Marketplacer, a leading global marketplace software provider, and the architect of the unique online marketplace for Melbourne’s newest premium food delivery service, Providoor, today announce it as one of the fastest scaled online marketplaces, with the business forecasting $100m in annualised revenue, turning over $1.5m in orders every week.

Built in just five weeks and now boasting 50 of Melbourne’s most coveted eateries, the platform has received 1 million unique visits to date, with more than 46,000 orders placed in September alone.

Created by restaurateur, chef and television presenter, Shane Delia, the Marketplacer-built platform was rapidly designed to connect in-need local premium hospitality businesses with consumers during the onset of the COVID-19 crisis.

It has already driven millions of dollars of orders to participating restaurants who may not have otherwise survived, however, Marketplacer CEO Jason Wyatt believes it is much more than a band aid solution for the pandemic at hand. It has the potential to support the hospitality industry well into the future as the mindset, habits and needs of the out-of-home diner have now changed.

“One of Providoor’s great strengths is that restaurants instantly grasped and embraced the true essence of a marketplace and very quickly realised that this platform offers the opportunity to transform the industry, as well as give their businesses an additional opportunity during a crisis. While it provides a much-needed lifeline for the industry right now, Providoor also enables the sector to future proof itself by tapping into the benefits an online marketplace can offer them,” said Jason.

Shane Delia said that without the platform, the lockdown alternative looked considerably bleaker for the local hospitality industry.

“The Victorian hospitality sector has suffered immensely from the pandemic. At the outset, we felt an immense need to come together with like-minded experts to create something that could answer the problem the industry faced, as well as for Melbourne’s dining crowd who are missing their favourite dining spots. We needed a solution fast, which is why we approached Marketplacer who not only understood how we could approach the problem in a way that benefits several restaurants but could do so quickly to respond to the urgent need,” explains Shane.

“Providoor has allowed many of our restaurants to take more orders than they were able to pre-COVID with over 230,000 meals served to date. We have collaborated with Marketplacer to deliberately create a platform that is different to other food delivery services– our mission is to put money back into the restaurant’s tills.”

With Providoor only charging 15% admin fee (compared with other services at 35% cuts), 85% or $1.3m per week, is now flowing back into local restaurants that would otherwise be shut due to lockdown laws.

“It is fantastic to be able to provide an opportunity through our unique marketplace software for these beloved businesses to continue trading in these difficult times, as well as enable locals to continue to support their much-loved restaurants,” added Jason.

The concept has proven so popular that it looks set to remain a firm fixture for these restaurants’ evolving business models, eventually becoming an additional online revenue stream to complement and coexist alongside the traditional offering when it resumes.

Marketplacer is responsible for some of the most scalable online solutions in the world and is behind ecommerce solutions for Australian retail giants such as Myer, Metcash, Bob Jane T-Marts, Jayco and Petstock.

“Providoor is evidence that a hugely successful marketplace might not always come from the most obvious of places. If something as tangible and tactile as Melbourne’s fine dining institution can turn to technology and see value and growth in an online marketplace, then what industry can’t?” continued Jason.

To learn more about Marketplacer, please visit www.marketplacer.com, or to explore the restaurants Providoor has on offer, visit www.providoor.com.au.