathic and well behaved. Empathy in employees amps up the
service quality of any organization. Overall, the customer would be more than satisfied, joyed,
and will most likely spread a positive word-of-mouth to his/her friends and family.

7.5 Tangibles: Tangibles refer to the visually appealing facilities, physical evidence, and modern
equipment of the frontline employees of Foodpanda.

When the customer is receiving the food from the delivery boy, the frontline employees look
very professional with their FoodPanda uniforms and their customized FoodPanda delivery bag,
even their bike had their signature pink color design.