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Tag: delivery

  • Deliveroo Adds 100 Virtual Brands, boosting local restauranteurs

    Deliveroo Adds 100 Virtual Brands, boosting local restauranteurs

     Hong Kong’s food delivery service leader, Deliveroo, today announces that they now have 200 virtual brands on the platform, having added 100 VBs in the past few months. Virtual brands expand consumers’ choice of delicious meals and support restauranteurs to bolster their revenue without increasing fixed costs and have become one of the important ways to mitigate risks under this current challenging environment for local Hong Kong restaurants.

    Virtual brands enable existing restaurants to increase revenue and customers by offering new or complementary cuisines, under new branding, exclusively on the Deliveroo app, but without the cost of establishing a new brick-and-mortar location. Appearing as a separate restaurant on Deliveroo, the virtual brand might be a BBQ joint launching a Mexican menu, a Greek restaurant offering healthy protein bowls, or a favourite pizza joint delivering gourmet wraps.

    With Hong Kong restaurants now facing headwinds, including reduced brick-and-mortar visitations and a recent tide of closures, virtual brands support local restauranteurs to stabilise or increase sales while minimising expenditures. Whether preparing the new virtual offerings in their current kitchen, or from a Deliveroo Editions super kitchen hub, restaurants can get more value from their existing staff, ingredients and culinary expertise, without increasing rent or other operating costs.

    Deliveroo uses its data to identify hotspots for growth and missing cuisine types, then helps partner restaurants to create the perfect menu. In addition, Deliveroo provides strong marketing support and access to its global network for more cost-effective ingredient sourcing, new recipes, and the chance to license foreign brands. Deliveroo supports restaurants every step of the way to help them improve their offer for customers.

    Brian Lo, General Manager of Deliveroo Hong Kong, said: “It has been a challenging time for restaurants in Hong Kong as we see closure rate increases from 1.5% to ~5% since January. In markets around the world, restaurants on Deliveroo that launch virtual brands with the company have seen on average a 70% increase in revenues as a result of those brands. In Hong Kong this is higher at 85%, thanks to the city’s enthusiasm towards ordering in and eagerness to try new things. Here at Deliveroo we’re thrilled to have added so many new virtual brands since launch last year, and proud to be a partner to restaurants to help them ride out the recent headwinds. We support our restaurant partners to thrive, and that’s exactly what virtual brands deliver.”

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  • Foodpanda launches 15-minute grocery-delivery service

    Foodpanda launches 15-minute grocery-delivery service

    Singapore food-delivery service Foodpanda has officially rolled-out its instant grocery delivery service, Pandamart, in Hong Kong after a trial commencing last November.

    Partnering with 1000 retailers and selling more than 14,000 items, Foodpanda has expanded its service from restaurant take-outs to the delivery of groceries and daily necessities such as beauty and baby-care products. Local partners include Li & Fung’s convenience chain Circle K, snack store Okashi Land, Heroes Beer and kitchenware store I Love Kitchen. So far, snacks and alcohol are the most popular categories, comprising two-thirds of all orders. During its promotional launch, delivery is complimentary with a certain minimum spend.

    During testing, Pandamart was been able to deliver within 25 minutes of orders and the service aims to maintain an average delivery time of 15 minutes. During Chinese New Year, which coincided with the coronavirus lockdown, takeaway orders on Foodpanda tripled and the number of new visitors to the platform doubled week on week.

    Jeremy Wong, head of Pandamart Hong Kong, said the company hopes to expand its partnerships to 3000 retailers including supermarkets and to increase product selection to 550,000 items by the end of the year. In an interview with Unwire.HK, Wong said launching Pandamart was not for profit margin, but as “a new business direction and utilizing our existing fleet of drivers to meet more of customer’s demands”.

    Currently, Foodpanda has 4000 drivers and aims to double its fleet size and increase the number of partner restaurants room 7000 currently to 12,000 this year.

    Foodpanda has also announced that for the next month it will help partner restaurants by offering free-delivery discounts in the city to encourage more customers to buy via the app, and compensate for some of the lost walk-ins to restaurants.

