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ShopeeFood M’sia will launch on Sept 24, here’s how it compares to GrabFood & foodpanda

shopeefood

Shopee today announced that its in-house food delivery service, ShopeeFood, will be officially launching on September 24. That being said, the feature is actually already publicly available for consumers. This comes a few months after the e-commerce giant announced that it was looking for delivery riders and eatery partners back in June 2021.

Unlike its versions in Vietnam and Indonesia which require a separate app, ShopeeFood can be accessed through the homepage of Shopee’s main app. However, you’d first need to enable your location to see the ShopeeFood icon and restaurants nearby.

The service will be rolled out to users in batches, and is set to be available to over 8 million Malaysians in the Klang Valley in total. To date, it’s onboarded quite a number of F&B joints including A&W, Burger King, Dave’s Deli, and Tealive along with small-time hawker food stalls.

With services already addressing e-commerce, food delivery, grocery, payments, and more, the Shopee app is expanding to become a virtual one-stop-shop for its customers.

Testing its functionality against the big boys

In 2021, Malaysia doesn’t lack food delivery apps. Other than GrabFood and foodpanda, we’ve also got alternatives like airasia food, LOLOL, and EASI (formerly Hungry), to name a few.

ShopeeFood’s interface doesn’t look any different when compared to GrabFood. In it, you’ll first be met with the app’s top picks and shown the current promos tagged in each offering. 

The welcome pages for ShopeeFood (left) and GrabFood (right)

Most of the merchants on ShopeeFood are ones I’d regularly see on GrabFood as well, but that’s expected considering I live in central PJ. 

Interestingly though, my colleague in Sungai Buloh reported that he actually saw more options that were closer in distance to him (around 2km) on ShopeeFood when compared to GrabFood (4km or further). This meant he was seeing different options than the usual too.

The options my colleague saw on ShopeeFood (left) and GrabFood (right)

ShopeeFood’s search functions work similarly to other food delivery apps, and you’ll be suggested a few trending searches which are presumably based on what others are looking for.

The ordering process is fairly standard to what you’ll get from other players as well. After choosing your restaurant, you’ll be met with the menu items available to order in a list form.

With this new launch comes a plethora of promos, which I had to take advantage of for my mid-day coffee. To which, I came to realise that ShopeeFood’s current availability might just be a trial for now.

During the payment process, I was faced with some difficulties where an error message popped up when I chose online banking as my payment option. 

I couldn’t pay with the online banking method

Furthermore, all the promos such as its current free delivery offering weren’t supported through this payment method. But that’s not new for Shopee, as it seems that it’s pushing for the usage of its own e-wallet for ShopeeFood too, similar to how it does for its e-commerce transactions.

Cancelling the order to try again, I used ShopeePay instead, and was instantly able to confirm my order (with the promos). You’ll be shown the same map most delivery apps come with to keep track of your order status.

It’s likely that ShopeeFood has yet to fine-tune its logistics systems and deploy its riders. 15 minutes after payment, ShopeeFood cancelled my order with a refund as they couldn’t find me a rider.

My order was cancelled by ShopeeFood

How does it fare price-wise against its main competitors?

To compare prices across the popular apps, I mock-ordered a regular sized cup of Signature Brown Sugar Pearl Milk Tea from Tealive. Unfortunately, I couldn’t include airasia food in this brief comparison because I was unable to find the same Tealive store.

All 3 delivery platforms had the same base price of RM8.50 for the drink but differed in delivery fees. GrabFood also charged a small order fee which racked up its price a little.

From the same store to my location, each order was priced:

  • ShopeeFood: RM13.50 (RM5 for delivery without the promos)
  • GrabFood: RM15.50 (RM5 for delivery + RM2 for a small order fee)
  • foodpanda: RM12.49 (RM3.99 for delivery)

Left to right: ShopeeFood, foodpanda, and GrabFood orders for the same item

It can be said that ShopeeFood sits right in the middle of the pack. But if the free deliveries its e-commerce site is known to offer carries forward for the food delivery service (for those who use ShopeePay), it may just be the most affordable option of this sample.

To be fair, however, ShopeeFood has yet to officially launch, so we’ll have to wait and see if any changes to its current functionality or pricing will be made then.

-//-

While ShopeeFood is entering a crowded space for food delivery services, the determining factor for customers on whether this is a worthwhile launch would be in its prices and delivery radius. 

As for merchants, it will mostly depend on the commission fees being charged and the promos being offered on the platform. F&B operators have previously made it known to us that these points are often their biggest factors in choosing which apps to partner with. 

