Jamenus.com – Jamaica’s Virtual Food Court Launches

Jamenus.com is a Jamaican startup that offers consumers the option of ordering their favourite food online islandwide and from the convenience of home and office. We spoke to the CEO and co-founder Oraine Godfrey to give us some more details.
SC: When did you launch jamenus.com?
OG: JAMENUS had its soft launch on Sunday January 11 2009. The soft launch is the BETA version of JAMENUS. The full launch of JAMENUS is set for March 1,2009.

SC: Explain the service that jamenus.com offers to both consumers and the restaurants you are serving?
OG: JAMENUS is an online network of restaurants that offers consumers the ability to view various restaurant menu’s available to them based on their location and then order live from that restaurant online. The BETA version allows consumers to view but not order. Restaurants on the other hand enjoy a great marketing and sales analysis tool with their own web-based administration. They also enjoy the fact that this system limits order confusion over the phone as JAMENUS breaks down orders to last detail with three levels of order confirmation. Overall, JAMENUS offers and easier way to order food of a greater variety.

Here’s a 1-2-3 detail of the service we offer.
1. The first thing a consumer is greeted with as they enter JAMENUS.com is the location select page. -They will be asked to choose whether they are a residential or commercial (business offices) customer, they will then be asked to choose where they are – by parish and then by town. [A user can select all restaurants if they wish to view all restaurants – if they order from a restaurant outside of their zone it will only be available for pick-up]

2. Upon choosing their location, they will see all the restaurants available to them in that zone. They can pick a restaurant, view their menu and start adding products to their cart. [Customers can choose product variants and make additional notes on each product.][Customers are not able to order from different restaurants on the same cart]

3. After adding products, customers proceed to checkout where they are asked to log in, upon logging in the system checks the users address to verify that the customer is in the delivery zone [if the restaurant supports delivery], they can choose whether to have the item delivered*, or for pick up.

4. They will then be prompted to choose their payment method [Cash or Credit Card (if the restaurant supports online payment)].

5. They will then be asked to verify their order before completing the transaction. Upon completion they will view a printable receipt. The user will also receive and email with an invoice of their order. As soon as an order is placed, the restaurant receives and email with the order invoice, it is printed automatically. The order is prepared and everyone is happy.

SC: What prompted you to launch such a site anyway?
OG: My orders always seems to get messed up especially when I ordered over the phone; and I never had much patience in hearing the specials being offered. I decided that there had to be an easier way to order food from the comfort of anywhere within my hectic schedule. After discussions with my two close friends and business partners we came up with the concept of a Virtual Food Court, thus JAMENUS.

SC: What makes this a viable business?
OG: It all comes down to convenience. JAMENUS is built on brand loyalty, we want to build a brand that consumers think of when ordering food. Something so simple as ordering food can become so complex especially when you don’t know what you feel for. JAMENUS was also built off a demand for such a service; both for the restaurants and the consumers. With more people eating out, and more restaurants developing, there was large demand for people to find a better way to order, and for restaurants to keep track of orders while being consistent. Economically, the business model was built so that it was subscription based fir consumers, so that that we don’t charge them for the privilege to order online. It’s all about convenience for the average user.

SC: How big is your team and what their Jamaican/Caribbean heritage and Internet backgrounds
OG: Currently the team consists of three individuals inclusive of myself. Firstly there is Joel Freckleton ‘the financial guy’. Joel is Jamaican, an avid Internet user, but not a very technical guy. Then there is Kareem Davies “the techy”. Kareem is also Jamaican, and avid Internet and the technology guru behind our operations. Then there is me, I am Jamaican as well, an avid Internet user, somewhat of a ‘techy’, and the marketer. We have been friends since prep. school, and grown to appreciate each other skills. Given the growing popularity of JAMENUS thus far we plan on expanding soon.

SC: Your business has had predecessors and they have failed, what makes you confident that you will succeed?
OG: Well I wouldn’t call them predecessors, as I believe our concept is new to this market. Others have tried something close before but they left out what is key in customer satisfaction – convenience and comfort. What makes JAMENUS different firstly is the ability to order live online- real time ordering with the click of a finger, no other site has come close this concept. Secondly, breaking down the restaurants by zones, so that people know exactly what is available to them. Thirdly, allowing restaurants live web based administration – so that they can change their products, their delivery zones, their opening and closing times plus so much more with ease; not to mention, we provide the restaurants with the tools to do so – every restaurant that signs up receives a laptop and a printer. There are many key differences between what we are doing and what they have done, and that’s why I confident that we will succeed.

SC: What are your 2009 expectations regarding the Jamaican Web since you’ve hitched your site and business on it?
OG: More and more Jamaicans are accessing the internet, and with Jamaican website growth over 150% in the last year alone, internet business is expected to more than triple the millions spent last year. Jamaicans are no longer afraid to conduct business online, as they realize that this is step that should have been taken years ago.

SC: What are your plans for the next 3 months? in terms of increasing visibility, users?
OG: We plan to launch the full version on the 1st of March, till that time and even after we plan on attaining partnerships with restaurants across the island. We want all restaurants on this system, from the big franchises to the corner stops. Marketing will be our major concern in the next few months. Our plan is to make JAMENUS a household brand, as such we will be taking the opportunity to market everywhere we can. Our BETA launch was to allow access to the site so that users can get comfortable with it, and also tell their friends about it.

SC: What is your background, are you a Tech Entrepreneur? What’s your background in Technology?
OG: This is the teams second technology based company. Our first company, Multimedia, Marketing and Internet (MMI) was focused on building websites and brands using a variety of multimedia tools, and thankfully it has gone well and continues to do well during its second year of operation. Kareem and I have attained our degrees in Computer Science and Multimedia / Information Systems respectively and have over 20 years experience using numerous technology based tools and services covering different spectrums. We plan on using every bit of knowledge and experience we have in the continuous development of JAMENUS.

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