Grab Philippines today launched additional efforts for small businesses in the Philippines’ food and beverage industry. This includes product solutions to help merchants expand their online presence, a partnership with the International Finance Corporation to improve financial literacy among small businesses, and the release of Grab’s first Food Trend Report to help local merchants adapt to changing consumer behaviors and preferences. These innovations were unveiled at Grab Philippines’ second annual merchant conference for its food and beverage merchant partners.
The new initiatives, which will be implemented in stages this year, are part of Grab Philippines’ continued efforts to promote the digital transformation of local firms, which are the backbone of the Philippine economy. Grab Philippines wants to be the most desired platform of choice for merchants and enterprises in the Philippines by providing robust platform capabilities, relevant information, and upskilling opportunities.
As more Filipinos turn to food delivery in this day and age of working from home and distance learning, it is critical that food and beverage business owners have actionable market insights and trends to help them better tailor their business offerings, seize untapped market opportunities, and grow their businesses resiliently. Grab has commissioned global research agency Nielsen IQ to create its inaugural F&B Trends Report, which will include insights and trends based on 1,000 replies, in-depth interviews, and consumer focus groups.
The paper emphasized how Filipinos’ food and beverage consumption habits have changed since the epidemic and how COVID has hastened the use of food delivery platforms due to the restricted mobility induced by quarantine measures. Many F&B businesses rely on food delivery platforms to help sustain their operations and grow their businesses, with 92 percent of respondents saying that food delivery plays a critical role in their businesses and 39 percent saying that food deliveries are critical to the survival of their business.
The growing number of consumers ordering meals online is opening up new options for merchant-partners, who are now seeking methods to extend their online presence both within and outside of the Grab app.
Grab, the industry leader in food delivery is extending its digital experience and capabilities to assist its merchant-partners in growing by developing ‘Grab Online Shop,’ an e-commerce solution specialized for food and beverage enterprises. Grab Online Shop allows merchants to create and operate their own unique online ordering website, with full technical and customer support from Grab. Among the advantages are:
- Increased flexibility: Merchants can specify their preferred delivery radius, maximum delivery fees, and minimum order quantity, as well as whether they want orders delivered by their own fleet or by Grab’s delivery fleet. This increased flexibility will allow retailers to increase their online sales while lowering their costs.
- Easy management: Merchants may manage their website orders using the GrabMerchant app, which is also used to manage their GrabFood orders. The GrabMerchant app and portal also provide merchants with analytics and marketing tools to help them evaluate how their business is functioning and develop promotions to drive more traffic to their website.
- Fuss-free setup: The Grab staff will assist businesses in configuring their branded websites according to their preferences. The website is also connected with Grab’s user login, cashless payment, and last-mile delivery technologies, providing businesses with everything they need to launch their own online ordering website. These connections further enhance the consumer experience by allowing users to place an order in just five taps. Before placing an order, Grab users can log in with their Grab account to have their delivery details auto-populated.
Campaign Packages, a marketing solution housed within the GrabMerchant app, is also being launched by Grab. Campaign Packages allow GrabFood merchants to opt-in to their chosen Grab-curated marketing packages, which combine relevant advertising and promotional solutions with helping merchants reach their goals more effectively. Merchants that want the freedom of creating their own campaigns can continue to use Grab’s self-service advertising and promotional solutions within the GrabMerchant app.
Grab, and the International Finance Corporation (IFC) are working together to enhance small company financial literacy. Grab merchant partners will have free access to IFC’s world-class training resources through GrabAcademy on the GrabMerchant app.
“When I took over as Country Head in October, I made a promise to use our technology and platform to assist our kababayans in overcoming the various hurdles posed by the pandemic. Many businesses are facing difficult times, but through regular engagements with our merchant-partners and keeping our ears to the ground, we gain a holistic and deeper understanding of their needs and continuously support them with features, solutions, and programs to help them become more resilient in the face of these market conditions. We are grateful for our merchant partners’ faith and confidence, and we will continue to reaffirm our commitment to supporting the growth and long-term success,” stated Grace Vera Cruz, Grab Philippines Country Head.
Continued Assistance to Merchant-Partners
Grab has aggressively supported MSMEs, particularly during the epidemic, by offering tools, knowledge, and solutions. Since the lockout, Grab has concentrated on providing secure and high-quality services to Filipino customers while also supporting its merchant partners.
With the continuous restriction of mobility, Grab introduced Long Distance Delivery and GrabKitchen, allowing merchant-partners to better their livelihood and raise their earnings by reaching a wider and larger consumer base.
Consumers can also submit input on food safety and quality via the Merchant Quality Scorecard, which will be shared directly with merchant partners in-app.
The GrabMerchant app provides merchant-partners with analytics and marketing capabilities that allow them to better understand how their businesses registered on the network are functioning. It also advises firms on how to create deals that will entice more customers. In addition to managing everyday operations, merchant-partners can track their growth using an enterprise-grade analytics dashboard.
Aside from that, Grab has assisted numerous local businesses in their digitalization journey through the Small Business Booster Program, which provides crucial tools and solutions to help them better serve their customers online.
Grab also established the Madiskarteng Boss Club, a program that assists Filipino social sellers by providing them with the knowledge and skills they need to expand their businesses through Grab, as well as a number of exclusive advantages for members.