We are also unaware of how large ShopeeFood’s fleet currently is as well, and the competency of their riders in fulfilling deliveries would be a critical factor for both consumers and merchants. 

ShopeeFood will have to prove its reliability to both consumers and merchants if it wants to be more than just another, less favoured food delivery service in Malaysia.

  • You can read more Shopee-related articles we’ve written here.

Also Read: 9 facts about personal loans in M’sia you should know to borrow responsibly in a pandemic

Featured Image Credit: Shopee

Every sperm counts: This S’pore startup created a device that improves transport to the egg

twoplus fertility

Dr. Benjamin Tee had always wanted to build a family and have kids of his own. Benjamin and his wife started actively trying late in his career, and conception was unfortunately much slower than he had hoped.

The 39-year-old went through all types of fertility checks, and doctors were not able to pinpoint a specific problem. This led him to embark on a journey to find solutions that could help with conception difficulties.

He eventually co-founded a fertility tech company called

https://www.instagram.com/p/CUG7oPapIH3/

Fertility challenge is a common problem

Benjamin and Pru realised that conception difficulties did not only affect them, but also many of their family and friends as well.

Fertility challenges is actually more common than one thinks, with one in six couples facing this problem globally, and close to seven million in the US and even greater numbers in Asia.

They decided to put their medtech entrepreneurship background to good use and come up with a tech solution that could help couples get pregnant faster and relieve their frustrations.

twoplus fertility was their second venture together, which they established in 2019. Thanks to their previous startup experience, they were able to quickly build a team of local engineering talent.

Benjamin and Pru made an initial investment to start the company, and later raised pre-seed and seed funding from top investors, including Y-Combinator and Golden Gate Ventures.

They managed to raise over US$2 million to help drive the product development, which they found particularly challenging given the medical need and anatomy.

Through discussions with many couples, as well as consultations with top fertility doctors and specialists from Stanford University and the University of California Berkeley, they found that having an easy-to-use, at-home device that enhances the chances of sperm cells reaching the egg at the right time was a technological gap that was not addressed well.

Most of the existing products in the market are focused on fertility tracking and insurance plans or incremental product improvements instead.

sperm count during intercourse
Sperm count during intercourse / Image Credit: twoplus fertility

Currently, there isn’t much that couples can do to improve the transport of sperm towards the egg. Unfortunately, a large number of sperms are lost during copulation and less than one per cent of sperms make it to the cervical mucus.

Considering that sperm count among men has halved in the last 40 years, it’s important that we reduce the loss of sperm during copulation as much as possible.

– Dr. Benjamin Tee, co-founder of twoplus fertility

After over 1,000 design iterations and prototypes, they developed their first product called twoplus sperm guide.

It took them a good two years to bring the idea to life, which has since been registered with the Singapore Health Sciences Authority as a medical device.

As the team has over 20 years of combined experience in developing medical devices, they had a clear regulatory strategy since day one and experienced no hiccups in getting their registration approved.

How does it work?

A common misconception about conception is that only a single sperm is needed for fertilisation to occur.

In the average ejaculate, there are an average of about 100 million sperm. More than two million need to enter the cervix so that hundreds can reach the egg for fertilisation to occur.

However, many sperm will not survive the acidic environment in the vagina. Combine that with the decreasing average sperm count in men, having a sufficient number of sperm reach the egg becomes more challenging than ever.

This is where the twoplus sperm guide comes in handy. It is a small and soft device that is used during sex to help sperm get to the right place within the vaginal tract.

twoplus fertility sperm guide
The guide acts like a canal for the sperm to pass through / Image Credit: twoplus fertility

It protects sperm from harmful acidic vaginal fluid and forms a seal to block any loss of sperm. The guide directs sperm towards the deeper end of the vaginal tract, and increases the potential for any natural conception.

The unique technology is the first of its kind to assist couples with natural conception in the comfort of their home. Importantly, the device also brings back intimacy to conception.

– Prusothman Raja, co-founder of twoplus fertility

When asked if the insertion of the device is in any way painful or uncomfortable, Pru shared that most couples said that they do not even feel the device during sex. In fact, some couples have even said it increased the pleasure during intercourse.

He also advised to keep the device inside for an hour after sex to maximise the contact between the sperm and the cervical mucus.

“Women can move about and do non-strenuous activities post-sex with the sperm guide in place, without any fear of the device shifting from its position. It’s designed this way so that women no longer have to keep their legs raised in the air or lay in uncomfortable positions in bed post-sex,” he added.

twoplus fertility sperm guide
twoplus sperm guide / Image Credit: twoplus fertility

After sex, couples should sanitise the device by simply washing it with mild soap in hot water, and place it back into the device case.

