Application of Blue Ocean Strategy for Innovation at Just Eat

This report discusses the application of Blue Ocean Strategy for innovation at Just Eat, an online food order and delivery service. It explores how Just Eat uses this strategy to gain a competitive advantage in the highly competitive market. The report also provides insights into the background and historical development of Just Eat.

1. Introduction
In this current competitive business environment, it is very essential for the businesses
to continuously manage and bring new innovations in their product and services. Innovation
is defined as the action or process through which company brings in something new within
the existing product or services (Garza-Reyes and et.al., 2017). The present report is based on
company Just Eat which is an online food order and delivery service. This company is a
mediator between the food takeaway outlets and the consumers and was founded in year
2001. The present study will discuss about the innovation theory as for operating in highly
competitive market it is very essential to apply some innovation theory. Further the report
will also highlight the background of company and historical development. In the end the
future development of company with help of innovation theory will be done.
2. INNOVATION THEORY
2.1. Application of innovation Blue Ocean Strategy theory
For working in the competitive market, it is especially important for companies to
continuously conduct the market research (Zeng, Hu and Ouyang, 2017). This is pertaining to
the fact that market research will assist the company in analysing the current changes taking
place within the market and because of this research they can adapt to the latest trends of
consumers. Hence, for this companies can make the use of Blue ocean strategy. This theory is
a simultaneous pursuit of low cost and differentiation strategy to open a new marketplace and
try to develop and create new demand for the product and services of company (Kim, 2014).
Here this theory is assistive as this state to adopt or bring in some new idea or product
which has not been used before. This is a theory which continuously works in improving the
existing product or service and this theory also states that when a person identifies any
change or innovation earlier than their competitors then this provides a competitive advantage
to that company. This is particularly because of the reason that when they will provide the
new product at earliest then this will improve their market position and goodwill among the
other competitors (Kim,2014).
This blue ocean strategy is relating to creating and capturing the uncontested market
so that the competition within the market becomes irrelevant. This theory is since market
boundaries and industry structure cannot be restructured by any of the single company, and
they have to follow what going on within the company. There are two different strategies that
is blue ocean strategy and the red ocean strategy. The blue ocean strategy is the one which

has a major focus on the creating the uncontested market space for the companies. This is
particularly because of the reason that when the new market is being created then this makes
it an opportunity for the company. Under this blue ocean strategy another major feature is
that this makes the competition irrelevant as the new uncontested market is being created and
not the existing one is used (Kim, 2014)
In addition to this the blue ocean strategy assists company in creating new demand
and capturing the new marketplace. This assists the company in increasing their sales and the
profitability of the company (Kim, 2014) Along with this, the blue ocean strategy aligns the
whole system of the activities of the company with respect to the major focus on the low cost
and differentiation strategy (Kim, 2014). This is particularly because of the reason that when
the company makes entry in the new uncontested market then the cost of entry is low, and
they can have the advantage of differentiation over the competitors.
2.2. The four actions Framework
The four actions framework developed and used by organizations to restructure a buyer value
component and a new value curve shaped (Kim, 2014). Also, is a tool related the strategy
canvas, in fact, to steadily build a new curve is necessary the companies solving appropriately
to the four-core question:
 The first factor as proposed by the blue ocean strategy is to analyse the factors that
can be eliminated. This simply means removing the factors which the consumer pays
for as a status quo which other industry players can take advantage of. These factors
must be eliminated by the company and must not take into consideration.
 In addition to this another factor is reduce and these states that there are some factors
which can be reduced as there is not proper value against those factors or cost of using
those factors is very high and these factors are not worth for attracting consumers.
Hence, when these types of factors will be reduced then this will result in more
effective products and this will assist in gaining a competitive advantage (Garza-
Reyesand et.al., 2017).
 The element raise involves those factors which need to be raised that are the factors
which will increase or improvise the products must be increased. This is pertaining to
the fact that when attributes of product will be increased then this will definitely
provide competitive advantage and performance of company will improve within the
whole industry.
 The last factor is to create that is to bring something new and improved within the
market. This is necessary as the consumer wants every time something and improved.

Hence, when the company will focus on creating new product then this will attract
more consumers and profitability of company will increase.
In case of Just Eat, the company need to be user of blue ocean strategy instead of red
ocean strategy. This is particularly because of the reason that when the company will be a
creator of uncontested market then this will create a distinct position of the company among
the consumers (Azisand et.al., 2017). Hence, this will attract majority of the people and
company will get a competitive advantage over other companies. In addition to this when Just
Eat will comply with the blue ocean strategy then also this will provide benefit to the
company. This is particularly because of the reason that when the company will be adapting
the changes in trend or innovate at early stage then also consumers will like their working.
Hence, both these categories will be beneficial to company as they will be in condition to
attract majority of the consumers. Hence, this will improve the working efficiency and
operations of the company.
When company will comply with the blue ocean strategy then they will get the benefit
of increase in number of consumers. This is pertaining to the fact that when company will be
bringing in innovation or adapting to the innovation early or making an uncontested
marketplace then consumer will like this. Hence, they will get attracted towards the working
of the company. Along with this, another benefit of using this theory by Just Eat is that this
will assist company in understanding the trends within the market more easily. The reason
underlying this fact is that when the innovation needs to be brought then this theory will
assist the company in adapting and analysing the changes taking place within the market
easily. Furthermore, blue ocean strategy is also of benefit to Just Eat as this will assist
company in predicting the future of the innovation. This is particularly because of the reason
that when company will be in position to analyse the current requirement of change in the
marketplace then they are also able to manage and predict that how much people will like the
change if they bring it. Hence, this is another major benefit which the company enjoys while
using the blue ocean strategy of innovation.
On the other side, the major limitation of using blue ocean strategy of innovation is
that this does not consider the individual resources or the social support to bring in
innovation. This is particularly because of the reason that company need to bring the
innovation on their own. Rather they will not get any help or assistance on the grounds they
are binging innovation. Hence, for this company must make use of their own resources and
will not be getting any support. In addition to this, another limitation which Just Eat will face
because of the blue ocean strategy is that this work in better with adoption of behaviour rather

