In 2004, Talabat General Trading and Contracting Company was founded by Abdulaziz Al Loughani and Khaled Al Otaibi in Kuwait. The name "talabat" derives from the Arabic language and literally means "orders" or "requests". As Talabat’s popularity grew locally, it won the "Best E-Business Award" repeatedly in 2008 and 2009 with special recognition from the Emir of Kuwait, HH Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah. In 2010, the business was operating out of Kuwait and Saudi Arabia with an average of 1,250 daily transactions. Talabat then underwent key changes such as the re-branding from 6alabat.com to Talabat.com, a shift from a hybrid form of Arabic and English spelling to a pure English spelling. In 2011, a revamp of the platform took place with a new website layout and improvement in user interface. In 2012, Talabat expanded to Bahrain, UAE and Oman. On 19 January 2012, Talabat released its mobile application for Android devices. An app for iOS devices was also released. In 2013, it continued its expansion to Qatar. In 2015, Talabat was acquired by the global German e-commerce group Rocket Internet for US$170 million. It became part of Rocket Internet's business unit Global Online Takeaway Group. In 2016, Rocket Internet's food delivery business, including Talabat, was taken over by online food marketplace Delivery Hero. In line with this acquisition, Abdulhamid Alomar took over as the CEO of the company. In 2017, Talabat expanded its operations to Jordan. In 2019, former Grab executive Tomaso Rodriguez was appointed as CEO, after the stepping down of Abdulhamid Alomar. Lawsuits were filed against the company after they were found violating fair competition rules in Kuwait. A settlement plea made by Talabat was also turned down. In 2020, food delivery company Carriage, also owned by Delivery Hero, was absorbed by Talabat.
Operation
Restaurants on Talabat benefit from an online ordering presence and are the alternative to telephone orders and pickup options. Talabat users have access to thousands of restaurants according to the user’s location and the restaurants in the area while filtering by cuisine, ratings, delivery time, minimum order value, payment options or restaurant name. Placed orders are sent to the restaurant’s point of sale machines, processed and then delivered to the customer’s address. The service is free to users without any charges. However, variable amount of delivery charges may be incurred depending on the restaurant receiving the order.