    “Over 76 percent of people in Hong Kong are forecast to have used online delivery within 2020. We would like all of them to try Foodpanda for either groceries or food delivery,” said Arun Makhija, CEO of Foodpanda Hong Kong.

    At the same time, Foodpanda has joined Deliveroo in offering a relief fund of HK$25 million, allowing partners to delay commission payments for up to three months to ease their cash flow. Local small-scale restaurants will be given first priority with assistive support from Foodpanda.

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  • Deliveroo to offer support for Hong Kong restaurant partners

    Deliveroo to offer support for Hong Kong restaurant partners

    Deliveroo has offered support for its Hong Kong restaurant partners as many of them are suffering from falling dine-in sales due to the coronavirus crisis.

    The company will reduce its commission rate for restaurant partners by 5 percent for a month, starting February 16, equivalent to a 15-20 percent discount in fees.

    In addition, the company will also offer a four-week payment delay strategy for its exclusive restaurant partners to ease their cash flow, the company said in a statement.

    “In our most recent survey and conversations with leaders of the F&B industry, we estimate in-store F&B retail sales to be down 30-50 percent year on year, with signs of further deterioration,” said Brian Lo, GM at Deliveroo Hong Kong.

    The company has urged its rivals in the food-delivery sector to provide support where they can.

    With approximately 6000 restaurant partners, Deliveroo has witnessed a significant escalation in the number of restaurants aiming to suspend trading or shut down. Its research suggests as many as one in 20 restaurants is considering closure.

    “As a stakeholder in the F&B industry and the leading food-delivery platform in the market, we want to play a part, however small, in supporting our restaurant partners and lend a helping hand to the industry in this time of need,” said Lo.

  • Hong Kong food-delivery sales down

    Hong Kong food-delivery sales down

    Food-delivery sales in Hong Kong soared 20 percent over Lunar New Year week as consumers chose to stay indoors, sheltering from the coronavirus.

    A spokesperson for Deliveroo told Inside Retail Asia that the Chinese New Year holiday period is usually a busy period for the company, the market leader in food-delivery in the territory.

    “We saw an increase of more than 20 percent in order volume as compared to the week before, potentially indicating that people were choosing to stay home and order in during the Chinese New Year holiday following traditional visits to relatives over the weekend.”

    The company witnessed a 6-per-cent drop in Chinese food orders and a 6-per-cent increase in American food orders when compared with the week before. Taiwanese cuisine also experienced an order growth of around 3 percent over the festive period.

    The spokesperson said Deliveroo had been in touch with all of its 4000 self-employed riders in Hong Kong to share official guidance with regards to the coronavirus, including safety practices.

    “Health and safety is our top priority. We have a customer service team ready to answer any questions customers may have.”

    Asked if the company was scheduling extra drivers to cope with an increase in demand as consumers ordered in rather than venturing out to public spaces, the spokesperson said the company is prepared year-round unexpectedly busy order times.

    A rider-supply planning team which is responsible for the operational performance of the delivery network uses data analytics to match supply and demand, “ensuring the company has the right number of riders on the road, in the right place and at the right time”.

    In Mainland China, Alibaba-owned delivery service Ele.me has been delivering meals for more than 100 restaurant partners to the frontline medical staff at hospitals and treatment centers.

  • Tesla Reports Solid Q4 Auto Deliveries, Boosting Shares

    Tesla Reports Solid Q4 Auto Deliveries, Boosting Shares

    Tesla reported Friday a jump in fourth-quarter auto deliveries, lifting shares as it ramps up output in the United States and China.

    The electric automaker led by Elon Musk delivered 112,000 vehicles in the quarter ending December 31, up about 23 percent from the year-ago period.

    The figures boosted full-year deliveries to 367,500, 50 percent above the 2018 level and in line with company forecasts.

    The solid figures come four days after Tesla delivered its first batch of China-made cars from its new multibillion-dollar Shanghai “Gigafactory”.

    Tesla touted its speedy completion of the China plant, saying Friday it has already produced just under 1,000 “customer salable cars” in China “despite breaking ground at Gigafactory Shanghai less than 12 months ago.”

