How it’s now pushing the new era of quick commerce

What’s dazzling pink, furry, and a little cheeky at occasions? It’s ‘Pau-Pau’, the adorable foodpanda model ambassador out on its adventures.

‘Pau-Pau’ was launched early this year as the new experience of the model championing empowerment and sustainability across the region. Beyond its free of charge-spirited temperament, ‘Pau-Pau’ is meant to lead foodpanda’s foray into a new ten years of ever-switching landscape. 

Soon after 10 years in Singapore, the enterprise has absent by a whole lot of modifications, such as an update from its eye-catching orange in the earlier times to the unmistakable pink that is now a common sight on Singapore roadways.

Above the course of a 10 years, foodpanda has constantly improved its tech platform and user knowledge, as it continuously reinvents itself to develop into a lot more than just a food stuff supply platform. 

Outside of providing just foodstuff, it also delivers advantage even though supporting several group groups, and has rolled out numerous capabilities and initiatives to demonstrate just that.

Forefronting the q-commerce market

Nowadays, clients are increasingly buying smaller quantities of items, as opposed to replacing a weekly food shop.

Termed as ‘quick commerce’ (q-commerce), foodpanda had noticed that there was an growing demand from customers for products and services that can complement when customers will need a thing delivered conveniently, and rapidly. Over and above just buying food on-desire, shoppers also wished other requirements such as groceries and house merchandise shipped much more successfully. 

As a result, in 2019, foodpanda expanded its choices to cater to this demand. It rolled out an on line grocery assistance named pandamart, presenting 24/7 grocery shipping in underneath 30 minutes and foodpanda stores, an on the net vendor market. 

Offering on-demand from customers grocery shipping and delivery proven foodpanda as a big participant in the q-commerce marketplace. The addition of more expert services also allowed it to speedily changeover and adapt functions when the pandemic strike.

With the peak of Covid-19 bringing companies to a standstill, most Singaporeans experienced to convert to substitute remedies for foods and groceries. foodpanda was the very first platform to introduce contactless deliveries, and pandamart and foodpanda stores proved important in giving an straightforward and secure way for clients to order groceries, treatment, and most importantly, Art kits.

Right now, pandamart has 14 merchants islandwide, and retails over 5,000 solutions ranging from splendor and personalized care goods, to clean create. In the meantime, foodpanda outlets has in excess of 4,000 retailers – like acquainted family names like 7-Eleven, Marks & Spencer, Xiaomi and Watsons – alongside heartland little-and-medium enterprises (SMEs). 

Regardless of the easing limits, people are even now dependent on pandamart and foodpanda stores, and this is evident in its regular usage growth. To day, foodpanda owns Asia’s most significant community of cloud grocery shops and warehouses and very last yr, it led a new era of q-commerce with a 450 for each cent year-on-year development across Asia.

Connecting the neighborhood during Covid-19

Covid-19 threw the planet for a loop. The pandemic accelerated the need to have for businesses to adopt digital options, this kind of as utilising supply platforms. Realising the value of this, foodpanda claimed an financial investment of almost S$50 million across the area to guidance area communities, as properly as enable various SMEs digitise.

foodpanda recognised that hawkers and independent companies wrestle with technological requires. Most were being outpaced and outskilled, or lacked funding to digitise their firms, top them to suspend or postpone their firms for anxiety of individual bankruptcy.

Some SMEs had been apprehensive to undertake electronic answers because they really do not fully grasp how it performs, but when the pandemic hit, they realised it was a requirement.

We had to aid them continue to place bread on others’ tables, as effectively as their individual, by guiding them to digitise. In this way, we foster ‘digital inclusion’ by generating it achievable for any service provider any place to take part in the new financial system.

– Amirul Shah, Professional Director at foodpanda Singapore

Conquering Covid-19 challenges expected a neighborhood energy. To definitely have interaction with hawkers on the floor, 50 foodpanda worker-volunteers took to the streets in the course of Period Two Heightened Alert, reaching out to more than 200 hawkers across five hawker centres in Singapore.

