Author’s Blurb: There’s been a surge of e-bazaar platforms recently, and even more Facebook groups that act as marketplaces for F&B home vendors to sell their products. However, not all of them are easily navigated, and sometimes it’s just near impossible to even find a specific food you want.
For this listicle, we wanted platforms that offered the types of food that you would actually find at your regular bazaars, not fancier ‘atas’ restaurant-style food, and they had to have a variety of food by different vendors for more choices.
Secondly, they had to be able to deliver within the Klang Valley, and thirdly, they should have a categorisation system that makes it easier for users.
With these considerations in mind, these 11 platforms should be able to offer you a choice of Ramadhan bazaar delicacies that you can order from the comfort of your own home.
1. Astro’s Go Shop F&B Bazaar
Astro’s e-commerce arm Go Shop rolled out its own Ramadhan F&B e-Bazaar for local F&B businesses to leverage on, and according to Marketing Interactive, they’ve got about 100 businesses on board to date.
At the moment, you can only sort the products by categories such as appetisers, beverages, desserts, rice, noodles, and more. Each vendor’s profile will list what’s on their menu and what areas they deliver to, though unfortunately only after you click into them. Having a location filter for this would be beneficial.
Also, there are no prices listed for each item on the menu, so you’d have to actually reach out to the vendor personally to find out more about their products.
Other than that, navigating the site is straightforward, simply click on a product whose picture catches your eye and you’ll be taken to the vendor’s Go Shop profile where you can view their email and WhatsApp number to make your order.
2. Bazaar COD by Mawar Rashid
Bazaar COD is an initiative by Malaysian actress and model Mawar Rashid. The platform sorts its vendors by various locations in the Klang Valley like Kuala Lumpur, Petaling Jaya, TTDI, Kelana Jaya, and many more.
Once you select the general location that you’re in, you’ll be taken to a selection of food pictures by different vendors (if they’re not in the watermark of the picture, their business names will be mentioned). You can definitely order from vendors not in your area, but the site warns you that the delivery cost will be higher.
Select what catches your eye, and in tiny font at the bottom of the picture you’ll see ‘Go to link’, which will bring you straight to the WhatsApp contact of the vendor.
What I liked about this platform is that the prices are available upfront, however, the site could afford to make the fonts it uses slightly larger for those who have bad eyesight.
3. Bazaar Rakyat
Bazaar Rakyat was pretty much created in one day, and works best based on your location. While it has about 350 vendors who deliver across 8 states, the two states that have the highest concentration of vendors are of course Kuala Lumpur and Selangor.
The platform clearly lists out vendors’ business names and the pricing of their food alongside photo representations of the product, all arranged in an aesthetically pleasing way.
For ideal delivery fees and speed, you should filter vendors based on your location (within 15-20km from you, if possible), though you’re not completely restricted to only those vendors.
You make your purchases on the site itself, from filling in your personal contact details and address that the delivery fee will be calculated based on, and payment is facilitated by Billplz. The cut-off time for ordering is 5.30PM daily.
Bazaar Rakyat is also available as an app on Google Play.
4. Dekatni
Dekatni is a platform that presents F&B products in an endless scroll style rather than page by page, and another thing to note is also that it’s optimised for mobile rather than PC. I’d suggest using your phone to use the platform as it’s easier on the eyes this way.
The platform wants to connect you to the closest vendors, so products are filtered by inputting your location. Once available products in your area are shown (along with pricing), you can either scroll bit by bit or use Control + F to find what you’re looking for, since there’s no pre-set filter by food product type.
Clicking on a product will take you to a very barebones vendor profile, but you can see where they deliver from, their store name, and their WhatsApp number. Like some of the above platforms, you make your order by contacting the vendor directly on WhatsApp.
5. FashionValet’s FVBAZAAR
FVBAZAAR is an initiative by FashionValet, and as a platform, it’s straightforward and easy on the eyes. You can filter vendors by product categories, location, or both.
For each listing, you’ll clearly see the product, the vendor’s name, the name of the product, its pricing, the WhatsApp number you can order it from, and where they deliver to.
If you click on a product, you’ll be able to view more information on the vendor such as their websites or social media links, and their complete menu if what they offer is to your tastes, so you don’t have to hunt down the rest of their products one by one.
