Uber’s Platform Model Success Inspires Imitators in Ghost Kitchen Space

Following in Uber’s footsteps, Helbiz is leveraging its mobility platform’s audience to drive restaurant sales.

Micromobility.com, the lightweight vehicle rental firm and retailer, announced Tuesday (April 11) that it is expanding its ghost kitchen business, Helbiz Kitchen, which began in Milan, Italy, to New York City, following shortly on the heels of its launch in Austin and in Los Angeles.

The company has launched three brands, available via kiosks on site for pickup orders, via the app of virtual food hall company Kitchen United Mix or via third-party aggregator, and the news release notes that the company intends to tap the customer base for its long-term vehicle rental firm Wheels, which has a following in NYC, to drive adoption.

“We are proud to bring Helbiz Kitchen to the East Coast and the community of New York City,” Gian Luca Spriano, the ghost kitchen company’s CEO, said in a statement. “Our goal is to become a valued addition to the city’s vibrant food scene and continue our growth trajectory in key markets across the nation.”

The move to leverage the company’s mobility customer base to drive digital food sales shows the influence of Uber on the restaurant industry. The ride-hailing giant noted recently that its transportation customers have increasingly been taking advantage of the company’s food delivery offerings and programs such as its platform-wide subscription drive cross-vertical engagement.

Indeed, at times when other food delivery firms have struggled to turn a profit, Uber has benefitted from its diverse platform. Rather than building an entire logistical network just for food delivery, Uber can double dip with its rides and its delivery businesses, and the company also leverages its delivery business from grocery, retail and more.

That said, for Micromobility.com, the connection between its transportation business and its restaurant business is not as clear.

Getting into the ghost kitchen space is a risky bet, with many brands struggling to build relationships with consumers in the absence of physical touchpoints. Many brands have been shutting down virtual locations and putting the brakes on their ghost kitchen expansion plans.

Additionally, the aggregators they rely on are cracking down. John Mullenholz, Uber’s head of virtual restaurants and dark kitchens for the U.S. and Canada, recently told The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) that the company would remove 5,000 online storefronts from its marketplace, accounting for about 13% of virtual brands in North America.

Around the same time, the aggregator announced the launch of its Certified Virtual Restaurant Program, through which Uber Eats takes a more central role in creating and controlling virtual brands on its marketplace. DoorDash, too, has been experimenting with in-house restaurants, and the aggregator has the ability to surface its own brands in search results while burying external competitors.

Still, the demand for digital restaurant options is there, with the majority of consumers now ordering food online. Research from PYMNTS’ study “12 Months Of The ConnectedEconomy : 33,000 Consumers On Digital’s Role In Their Everyday Lives,” which draws from responses from tens of thousands of U.S. consumers, notes that 57% of consumers order from restaurants digitally each month.