Over the course of nearly two years, Huawei, the global tech giant, and talabat, the leading food delivery and q-commerce platform in the MENA region have teamed up to create a range of initiatives, to develop a seamless customer experience on their platforms and also to continue positioning their brands as technology leaders in their respective industries.
We sat down with Onur Elgun, Vice President of Strategy MENA at talabat, who shared with us some insights about the collaboration with Huawei, since the organisation integrated with AppGallery, Huawei's official distribution platform and one of the three top marketplaces globally.
Why has talabat decided to partner with Huawei and integrate the AppGallery?
Huawei is one of the largest smartphone manufacturers globally, with more than 730 million smartphone users. In this region, it has developed into a leading tech player also. Our data showed a clear increase in our customers ordering on the talabat app through Huawei devices - particularly in some of our high-growth markets, such as Egypt.
With customer experience being a top priority for both ourselves and Huawei, working closely with the team at Huawei to truly create an integrated experience for both Huawei and talabat customers was a logical next step.
Lastly, we operate in a competitive, fast-moving industry, which is why corporate partnerships are essential. By bringing two great tech organisations together through data-driven solutions, we are essentially solving customers' needs before they have to search for the solution!
How long have you been working with the AppGallery team, and what are the key initiatives that have been conducted so far?
Since 2019, we’ve been working with Huawei and AppGallery team, a very supportive and reliable partner to our organisation. Where we have seen real value is in their curiosity with our business and their customer-first mindset. It's not just about creating a corporate partnership; it's about how we do the right thing for our joint customers.
We have worked closely across all our nine markets and launched significant co-branded campaigns in the MENA region. One of our key campaigns was the re-branding campaign from Otlob to talabat in Egypt. We created a co-branded campaign through a wide range of promotional activities to benefit Huawei smartphone end-users and generate awareness of our re-branded talabat app in Egypt. The success of this campaign was incredible, as it reached 94% of the target audience - and we saw an increase of 240% in downloads.
However, our partnership is about much more than campaigns. It is about working together to really change how our customers experience the talabat app on their Huawei devices. These include small tweaks, such as news feed integration, allowing users instant access to the talabat app with a simple swipe. We have seen a significant increase in engagement of 144% through this integration, which has definitely been a game-changer on the Huawei platform.
We are also partnering with Huawei as a developer from a technology perspective. talabat is one of the first food & delivery apps in the region to run its app on the newly launched Super Device range.
This allows our app to connect seamlessly with the Huawei flagship smartwatch, the Huawei Watch 3 | 3 Pro, providing users with a more convenient, smoother, and more secure experience. In addition, when ordering from talabat, the smartwatch converts to a smart assistant, allowing our customers to track and get notifications on their order status directly from their wrist!
What do you expect from Huawei's AppGallery partnership from a business perspective?
All of the corporate partnerships that we undertake have one goal, to better improve the experience of our ecosystem - our customers, vendors, riders, wider community, and employees. In this case - the opportunity to have a key presence on Huawei devices helps us to create a seamless experience for both theirs and our customers.
Naturally, this partnership will allow improved brand awareness, and we look forward to continuing to collaborate together moving forward.
Do you have any other joint projects planned in the future?
Our experience working closely with Huawei has been fantastic; hence, we have many upcoming projects in the pipeline.
One of our key focuses here at talabat is to become the most loved and downloaded app in the MENA region - a true companion for our customers' lives, and we believe Huawei can continue to make a significant contribution to this. We’re really excited to continue working with Huawei to integrate more innovative technology.
This will include making the talabat app available on Huawei’s Petal Search and Petal Maps, plus the Super Device range such as the next-generation TV - the Huawei Vision S and the new 12.6-inch Huawei MatePad Pro tablet set to be launched soon in the MENA market.
We look forward to continuing to strengthen our partnership and relationship with the fantastic Huawei team moving forward!
