Food delivery giant Grab launched its Hawker Centre 2.0 pilot in May 2020 as a measure to support hawkers impacted by the Covid-19 situation.
The initiative was first launched at AMK 724 Food Centre.
Through the initiative, hawkers were given assistance in setting up their online food delivery services, and were offered lower commission fees.
Grab declined to reveal how much the commissions under the programme are being reduced, but it typically takes a 25 to 30 per cent cut of the order value.
Since the pilot of Hawker Centre 2.0, Grab said that participating hawkers at AMK 724 Food Centre saw their sales doubled.
According to Grab, participating hawkers received more orders daily after joining the programme. It added that the programme has helped improve the visibility of hawkers, and driven consumers’ interest to purchase.
“We also noticed that customers who order food delivery tend to order larger quantities for those at home, rather than just one or two portions if they’re eating in,” said Joseline Oh, owner of Leo Satay at AMK 724 Food Centre.
“More people also know about us from our online store on GrabFood today, and this has contributed to our total sales.”
A Hawker Centre Experience From Home
According to a statement by Grab, the initiative “emulates the experience consumers enjoy when they visit a hawker centre”.
Users can order across different participating stalls located within a hawker centre in one order, leveraging on the platform’s “mix-and-match” feature.
For stalls that offer complements to mains, such as drinks, fruits or dessert stalls, participating in the pilot had also provided them with more selling opportunities.
“Customers tend to buy drinks along with their food, the programme allows my stall to ‘tag along’ and creates opportunities for us to be included in orders made, which contributes back to our total sales,” said Jason Toh, son of Long Quan Cha Shi’s stall owners.
Due to the encouraging results of the pilot, the programme will be expanded to include 16 additional locations islandwide. Up to 188 hawkers are expected to participate in this initiative.
The programme duration will also be expanded, and is slated to go on until December 2020.
For hawkers, Hawker Centre 2.0 addresses their challenges with digitalisation — including the lack of skills, as well as ensuring a sustainable business model at an affordable cost.
“We will continue to iterate the model so that our hawker-partners can benefit from GrabFood in the long run. We hope that this model will help to provide a viable platform for interested hawkers and hawker centres to experiment their digital offerings for Singaporeans,” said Yee Wee Tang, Managing Director of Grab Singapore.
Featured Image Credit: Mustsharenews and Gov.sg
