Just Eat Takeaway

THE PROBLEM

Exploring the true meaning of the courier kit

Client

JUST EAT TAKEAWAY

Project Type

BRAND PERCEPTION

Location

UK

References

JUST-EAT.CO.UK

THE BRIEF

What started as a simple project investigating the functional side of Just Eat Takeaway’s courier kits and their visibility on the street, quickly evolved into a critical conversation about the experience of those of the front line of the business.

Couriers are a core component in Just Eat Takeaway (JET)’s business: without them, no food would be delivered. Yet their value extends beyond the purely logistical as their street presence is a potent marketing vehicle for raising awareness, prompting takeaway orders, and potentially even shifting perceptions. The key challenge was to understand how the JET courier kit shows up for consumers and how couriers use it, allowing us to identify how JET can communicate its own value to customers better, as well as encourage the couriers to increase kit use.

BRAND PERCEPTION •BRAND PERCEPTION •BRAND PERCEPTION •BRAND PERCEPTION •BRAND PERCEPTION •

OUR SOLUTION

We had to see for ourselves how the kit 'shows up'

So, we observed and took pictures of the couriers and their kit on the streets of major UK cities (London, Birmingham, Liverpool, and Edinburgh). Then conducted filmed intercepts with 40 couriers during their shifts, asking them about their experiences, expectations, needs, and barriers to wearing the kit.

Alongside this, we tasked 15 takeaway consumers to spot and document the times they came across JET and other takeaway companies. We then asked them to talk about their experiences with takeaways, couriers, and their kits, as well as JET specifically, during an extensive 7-day-long ethnography and in-depth interviews.

WHAT DID WE FIND?

What emerged was a deep and moving portrait of a dynamic and diverse community of couriers, in which the kit plays a powerful role.

Findings

For consumers, food delivery is a beloved staple in their lives, but the important role of couriers is often invisible, which inturn alienates the drivers.

Through the couriers speaking about their reality, we were able to distinguish three main groups, each with their specific use of the uniforms: the migrant couriers, flexible couriers, and side-hustle couriers. We found that the way the kits are designed and used creates the perception that there’s a lack of professionalism, perpetuating couriers’ image as unskilled and of low social respectability.

THE RESULTS

The kit as the symbol

Connecting these insights and the visuals allowed us to showcase the kit as the symbol of the difficult realities faced by couriers, but also showing how consumers are also impacted. They love their takeaways but are failing to connect emotionally with the people who work hard to deliver to them. The courier kit is not only in real need of a refresh but can be the start of the larger conversation about how to acknowledge and ‘humanise’ the couriers who are a vital part of JET’s business.

Doing so will make them happy and proud to serve their communities, to the benefit of everyone involved. This research with JET concluded in a meeting between the business and London’s couriers, discussing the necessary improvements to the uniforms, as well as the changes they’d like to see in their relationship with the uniform, JET, and the consumers.