than cessation or prevention of behaviour. This is particularly because of the reason that
when Just Eat will bring the change in the behaviour of the consumer then they will like it. In
case the company does not focus over motivating consumer to bring in change then they will
not like it. Hence, the company will not be in position to create an uncontested marketplace
and will not be in position to create new market demand in form of new consumers.
Company background
The company was founded by Danish entrepreneurs who include Jesper Buch,
Christian Frismodt, Henrik Ostergaard and Per Meldgaard. The company was founded in
2000 in Denmark and the launched the service in August 2001. In the year 2005, the
technology entrepreneur Bo Bendtsen bought all the founder apart from Jesper Buch and
moved the company to UK. After moving to UK Jesper Buch as a part of buyout in 2006
recruited executive of Welsh David Buttress to join the company as the co- founder and CEO
of Just Eat UK. This expansion resulted in further expansion of company in Netherlands in
July 2007 and in Ireland in April 2008. In addition to this in January 2011 the company
entered in joint venture in India and in February the company increased £30 million from
Series B investment. This income resulted in 7 more acquisition in next year and increased
their operations (Kavadias and Hutchison-Krupat, 2020).
Just Eat Plc - Business Model Canvas
Key Partners Key Activities Value PropositionsCustomer RelationshipsCustomer Segments
Restaurant
partners
Payment
providers
Subsidiaries
Menulog
SkipTheDishe
s
Sales
Platform
development
and
maintenance
Training
Payroll
Customer
service
Sales
management
Marketing
To develop
world’s largest
food community
To provide easy
access to deliver
food online and
of restaurant.
Place order online
Order takeaway the
smarter way
Choose from pick- up
or delivery option.
Money- back
guarantee
Customization
Two interdependent
customer segments
Individual who
wants to be able to
order takeout from
local restaurant.
Food service venue
offering takeout that
want to expand their
customer volume
beyond traditional
channels.
Key Resources Channels
Technology
Local team
members
Mobile app
Website
Social media pages

Funding
Several
prestigious
honours
Brand and
status
Proprietary
software
platform
and online
Sponsorship
Just Eat affiliate
program
Cost Structure
Customer support
IT operations
IT maintenance, Sales management
Sales management
Revenue Streams Connection fees
Advertising fees
Transaction fees
3. Historical development
Just Eat plc is an online food order and delivery service which acts as an intermediary
between the independent takeaway and the consumers. The company is headquartered in
London and it operates in more than 13 countries including countries like Asia, Europe,
Oceania and America. This company assist the consumer in searching for a local takeaway
restaurant and to place the order and pay online. They also provide consumer the option of
choosing the pick- up point or the delivery option. This company is also listed over the
London Stock Exchange and it is acquired by Takeaway.com in February 2020.
In April 2012, Just Eat consolidated its position in UK by way of acquiring
fillmybelly.com. On 3rd of April 2014, the company floated on London Stock Exchange and
increased 80 % stake in Alloresto. Furthermore, in May 2015 the company announced to buy
Menulog which is an Australian food ordering company for $855 million and funded the deal
by issue of new shares. In 2017 February Buttress announced leaving as the CEO after four
years but continues to be on company board as a non- executive director. 29 July 2019 the
company announced that Just Eat and Teakeaway.com has agreed the terms to merger and the
deal was done in worth £9 bn 9 (Just Eat, 2020).
Further with respect to innovation the company has improved its operations to a great
extent. This is pertaining to the fact that the company knows that if they will not be
innovating in proper manner and will not bring in any new product or service then consumer

