DBS Bank has launched a retail chatbot named Foodster, that lets customers make their orders and pay for food easily on Facebook Messenger.
Foodster will take orders intuitively, and let customers pay digitally, after which they can pick up their orders from the F&B outlet without having to wait in line.
Upon opening Facebook Messenger, patrons can start ordering by searching for the name of a participating merchant followed by “Foodster”. For example, if you wanted to place an order with Kopi Ong, you would search “Kopi Ong Foodster”.
The chatbot offers merchants’ full menu selections, and also accepts customised orders, like getting your coffee “siew dai” (with less sugar).
Customers can then check out with DBS PayLah! or DBS and POSB debit and credit cards without having to leave Messenger.
Foodster will also automatically offer eligible customers discounts and promotions that they can redeem with their purchase on the spot.
With the entire process completed on Facebook Messenger, it makes for easy adoption as users won’t have to install or open a new app.
Many consumers have “app fatigue”, since there’s now a different app for almost anything you can think of.
Since 77% of Singaporeans are already on mobile messaging platforms, DBS says they “saw an opportunity to combine [their] strengths with Singapore’s most widely used social media platform.”
“If instant messaging is the way forward for people to communicate, then we need to help businesses find a way to engage their customers on such platforms simply, seamlessly and invisibly,” said Jeremy Soo, DBS’ Head of Consumer Banking Group for Singapore.
However, it’s not very widely available yet, with only 7 F&B merchants in Marina Bay Link Mall currently taking part. These include Gemstar, Kopi Ong, Local Coffee People, NUDE Seafood, Old Tea Hut and Omnivore.
With the bank’s first foray into the “chat commerce” space, DBS hopes to strengthen their relationship with F&B SMEs by providing a solution that helps them digitalise and reduce customer acquisition costs.
Since the bank first rolled out its chatbot within a small testbed in the Marina Bay area, participating merchant Kopi Ong says it has seen daily sales increase by 20% without additional manpower required.
The Kopitiam food court chain will be next to join Foodster as it expands beyond the initial test area, and eventually goes islandwide.
Featured Image Credit: DBS Bank