    After a series of controversies surrounding Musk in 2018, including a quickly-aborted effort to take the company private, Tesla hit key targets in 2019 in the critical ramp-up of the Model 3 vehicle.

    Tesla shares have risen to all-time highs, and fewer investors are betting on a decline.

    Canaccord Genuity analyst Jed Dorsheimer on Thursday lifted his price target for the company in a note that predicted that sales in China “will be an important driver for the company in 2020.”

    Shares of Tesla rose 3.8 percent to $446.51 in mid-morning trading.

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  • Delivery Hero Acquired Korean rival Woowa

    Delivery Hero Acquired Korean rival Woowa

    Berlin-headquartered online food-delivery operator Delivery Hero has acquired Seoul-based rival Woowa for US$4 billion.

    The acquisition will see Delivery Hero owning 88 percent of Woowa, with the remaining shares to be acquired over time.

    Woowa operates food delivery platform Baedal Minjok in South Korea, which it says generated approximately 100 million orders during the third quarter. It also includes the Baemin service in Vietnam, operated by Baedal Minjok.

    “Woowa is at the forefront of innovative technology services and has put Korea on the map in the global online food delivery industry,” said Delivery Hero CEO Niklas Ostberg.

    “We fully support Woowa to continue making investments and innovate for the benefit of the wider industry participants, including consumers, restaurants, employees, and riders,” he added.

    Along with the acquisition, the two companies agreed to set up a joint venture in Singapore to explore investment opportunities in the Asia-Pacific region and to further expand Delivery Hero and Woowa’s Asian footprint.

    The deal marks a complete circle of delivery services in Vietnam. Foodpanda exited the market in December 2015 and its then-parent sold the database to rival Vietnam. Delivery Hero bought out Foodpanda a year later and earlier this year, Baedal Minjok bought Vietnammm before rebranding it Baemin.

    Frankfurt-listed Delivery Hero was founded in 2011 with operations in more than 40 countries internationally, offering delivery services in more than 300 cities.

    Last year, Woowa grew revenues in South Korea by 96 percent over 2017 to €242 million, turning a pretax profit of €46 million. In the first nine months of this year, Woowa grew revenues in South Korea by 84 percent to €301 million, with GMV pretax profit of around €3 million. Its Vietnam subsidiary fulfilled about 1.5 million orders during the third quarter of this year.

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  • BMW India Launches New ‘BMW Smart Repairs’ Across Its Service Network

    BMW India Launches New ‘BMW Smart Repairs’ Across Its Service Network

    BMW India announced the introduction of ‘BMW Smart Repairs’ across its service network in the country. According to the company, the new repair service will ensure faster repairs and a reduction in cost for small and medium-size repairs. Targeted repairs without having to replace bigger parts will be carried out by the company.

    BMW Smart Repair includes body and paint related jobs including plastic parts, dents, spot paint job, headlight, alloy wheel, and leather works.

    Rudratej Singh, President and Chief Executive Officer, BMW Group India said, “BMW Smart Repair follows a technology-driven, targeted approach to ensure quality BMW service for small and medium repairs instead of replacing whole parts. It significantly reduces service-related costs and turn-around time, so our customers can enjoy complete peace of mind. Whether the job is big or small, they know that their BMW will receive the finest care.”

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  • Australia’s food waste problem fueled by meal delivery services

    Australia’s food waste problem fueled by meal delivery services

    Australia’s food waste problem is getting worse, like meal delivery services fuel further waste.

    The nation’s total food waste bill is now $10.1 billion, up from $8.9 billion dollars in 2018, making it the highest in four years of data collected by the Rabobank Food Waste report.

    Australia is the fourth highest food waster in the world, with the average household now throwing away an average $1,026 worth of food per year, a 15 percent increase from $890 last year.

    Household waste makes up 34 percent of food waste nationally, with 31 percent from primary production and 25 percent from manufacturing.

    Glenn Wealands, head of Client Experience, Rabobank Australia said food waste is one of the most “significant challenges facing our nation and planet”.