Not only did the employee-volunteers aid the hawkers on the ins and outs of the foodpanda application, they also served educate them about on the net foods supply and the added benefits of heading electronic for their companies.

Creating options and embracing talent

foodpanda’s coronary heart extends to the local community, but it also sits appropriate at property in just its ‘panda riders’, who perform tricky every single working day to guarantee orders access residences safely and securely.

Food supply platforms became a host for jobseekers for the duration of the pandemic, with about 60 for each cent of meals delivery riders moving into the delivery sector throughout this period.

“Being a rider gave me a way to assistance myself through the pandemic though I was in-concerning careers. I like owning the flexibility to choose when I want to operate and how significantly I want to earn. Even with my complete-time career now, I can do deliveries every time my schedule permits to receive a lot more,” explained 32-12 months-old Jonathan Tee, who has been a foodpanda rider considering that 2019.

Additionally, with Covid-19 proving to be a hard time for anyone, foodpanda also released several in-household initiatives that place rider welfare at the forefront. For instance, riders are entitled to no cost mental wellbeing help by means of the Intellect app. 

They are also safeguarded by a complimentary insurance coverage deal whilst they are on change, to give them a peace of brain whilst they perform challenging to supply orders. For those people looking for more safety, reasonably priced insurance packages are also available for riders and their families by means of several insurance plan partners.

To really encourage upskilling, foodpanda has collaborated with cell micro-discovering platform Gnowbe and Temasek Polytechnic to offer its riders accessibility to an e-discovering platform, enabling them to even further upskill by themselves. The portal enables riders to enrol for totally free classes on buyer support and involves discounted fees on courses in finance, electronic capabilities, and own branding.

Expanding as a model would not be possible with out the inside local community that supports it. This is why foodpanda assures that even though they continue to progress in the marketplace, its rider community grows with it as effectively.

Bridging sustainability with on-desire shipping and delivery

Next the increased customer demand from customers for far more sustainable items and services, Singapore has lately introduced the Singapore Inexperienced Program 2030. In line with this objective, many enterprises have commenced advancing their attempts in sustainable advancement, and foodpanda performs an active purpose in this as well. 

foodpanda believes there is normally a superior way, and any alter — significant or modest — can enable make a big difference. It pioneered the cutlery choose-out characteristic in 2017, contributing to the saving of hundreds of thousands of plastic cutlery sets, and it was also the first shipping system in Singapore to ban the sale of sharks’ fin merchandise.

Among the its contributions to assist develop a a lot more sustainable Singapore, foodpanda is performing along with nearby cost-free-sharing app OLIO to tackle foodstuff waste by redistributing edible surplus foodstuff from pandamart outlets to application users for free of charge. 

It also partnered with Muuse to offer you reusable containers to its foods shipping shoppers, and became a section of the Plastic Motion (PACT) initiative by Planet Wildlife Fund (WWF) to support reduce plastic squander.

Advantage and price are crucial aspects affecting client desire for sustainable alternatives. With no compromising on benefit for customers, foodpanda also provides a self-obtain selection by its decide-up aspect. This is not only sustainable in comparison to common car shipping and delivery, but it also permits consumers to skip the queues, help you save on shipping fees and also take pleasure in personal savings on their foods. 

foodpanda also emboldens the group to give back with its most recent initiative. In partnership with The Food items Financial institution Singapore, foodpanda lets customers ‘Donate a Meal’ to the needy by using the app. 

After acknowledged solely for its food stuff shipping and delivery expert services, foodpanda has obviously advanced around the past 10 years to be a multi-faceted system that cares for its shoppers and the community. 

Centered on its innovations and progress consequently considerably, customers can be reassured that foodpanda is listed here to continue to be for the prolonged operate and it will go on to innovate alone to offer the welcomed convenience that prospects have developed to enjoy.

Highlighted Picture Credit score: foodpanda