Ride-hailing service provider Grab is expanding its operations in the Philippines to include on-demand food delivery and financial services.
“GrabFood is the next major step in our move to serve the daily needs of consumers. Food delivery is a natural extension of our transport offerings. Each day, millions of people in Southeast Asia rely on ride-hailing services to bring them from place to place, as well as food delivery services to save time from travelling around in congested cities to satisfy their cravings,” Grab Philippines country head Brian Cu said.
“With the expansion of GrabFood across the region, we are working with local merchants and delivery partners to deliver the best of Manila’s kitchens to the doorsteps of our consumers,” he said.
GrabFood was launched in Jakarta in 2016 and subsequently beta-tested in Bangkok last year. User research with merchant partners in these cities revealed that they reaped incremental benefits of going online to reach more customers and enjoyed a significant increase in orders through GrabFood, resulting in higher revenue.
GrabFood also proved to be a real revenue driver for merchants in these cities.
Based on Grab’s user research, the majority of Filipinos were excited to try new things and would choose a food delivery platform that offers the most dependable service, providing the widest range of food offerings with best value-for-money and fastest speed of delivery.
GrabFood will meet these needs of consumers while enabling better income and revenue opportunities for delivery and merchant partners through tech innovation and new product features.
Grab said it would make significant technology investments in its platform to bring an expanded range of online consumer services this year. Consumers will now be able to order food from restaurants near them through the newly launched GrabFood within the app.
“With no minimum order required, consumers can satisfy their cravings and order from the wide selection of cuisines available, enjoying the convenience of having their favorite food delivered fast, right to their doorsteps,” it said.
Grab’s existing and new delivery partners will enjoy additional income and job opportunities from delivering food orders on top of delivering parcels.
Food establishments and restaurants now have their own online storefront to serve an increasingly online and mobile population by leveraging the fleet of delivery partners.
“We are in a position to power this future of smart cities for consumers because of the interconnectedness of each of our service and how they help each other grow. Transport allows us to expand our GrabFood and Grab Financial services. Our GrabPay mobile wallet will be used for both transport and food, two of the most relevant use cases in Southeast Asia,” Cu said.