    “As individuals, each and every one of us can and must make a difference. When we waste food, the ramifications go far beyond just dollars, impacting our planet and precious resources,” Wealands said.

    “We know from this research that more than three-quarters of us care about reducing food waste and are annoyed by it. However, it is alarming that less than three out of 10 of us recognize the impact our food waste has on the environment.”

    Rabobank said the main contributor to household waste was poor food prepared properly, leftovers going uneaten, buying too much and changing plans after shopping.

    Gen Z remains the most wasteful generation, binning $1,446 of the food they purchase every year, up $234 from 2018. While Baby Boomers remain the least wasteful of all Australians, throwing out only $498 of their food.

  • Amazon Hub launches to meet rising demand for flexible delivery

    Amazon Hub launches to meet rising demand for flexible delivery

    Amazon has launched a new service in Australia that allows customers to collect their parcels from hundreds of locations in shopping centres and on high streets in a bid to improve its delivery offer before the biggest online shopping days of the year.

    First launched in the US in 2011, Amazon Hub allows shoppers to ship parcels to convenient third-party locations, rather than their home address. The service includes a “counter” option, where shoppers can collect parcels from bricks-and-mortar retail partners such as convenience stores, and a “locker” option, where they can collect parcels from self-service kiosks in shopping centres, banks and other places.

    The marketplace has now partnered with more than 100 Commonwealth Bank of Australia branches, Victorian Authorised Newsagents Association locations and Stockland shopping centres to bring the service to Australia.

    Hundreds more Amazon Hub locations are due to launch by the end of the year, and thousands more will launch across the country in 2020, the company said in a statement.

    Patrick Supanc, global director of Amazon Hub, said the new service would extend Amazon’s “exceptional customer service” to the delivery experience.

    “Since launching Amazon.com.au in 2017, we’ve committed to making e-commerce rooted in low prices, vast selection and convenience a part of everyday life for Australian customers,” he said.

    “We’re excited now to partner with large and small businesses in Australia to extend Amazon’s exceptional customer service and innovations in delivery by offering a quick and simple pick-up experience.”

    Parcel pick-up on the rise

    The launch comes just one week before Black Friday and Cyber Monday, which are now the biggest online shopping days of the year in Australia.

    E-commerce purchases by volume were up more than 28 per cent year on year during Cyber Week in 2018, according to an annual online shopping report by Australia Post. The five weeks from November 11-December 15 accounted for 15 per cent of all e-commerce transactions that year.

    Australia Post on Monday announced the expansion of its own parcel pick-up service in partnership with fulfilment company Doddle. Booktopia and Peter’s of Kensington are among the first retailers to use the service, which lets customers send their online orders to IGA supermarkets, Priceline pharmacies, shopping centres and other locations.

    Nathan Huppatz, co-founder of ReadyToShip, a shipping platform that lets retailers select the best delivery options for each order and print labels, says parcel pick-up is gaining traction, though it’s not exactly new. Major retailers, such as eBay, The Iconic and Glassons, have offered it as a delivery option for some time through ParcelPoint.

    But Huppatz says consumer demand for flexible delivery times and advancements in the technology that allows retailers to integrate different delivery options at checkout is contributing to arise in pick-up services.

    Until recently, most of the volume going through ReadyToShip has been standard delivery, Huppatz said. But in the last 12 months, there’s been greater uptake of Australia Post’s new on-demand delivery options, including same-day evening and Saturday delivery.

    “There’s definitely a demand out there from consumers to have flexibility, and these days there are more and more solutions to enable that,” he said.

    Integration can be a hurdle

    This is mostly good news for retailers, though Huppatz says parcel pick-up can present problems if the carrier’s integration requires retailers to make too many changes.

    “As soon as a retailer has to start modifying the checkout process or their order or warehouse systems, that’s where it can be a hurdle to overcome,” he said. “If the integration is simple, or you can use an existing carrier, it becomes much easier.”

    Still, he expects to see more retailers offering parcel pick-up in the coming months and is considering how he can stay on top of consumers’ changing preferences.

    “We think over the next 12-24 months, we will see growing demand for access to crowdsourced delivery options, especially for local metro areas,” he said.