The sperm guide is reusable and can be used up to five times, sufficient for use for one ovulation cycle.

Although twoplus sperm guide was launched into the market quite recently, they have already garnered hundreds of customers.

“Based on feedback from our volunteers, over 80 per cent of our couples reported better sperm retention when using the device,” shared Pru.

They achieved their first pregnancy last year with the use of the device, and some of their early-access users have also achieved pregnancy.

The twoplus sperm guide is currently available in Singapore, the United States and United Kingdom. A one-device kit costs S$81, while a three-device kit costs S$202.

Their goal is to help couples to conceive

twoplus fertility founders
Prusothman Raja (left) and Dr. Benjamin Tee (right), co-founders of twoplus fertility / Image Credit: twoplus fertility

Developing a first-of-its-kind product is a double-edged sword.

What this means from a market entry point of view is that they needed to spend more time educating couples about the product and the role it plays in the conception journey.

Another challenge they faced was having to raise funds for their seed round in the middle of a raging pandemic last year.

“Luckily, we were selected for Y-Combinator, which helped us get access to many investors,” said Benjamin.

Covid-19 is not all that bad though, because it opened up a business opportunity for them.

“The pandemic has forced people to stay at their homes and shop for relevant fertility support products through online means. Being a startup and having our primary method of sales online (direct-to-consumer), the pandemic allowed room for more online sales and engagement through social media and formed partnerships.”

According to Benjamin, the end goal for them is to become a one-stop platform that supports couple in their fertility journey.

“We want to help a million couples conceive over the next 10 years. We have built an exciting pipeline of products that will help couples in different stages of their conception journey.”

Moving forward, the startup also has plans to expand to Australia next due to the active fertility community there.

Featured Image Credit: twoplus fertility


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Also Read: No Stigma, No Shame: This S’pore Startup Delivers Birth Control Pills To Your Doorstep

After 10 years of helping companies reduce losses, she now helps M’sians fight hair loss

Introducing herself as Tasha to me, Natasha Culas (pronounced as ku-las) revealed that since launching Culas & Co in October 2020, she’s only told 2 people about her venture.

“No one knows what I’ve been doing except my husband and best friend. I told them that I will only share once I’ve made it on my own first,” Tasha mused.

It’s an uncommon approach, to say the least; most entrepreneurs would find their first buyers in close contacts, who then help with word-of-mouth marketing for low to no costs. 

“Yes, but family and friends are not going to sustain a business, your customers will,” Tasha told me. “Also because [family and friends] like you, they may not tell you the truth, so I needed to hear from the horse’s mouth.”

Tasha elaborated that this method was her way of proving to herself that she had the potential to be an entrepreneur after leaving a 10-year career in risk consulting.

The leap of faith

The decision for Tasha to leave her job came about in May 2020 after realising she wanted to focus more on her family. This was fuelled by the pandemic as she and her husband struggled to keep up with childcare during the MCO whilst maintaining their day jobs. 

Fitting for someone who had a long career in risk consulting, Tasha described herself as being a very straight-laced and risk-averse person. 

Come 2020, the opportunity to found Culas & Co was opened up to her after experiencing postpartum hair loss and a refusal to cut her long hair to allow regrowth.

She tried multiple products to no avail, until deciding one day to experiment with her own concoction. Using natural oils, Tasha quickly saw results within a few weeks. That gave her the confidence to launch an online business to share her product with others who may benefit from it.

A 50ml bottle lasts between 3-4 months, according to the brand / Image Credit: Culas & Co

To get started, she taught herself Facebook marketing by watching YouTube videos. 

“Going against all the lessons in my university entrepreneurship class about detailed business plans and projections etc., I went straight into advertising on Facebook with a budget of RM20 per day in October 2020, and have been fortunate enough to be profitable from day one,” Tasha recalled.

“What better way to test your product than to start selling directly? I would rather fail early and pivot quickly to get to my desired business goals.”

A small fish in the big sea

I’ve personally experienced hair loss before and have tried hair growth serums, albeit from larger brands who’ve already built credibility. Furthermore, most would seek advice on hair care products from their stylists at salons as they trust these experts to give them sound advice.

Hence, for Culas & Co to build trust in customers, it would have to rely on strong word-of-mouth marketing. This stepping stone was likely made harder by Tasha’s decision not to leverage her family and friend’s connections.

Confident in her product, Tasha shared that she believes that the serum’s benefits would speak for it. Just based on the fact that she was able to sell 1 bottle of her hair serum after Culas & Co’s first Facebook ad, Tasha’s positive that she can sell 20 more.

