[This is a sponsored article with Halo Delivery.]
Over the last few years, the demand for delivery platforms skyrocketed. We now have apps dedicated purely to food, groceries, and courier services, fulfilling all our needs around the clock.
Sadly, most of these conveniences are only applicable to those living in cities and even if they’re extended to rural areas, their services are spotty at best. Halo Delivery is one of the platforms that hopes to alleviate some of these problems for those who live a little further from the cities.
We spoke to Jalluddin Abu Hassan, the Director of Halo Delivery about his business, a delivery platform for food, pharmacy, groceries, daily needs and courier services, with riders delivering up to 40KM.
Hammering up a business from Batu Pahat
For most businesses that are just starting out, getting noticed and having more merchants on board will undoubtedly be a priority. It’s just like the chicken and egg problem—without merchants, you can’t get customers on board. But without customers, merchants are hesitant to sign up.
Luckily for Jalluddin, he foresaw the issue and allocated some budget for marketing in the form of flyers, buntings and online ads. These did drum up some to sign up onto the platform, but it was still largely an unknown name.
It was when the Halo Delivery team was introduced to MDEC’s (Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation) eRezeki programme in September 2020 where the platform found its footing. He told us that MDEC provided him with guidance and advice, along with knowledge sharing opportunities with other service providers and government agencies.
That was enough to give him the baseline to tweak and add more services onto Halo Delivery. Equipped with more offerings and merchants on the platform, Halo Delivery soon blossomed and the app passed its 1,000,000th delivery mark back in September 2021.
Focusing on underserved areas
Over the past year, the team have been directing their efforts to onboard more merchants onto their platform. To date, they’re working with over 23,000 merchants across Malaysia.
I wanted to try it out for myself, as a resident of Klang Valley and more specifically Bukit Jalil. However, I found very few options on it and my colleagues also hadn’t had any exposure to Halo Delivery before either.
The Halo Delivery team revealed to us that they have just entered the Klang Valley market last month, so their offerings here are limited now. However, the team told us that they are making significant progress onboarding new merchants in the Klang Valley. That said, they are still maintaining their status quo to focus and champion small town areas—and they’re available in 240 areas nationwide. According to the team, they’re more known in Johor, Pahang, Terengganu, Kelantan, Perak, Negeri Sembilan and Sabah. Now they are starting to gain customer attention in other states too.
Since they are an online platform, the team told us that they even received orders from customers overseas, like Singapore, to deliver food and groceries to their loved ones back home in Malaysia.
The team also emphasises on bringing SMEs onto the platform, so you’ll find merchants from restaurants, stalls, home-based cooks to food trucks.
Halo Delivery also offers their merchants the ability to list products on the platform at no cost, and according to the team, the merchants are paid on a cash basis without penalties, and all without hidden fees. If you’re a merchant, getting paid by cash can be an enticing deal, and with the reach of Halo Delivery, they can reach a wider customer base.
The riders under Halo Delivery are gig workers too. This gives the riders the freedom to pick up other jobs at their own convenience. Their 8,000 strong fleet is covered by SOCSO too.
In conjunction with the new look of Halo Delivery, they’re having an ongoing promotion until October 31st. The winner will net themselves an iPhone 13. Here’s what you need to do:
1. Download Halo Delivery from Google Play, Apple App Store or HUAWEI AppGallery
2. Register on the platform via a mobile number or email address.
Looking towards an angelic future
Currently, the platform averages around 90k new users a month. Jalluddin told us that they’re not faltering in their plans to add more services onto the platform and to continue serving the residents in underserved areas.
To him, he sees every day as an achievement as he can provide convenient services to customers nationwide. And as someone who has lived with this convenience and using it more since the pandemic, it’s good to see a business dedicated to focusing on those not in big cities.
- Download Halo Delivery on Google Play, Apple App Store or HUAWEI AppGallery.
- Read up on what we’ve written about other startups here.
Featured Image Credit: Halo Delivery