    But Huppatz, who also owns the e-commerce site Costumes.com.au, believes there’s another reason Amazon may have launched its parcel pick-up service in Australia.

    “EBay and Amazon are competing with each other quite strongly and are looking to plug any holes they can find in their customer experience,” he said, noting the marketplaces’ recent partnerships with Afterpay and Zip, respectively.

    “Amazon has a ruthless customer focus. Everything is designed to make buying, searching, basically anything to do with their platform better for the customer. If they see a need for customers to pick up their products, you can bet they’ll work on that.”

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  • US food delivery service DoorDash expands to Sydney

    US food delivery service DoorDash expands to Sydney

    Two months after entering the local market with food delivery services in Melbourne, DoorDash has expanded to Sydney and now covers more than 40 percent of the Australian population it says.

    Launched in the US in 2013, the platform is the market leader in America with 35 percent market share. But it has a long way to go to catch up with the major players in Australia – UberEats, Deliveroo and Menulog – which have had a significant head start in the much smaller market.

    DoorDash says it has partnered with more than 2000 local restaurants, including major QSR chains, such as Carl’s Jr, Nandos, Subway, Grill’d, Crust and Oporto, which is giving away 10,000 free burgers to customers in Sydney to mark the launch on Tuesday. It also offers in-store pick-up for hundreds of restaurants.

    DoorDash aims to grow its presence in Australia by targeting customers in the suburbs, not just city centers.

    “The unique challenge we’ve sought to solve is not only offered great selection and service in urban environments but suburban ones as well,” Thomas Stephens, DoorDash’s general manager in Australia said.

    “It’s an incredible opportunity, as it’s where the vast majority of Australian’s live, and one we’re excited to connect.”

    But the platform also has faced criticism for what some call an aggressive expansion strategy. DoorDash had signed up restaurants to the platform without their permission.

    The platform allows customers to order from restaurants that haven’t signed up to DoorDash, with restaurants often finding out an order has been placed only when a delivery rider shows up to collect it.

    Stephens said the platform is acting as a “courier service” in these instances, and said restaurants can request to be removed from the platform.

    But this doesn’t match up with the “restaurant-led approach” that supposedly differentiates DoorDash from its competitors.

    “We’re differentiated from our peer group because of our restaurant-led approach, meaning we offer the most comprehensive suite of services to help bring restaurants online and drive incremental in-store sales,” Stephens said.

    Deloitte estimates online food delivery in Australia will reach $1.3 billion this year. According to Stephens, less than 10 percent of food sales outside of pizza are delivered currently.

  • Coles launches grocery subscription service

    Coles launches grocery subscription service

    Coles is taking its online grocery offering a step further with the launch of a new subscription service that allows customers to make unlimited orders for a flat monthly fee.

    Customers must spend over $100 in each transaction to qualify for Coles Delivery Plus, which gives the option of delivery any day of the week for $19 a month, or mid-week delivery from Tuesday through to Thursday for the lower rate of $14 per month.

    Coles Online general manager Karen Donaldson said the new service is aimed at time-poor online regulars who are looking to save on delivery.

    “On average, the cost of a Coles Home Delivery window is $10, depending on location, time of day and length of delivery window chosen,” Donaldson said.

    “Delivery Plus will allow customers who regularly shop online to save hundreds of dollars a year and help them manage their family budget by knowing exactly how much they will pay on Coles Online delivery each month.”

    The big two have been ramping up investment in online this year, in a bid to retain and gain consumers as new players like Kaufland enter the market.

    In March, Coles scored an exclusive deal with the world’s leading online grocery platform, Ocado, which has previously signed lucrative deals with some of Britain’s biggest grocery retailers including Waitrose and M&S.

    But Woolworths hasn’t been resting on its laurels. A recent partnership with eGrocery startup Takeoff Technologies is expected to propel its online grocery operations with the addition of compact, automated micro fulfillment centers at a number of its supermarkets.

    Woolworths Group CEO said the new centers will allow the retailer to deliver “ultra-convenience at a local level” and be even closer to the customer for that last-mile delivery.