will not like(Business Chief, 2020). Hence, this will affect the number of consumers and the
operations of the company to a great extent. To innovate and increase the market for Just Eat
they has entered in partnership with Amazon Fire TV and Apple TV to increase marketing
and use of technology within UK market. This decision is taken pertaining to the fact that in
the current advance world, there is a large focus on technological development. Hence, when
the company will partner with two big companies then this will increase the consumer base
and market share for the company.
In addition to this, another example of innovation at Just Eat is that investment in
technology and product development. This has allowed the company to lead and bring new
product and services to attract more of the consumers. for this Just Eat has partnership with
Starship Technologies which assist company in innovating in food technology with aim to
enhance the experience and satisfaction level of the consumers. This is pertaining to the fact
that company knows that when the consumer will not be satisfied with the operations of the
company then this will affect the operations of company. With the help of this partnership the
company tested the autonomous robots as well in delivering the requirement of the
consumers. This innovation assisted in capturing a large market share and this improved the
working of company.
With respect to the Blue ocean strategy of innovation, it was analysed that Just Eat
comes under the category blue ocean strategy. This is particularly because of the reason that
when the company will not be an innovator and focus on creating uncontested marketplace
then this will affect the working of the company to a great extent. The major reason
underlying this fact is that when the company will be a good adapter to all the changes then
this will assist them in securing a competitive advantage. In addition to this, as an early
adopter Just Eat has also a service relating to NLP that is Natural Language processing
(Zharov, 2019). This is a development which allows the application of Just Eat to take
feedback from the consumers and use it to create more effective search engine. This is a good
strategy as this assist the company in knowing about the views and suggestion of consumer
relating to services of Just Eat. Hence, this NLP assist the company in taking proper and
effective decision for the betterment of the company. This is particularly because of the
reason that when the feedback of consumer will be fast then this will assist the company in
undertaking changes as per the requirement of consumers (Biemans, 2018).
4. APPLICATION OF INNOVATION THEORY IN FUTURE DEVELOPMENT
4.1. Future development

With the analysis Just Eat is complying with bringing of new and advance product
and services for the consumers (Tidd and Bessant, 2020). For this Just Eat is adhering to the
blue ocean strategy to implement various types of changes and innovation within the
operations of company. With help of the blue ocean strategy to become the innovator or early
adopter and for this some of the future recommendation for improvement according to latest
trend in food industry for Just Eat to adapt are as follows-
New delivery channels- this is the major recommended future application of blue
ocean strategy is to become user of blue ocean strategy and not the red ocean strategy. This is
particularly because of the reason that currently the delivery channels have become more
advance. For instance, a person can place their order by many other different applications
instead of just the company website. For example, a person can place the order with help of
tweet, a smart watch, with help of smart TV as well. This is the latest trend going on
currently within the food industry in UK. Hence, if the company wants to become the early
adopter, then they must also provide for the services placing order with help of these smart
gadgets as well. In addition to this, if Just Eat wants to be in innovator, then they must
provide facility of placing the order with the help of virtual assistant and even from the car as
well. This will assist and attract the consumer to a great extent. The reason underlying this
fact is that when the order can be placed at any time and with help of any gadget then it will
be easier for the consumer to place the order (Kodama, 2018).
Food wastage applications- this is another major trend going on within the UK food
industry. Here every year one third of the food produced is wasted. Thus, this is a major issue
or problem being faced by the companies dealing in food. This is pertaining to the reason that
when food is wasted then company faces loss, and the environment is also harmed. Hence,
there is a trend of managing the food wastage within the UK economy. Thus, to bring in
innovation, Just Eat can innovate by making some application which will assist them in
managing the waste. This food management application will assist them in tracking the waste
that is where the most waste is being dumped. From there the company can recycle the waste
and bring some innovation and reuse that waste in some productive manner. This will assist
company in helping the society and environment and managing waste of food in some
effective and efficient manner (Szutowski, Szulczewska-Remi and Ratajczak, 2019).
Hence, these recommendations will assist Just Eat in managing and bringing in
innovation which will attract majority of the consumers. When the consumer will be attracted
then this will increase the operations of company and profitability and productivity as well.

4.2. The Eliminate-Reduce-Raise-Create (ERRC): Just Eat Plc
Eliminate
Discount
Reduce commission with partner restaurants.
Reduce
Lacking pictures menu base
Raise
Technological innovation
Advertising
Create
Sustainable competitive
Technological innovation
Advertising
Hence, for effective management of the services by the company, they must follow the ERRC
which is eliminate, reduce, raise and create. Under eliminate, there is need to eliminate the
discount which company is providing and commission which they provide to partner
restaurant. Along with this for reduce they need to reduce the pictures from the menu base.
Moreover, in raise factor Just Eat need to increase their technological innovation and the
advertising. In the end, for creating the company need to work in creating sustainable
competitive advantage along with development of new advertising strategies and focusing on
technological innovation.
5. CONCLUSION
The above report summarised that innovation is defined as bring in some new change
within existing product or creating a new product. For working successfully in the highly
competitive world it is of much importance that company continuously bring some or the new
and innovative features in product and services. The above analysis concluded that Blue
ocean strategy is a good theory which assists companies in bringing new innovations.
Further, it was also evaluated that Just Eat makes use of the blue ocean strategy instead of red
ocean strategy as it involves capturing and creating an uncontested market space. The
company continuously brings some or the other technological advancement or changes in the
services being offered by the company. Hence, in the end it is concluded that innovation is
the only key which assist company to stay effective within the highly competitive working
environment.

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Just Eat leading the way in technology and innovation. 2020. [Online]. Available through: <
https://www.businesschief.eu/company/just-eat-leading-way-technology-and-
innovation >