Industry overview
What is shaping hospitality
Hotels, restaurants and travel brands are judged on every stay, meal and review. Guest experience, consistency and online reputation drive bookings.
- Online reviews strongly influence bookings
- Consistency across properties builds trust
- Guests expect personalised service
Client background
A cloud kitchen start-up, working in Dubai & Riyadh. Client identity is withheld to protect confidentiality.
- Organisation
- A cloud kitchen start-up
- Sector
- Hospitality
- Team engaged
- Market Research
- Services
- Research consultancy, Consumer panel, Financial modelling
Client challenge
A successful cloud kitchen start-up wanted to expand into Dubai and Riyadh but did not know which cuisines, price points and delivery areas would perform best. Rents, delivery platform fees and customer tastes differed sharply from its home market, and a wrong menu could mean months of losses.
Research objectives
- Deliver on the brief: assessing demand for a cloud kitchen brand.
- Understand the views, needs and behaviour of food delivery users.
- Produce results that can be compared across groups and locations.
- Give the client evidence it can act on within 6 weeks.
Target audience
The work focused on 1,500 food delivery users.
- food delivery users1,500
Audiences we typically reach in hospitality
Guests and dinersCorporate travel buyersFront-line staffTravel agentsOnline reviewers
Geographic coverage
Coverage: Dubai & Riyadh. Markets: United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia.
- United Arab Emirates
- Saudi Arabia
Research methodology
A structured analytical design combining desk research, modelling and primary evidence.
- 1Brief
- 2Delivery user survey
- 3Market model
- 4Insight
We surveyed food delivery users in English and Arabic about ordering habits, cuisines, health preferences and prices, and modelled demand by area. The survey covered citizens and expatriates, with quotas by nationality, age and area, and asked users to choose between realistic menu and price combinations.
Research consultancyConsumer panelFinancial modelling
Sampling strategy
- food delivery users
- 1,500
- Online respondents were drawn from verified panel members who matched the screening criteria, with quotas on key profile attributes.
Data collection
- The online survey was mobile-friendly and offered in respondents' languages.
- Secondary sources and client data were compiled and cross-checked before modelling.
Data quality & validation
- Digital fingerprinting and duplicate checks
- Attention, speed and straight-lining checks
- Review of open-ended answers
- Logic and range checks on the final data
- Work carried out under our ISO 20252 quality procedures
Data analysis
- Cross-tabulation by key groups and locations
- Significance testing on the differences that mattered
- Market model built from secondary data and primary evidence
Key findings
- Healthy bowls and high-protein meals showed strong demand.
- Order volumes in the first months were in line with the model, and the start-up added a third kitchen in Dubai within a year.
Local demand data shaped a menu that worked from day one.
Recommendations
- Build on the core insight: local demand data shaped a menu that worked from day one.
- Focus effort where the evidence was strongest: healthy bowls and high-protein meals showed strong demand.
- Re-measure after the changes to confirm the effect.
Business impact
- The start-up launched with that menu in two areas of each city.
What changed in the business as a result of the work. Impact is described qualitatively.
Deliverables & next steps
- Insight report and management presentation
- Cleaned data file and data tables
- Repeat the measure after changes are in place to track progress.
- A natural follow-on question: how is the brand positioned?
Client identity is withheld to protect confidentiality.