    Woolworths is also planning to bring circular shopping to its online service through a partnership with TerraCycle’s Loop platform. By mid-2021, shoppers will be able to have products such as washing detergent, shampoo, juice or ice cream delivered to their door in reusable and refillable containers, which can be collected for cleaning and refilling after use.

    In a bid to get customers onboard with Coles new subscription service, the retailer is offering the first month free, with automatic payments commencing the following month. But customers can cancel the auto-renewal of their subscription at any time.

    For a limited time, Delivery Plus will also cover the fees for unlimited Same-Day Deliveries.

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  • 70% of Restaurants Say Delivery “Very Important” to Their Business

    70% of Restaurants Say Delivery “Very Important” to Their Business

    Deliveroo today announces the launch of its first Restaurant Satisfaction Index; finding that restaurants in Hong Kong are facing a challenging business environment but see delivery as an increasingly important part of their business. On average, restaurants rank their satisfaction in overall business performance at 5.6 out of 10 for the last quarter.

    The Restaurant Satisfaction Index is a first-of-its-kind quarterly survey of restaurant partners that will uncover F&B trends in Hong Kong, revealing the challenges faced by operators. The aim of the Index is to enable Deliveroo to help restaurants respond fast through innovative business solutions.

    Over 70% of restaurants surveyed believe that delivery is “very important” to their business. Changing customer demands are the major force behind this, as today’s on-demand digital landscape means that more and more people now expect personalized, convenient, immediate experiences in shopping, entertainment and dining. This also reflects the trend that a positive delivery experience will drive consumers to dine in at a restaurant.

    Deliveroo’s Restaurant Satisfaction Index also found that delivery revenue is increasing faster than dine-in revenue. In the last quarter, 32% of Hong Kong restaurants saw an increase in order-out revenue, as opposed to 18% that saw an increase from dine-in revenue – indicating that delivery is now a vital opportunity for restaurants to boost revenue and reach new customers.

    Brian Lo, General Manager, Deliveroo Hong Kong, said, “With Hong Kong’s food delivery segment growing rapidly and estimated to generate US$615 million in revenue 2019, it’s no surprise that nearly three in four restaurants surveyed see delivery as a significant factor to their growth and success. We expect that delivery will continue to be a strong driver for F&B business in Hong Kong and we look forward to helping restaurants find new and innovative ways capitalize on consumers’ rising preference for online delivery platforms.”

    New revenue streams such as online delivery are increasingly important, as restaurants in Hong Kong are now facing up to a variety of headwinds; including decreasing turnover and rising costs. Deliveroo’s Restaurant Satisfaction Index found that in the past quarter, 55% of restaurants surveyed saw a turnover decrease, 44% experienced increasing labor costs and another 57% saw operational costs go up.

    Brian added, “Deliveroo is confident in the Hong Kong market and dedicated to supporting restaurants to overcome the challenges through information and innovation. We help restaurants to create virtual brands and together with our Editions kitchens, we help restaurant partners test new concepts and address market gaps, without the up-front investment and costs. Our data-driven tools like Marketer, which recently became a 24/7 always-on initiative, help restaurants leverage data and insights to target new and repeat customers with relevant promotions. With these and other innovative offerings, Deliveroo is supporting our partner restaurants to more fully capitalize on the delivery opportunity.”

    Despite the challenges, half of the restaurants surveyed (50%) said that they are confident in Hong Kong’s F&B industry for the fourth quarter.

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  • Lazada, Tiki locked in delivery speed race

    Lazada, Tiki locked in delivery speed race

    Giants Lazada and Tiki are racing to reduce their delivery times as competition heats up in Vietnam’s e-commerce market.

    Singapore-based Lazada Friday launched a 4-hour delivery service for flowers in Vietnam, a move in response to Vietnamese startup Tiki’s 2-hour delivery for a large number of products.

    Nguyen Ngoc Thang, head of express solutions at Lazada, said that this was a new step in e-logistics for the company.

    Earlier this month, the company began to offer 2-hour and 4-hour delivery for products weighing under 15 kilograms in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City.