6. JomBuka Bazaar Ramadhan Atas Talian (JomBuka)
JomBuka is an app available on both Google Play and Apple App Store, launched by a group of students from Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM).
It’s not the most beautiful app, but it gets the job done in connecting vendors to customers through a simple location filter first, then through product listings. One downside is that vendor names aren’t available for each product.
At least they state the pricing for a specific quantity of the product and what towns/cities they generally deliver to. A big green button under each product photo saying ‘Order Sekarang’ will lead you straight to the WhatsApp contact of the vendor to place your order.
7. Moovby’s iftar4u
Moovby is known as a car-sharing startup in Malaysia, but they’ve decided to launch their own e-bazaar feature as well that’s integrated into their existing Moovby app.
This feature is called iftar4u, and it’s available daily from 9PM to 2PM (cut-off time for same-day deliveries). First, you’d have to enable the app to access your location, and it’ll show you the closest ‘bazaars’ to you, which are simply a collection of vendors and their products.
You can further filter your options through categories like chicken, rice, noodles, lamb, etc. Immediately on display are the vendor’s name, the product’s name, and the pricing.
Simply add what you want to your cart and easily check-out on the app itself without having to personally contact the vendor. Moovby’s app is available on both Google Play and Apple App Store.
8. Nak Makan
Nak Makan lets you filter vendors by location and the types of food products that they sell. Some of the pre-set categories you can pick from include rice and noodle main dishes, side dishes, kuih, drinks, and more.
You get to see the vendor’s name, product name and description at first, but clicking into a product that interests you will take you straight to the vendor’s profile where you can see the rest of what they have to offer.
This is also where you will be able to view the prices of each product and add what you like to your cart. To actually make your order, you’d have to sign up to the platform first though.
You can choose to have your orders delivered to you within 1 hour or schedule it to come at a specific time between 10AM and 6PM. Once you’ve put in your details, payment can be made via internet banking or credit/debit card.
9. Platform Selangor (PLATS)
The state of Selangor has now launched its own online bazaar platform called PLATS that has vendors operating via e-kitchens.
Under each e-kitchen in different locations across Klang Valley, you’ll find a variety of vendors who display their products and pricing, but not before you’re informed of the delivery cut-off times. Most of the e-kitchens will take orders from 9AM to 4PM, and deliver from 3.30PM to 7PM.
The choices of e-kitchens are rather limited, however, as many still remain closed for whatever reason, so do note that you might not be able to order much on the platform. If you do find an e-kitchen near you that’s open, ordering is straightforward: add your products to the cart and proceed to check-out.
Once you input your personal details, you’ll actually be taken to the WhatsApp account of the vendor to proceed with ordering.
10. Touch ‘n Go eWallet’s Ramadan 2.0.2.0
Touch ‘n Go eWallet’s Ramadan 2.0.2.0 bazaar platform functions a little differently from the rest. You can first filter vendors by state, food category, or just search for a shop or food name, but instead of facilitating orders on the site or through WhatsApp, it’s through Facebook or Instagram.
You’ll get to see the vendor’s name, what category of food they serve (main cuisines, drinks, desserts, and bites), and where they’ll be delivering from. The button ‘Order Now’ is what takes you to each individual vendor’s Facebook profile, where you can personally reach out and get more information then.
11. Watsapkita
Watsapkita can be viewed on your PC, but much like Dekatni, I would assume it’s optimised for mobile users since it’s easier on the eyes that way.
It works by presenting several location options to users, so pick the one closest to you and you can adjust it accordingly after to be more specific.
This will show you your choice of products, their vendors, and their pricing. Simply add your orders to your cart, but do note that there is a minimum order requirement of RM20 and a maximum of 3 sellers whom you can order from in one purchase.
Delivery time slots are set between 2PM to 5PM and 3PM to 6PM, and you’ll be paying through Billplz.
Bottom Line: I don’t think Ramadhan e-bazaars will ever truly be able to capture the essence of physical Ramadhan bazaars, especially the part where you can just walk through the entire bazaar and survey for yourself what looks good and is selling well, then ordering and taking home everything in one go.
- You can read more other Ramadhan related articles here.