Dive Brief:

• U.K.-based food delivery service Just Eat has announced its acquisition of software startup company Flyt for 22 million pounds, or roughly $28.73 million, according to TechCrunch. 
• Flyt is a software platform that helps restaurants and restaurant suppliers integrate their point-of-sale systems with third-party services. 
• Just Eat interim CEO Peter Duffy said the acquisition will accelerate expansion of Flyt’s technology globally and help Just Eat bolster its food delivery services. 

Dive Insight:

The acquisition announcement comes only a day after Just Eat CEO Peter Plumb stepped down after facing pressure from activist shareholders to speed up decisions and consider a sale of its assets. In a space as competitive as food delivery, any miss on execution can be detrimental, and Just Eats has had a few stumbles on Plumb’s watch — including unclear communication with the company’s investors. 

The acquisition also comes amid growing competition from Deliveroo and Uber Eats. The U.K. is a tough market to crack, as Amazon Restaurants learned last year when it exited the space just two years after launch. 

Just Eat generates more than half of its sales from the U.K. market, but slow progress led to a 26% drop in shares last year. The activist investor that demanded change specifically called for a three-year plan to include at least 20% organic growth annually. The acquisition of a restaurant-focused POS integration provider is a good start toward that goal. It should also provide a major differentiator that could help Just Eat protect its market share from a potential consolidation between Uber Eats and Deliveroo. 

With competition intensifying across the global third-party delivery space in nearly every market — and few differences between them — these companies are wise to look for complementary services to grow and diversify their offerings. Uber Eats, for example, is looking at expanding its payment options for users, while Grubhub acquired payments and loyalty company LevelUp in 2018. Following the Grubhub acquisition, CEO Matt Maloney told Tech Crunch the company’s objective was to help restaurants better connect with their customers.

Just Eat's move is also a customer-first strategy. By integrating Flyt's technology into their POS systems, restaurants should be able to provide a more efficient and more consistent customer experience. According to Flyt, the platform reduces driver wait times and eliminates humor error in order processing. 

Further, the partnership will benefit Just Eat and Flyt as the companies continue to scale. There is also the possibility this platform integration could prevent other delivery companies from integrating with those restaurants' POS systems. Flyt currently works with more than 3,000 restaurants across the U.K., including KFC and Tim Hortons.