    Almost 200 Lazada sellers are eligible for the service, mostly in beverage, fashion and baby products.

    The move followed other e-commerce companies in Vietnam, like Shopee, Sendo and Lotte, also announcing delivery times of one to four hours after Tiki introduced its 2-hour delivery for over 100,000 products.

    Tiki is able to do this by investing in expanding its fulfillment center, which is now at 60,000 square meters and set to triple to 200,000 square meters by the end of next year.

    The company’s average delivery time is less than two days, against the market average of four-five days, said Tiki chairman Tran Ngoc Thai Son.

    Meanwhile, Lazada has introduced its new 24/7 receiving points in Hanoi and HCMC where customers can pick up their items at a time of their choice.

    In the third quarter of this year, Tiki ranked fourth in terms of of web traffic, followed by Lazada. Both of them fell two places from Q2, according to market research firm iPrice.

    Singapore-based Shopee remained the market leader, followed by Vietnamese players Sendo and Mobile World, it said.

    Vietnam’s e-commerce market is estimated at $5 billion this year and is set to reach $23 billion in 2025, according to a recent report by Google, Singapore-based investment firm Temasek, and U.S.-based consultancy Bain.

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  • Eatigo Hong Kong aims to double its reach within the next year

    Eatigo Hong Kong aims to double its reach within the next year

    Restaurant table-filler app Eatigo is set to double the user numbers and outlets it represents over the next year.

    The restaurant reservation platform helps restaurants fill up empty tables by offering discounts to diners at different times of the day through its mobile app.

    Eatigo operates in Hong Kong, Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, the Philippines and Indonesia. In Hong Kong it already has more than 1 million users and represents more than 1000 restaurants.

    “We’re trying to drive sustainable traffic to restaurants outside lunch and dinner time by introducing different pricing so we can influence customer behavior, something that’s already common in the airline industry,” said Eatigo Hong Kong’s GM Kenneth Liu in an interview with HKTDC publication Hong Kong Means Business.

    “On the supply side, we’re trying to get more interesting selections and make it more local, reaching out to the New Territories, Tung Chung and Lantau Island. Even if a customer has a low budget of less than HK$100, we want to offer them something. Our aim is to make Eatigo a frequency app, something that can be used at McDonald’s, Subway, or in local cha chaan tengs [Hong Kong-style cafes]. We want to become more local, more mass market.”

    Liu added that the firm plans to add more interesting merchants to their portfolio in the coming year and reach 2 million users by December next year. The firm plans to engage in more creative marketing, potentially using offline roadshows and press conferences to promote the brand. It plans to add more quick-service restaurants and high-end or Michelin-starred restaurants to its platform.

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  • Fave launches takeaway platform in Singapore

    Fave launches takeaway platform in Singapore

    Southeast Asian digital merchant-platform Fave has launched a food takeaway service in Singapore.

    Fave Takeaway will allow customers to pre-order their meal selection and make payment via the app’s digital wallet FavePay before picking up their order at participating stores. Customers can expect to collect their order within 30 minutes (or less) depending on the restaurants’ speed of service.

    Takeaway is part of Fave’s strategy to further digitize Southeast Asia’s F&B sector by allowing merchants to serve more customers beyond the capacity of their outlets while diversifying their revenue streams and increasing productivity.

    “As the [Singapore] government continues to push for a digital and seamless economy, Fave is helping SMEs adapt to the new landscape and in a more cost-effective way by giving them the tools to enable them to serve their customers in the best and efficient way possible,” said Fave co-founder and CEO Joel Neoh. “The introduction of Takeaway is our way of enabling that our merchants get the most out of the platform by increasing productivity and revenue.”

    “Queueing makes up a large portion of the average Singaporean’s time, but it is not something we would want to do when we are in a rush,” said Fave Singapore MD Ng Aik-Phong. “With the introduction of Takeaway, we hope to bring convenience and efficiency to our consumers while improving our platform for both merchants and consumers.”

    More than 200 merchants are participating in the launch of Takeaway with more to follow in the coming months.

    The new feature follows the launch of Fave’s Table Ordering service in May this year.