Only 2-4 drops are required every day / Image Credit: Culas & Co

“If I can sell 40 [bottles] over time, I will find different ways to multiply it. Product reviews from customers raving about it were enough to convince me that there is an opportunity and sufficient demand even in an economy battered by a pandemic,” Tasha elaborated.

The Culas & Co brand is built on the premise that it can’t help everyone but it can help someone. And for that someone, it could be meaningful as hair loss is often tied to a person’s confidence.

For now, the small business is focused on pushing out its products via Facebook marketing, but has plans for other marketing efforts in the near future. The brand is also heavily relying on referrals from existing customers to promote the product within their own contacts.

A bottle for hair growth

Costing RM147 (without promotions) a 50ml bottle of Culas & Co’s Restore Serum boasts the benefits of restoring damaged hair, reducing hair loss, and treating dandruff, to name a few.

The serum is made with natural oils including peppermint, almond, coconut, lavender, and tea tree, and more.

Tasha came up with the recipe after 6 months of R&D, where various types of oils were compared to figure out which could stimulate hair growth best. Customer feedback has also played a role in the product’s further improvements.

To use the serum, Culas & Co recommends massaging 2-4 drops of the product onto a clean scalp while the hair is still wet. 

Those using the serum for the first time may experience a transition process. It’s where your hair may become more oily or dry due to the chemicals it has been exposed to from different products. 

The website recommends that customers keep using the product for at least a month before making a final judgment. However, for those unsatisfied with the serum, the brand permits a full refund within 60 days, no-questions-asked. 

While Tasha has declined to share Culas & Co’s average sales, she stated that the brand produces 200 bottles a month and that the company’s growth has been steady.

In the next 3 years, Tasha plans to expand Culas & Co’s product line to further include other hair care essentials like shampoos and conditioners. Already seeing some demand from customers overseas, the founder is planning to expand her market to the Southeast Asian region as well.

-//-

One advantage that Culas & Co has is that its products are global delivery-friendly, similar to sukurabu’s, a customisable scrub business started by a serial entrepreneur with an eye on the global market.

Additionally, if Tasha is able to market her products via a B2C approach in getting hairstylists to recommend her product to customers—as Mentega did with its pomades—it would open the business up to a larger customer base and more credibility.

Since the products are made with natural ingredients, it may face challenges in achieving shelf stability for businesses to stock up when retailing to customers.

However, based on Tasha’s willingness to listen to customer feedback, it points to the fact that Culas & Co will be open to refining its product and processes as needed.

  • You can learn more about Culas & Co here.
  • You can read our other features on Malaysian startups here.

Also Read: Alibaba Cloud was a star player behind the scenes in this year’s Tokyo Olympics, here’s how

Featured Image Credit: Natasha Culas, founder of Culas & Co

24 Y/O law student starts a leather side biz that’s served clients like PwC & Prudential

I’m quite the stationery fanatic and idealise being that someone who journals every evening with a cup of tea and soft music. However, my last stint at this routine only went on for under a week. 

Unlike me though, Eunice Yeoh takes journaling more seriously. She has different sections in her daily planner for law school notes, journal entries, doodles etc. But to journal well, she needed the perfect notebook that was reusable and refillable with a minimalist design. 

While she was able to find some notebooks that fit her criteria back in 2018, they were often from Japanese brands that couldn’t fit her tight budget as a student entering her second year of law school. 

She soon decided to take matters into her own hands then and founded a leather products business, Align Collection, or simply Align.Co in 2019. Since then, the 24-year-old’s side business has scored clients like Prudential, PwC, and JobStreet for corporate gifting.

When you can’t afford it, make it

With an ambitious goal to create a journal that could last for decades, Eunice turned to animal leather as the main component of her journal’s exterior. It not only has an aesthetic appeal but is also reliable and durable.

“Besides, I love the smell of leather and how it feels in my hands,” Eunice added.

Without much cash to expend, Eunice first started selling pins that were sourced by a friend to raise funds for the necessary tools and materials. 

Eunice selling her products at a bazaar / Image Credit: Align.Co

With leather being a difficult material for beginners to sculpt, a few months of practice was required before Eunice could begin making her journal. Learning the skill on YouTube, she’d create many versions of her designs with improvements each time.

After about 3 months, Eunice finally had her customised DIY leather journal she had dreamt of. Proud of her work, she posted it on Instagram where friends of friends demanded it too. 

“So I started selling them and more people kept coming. I’d say it’s kinda like an accidental hobby-turned-business,” Eunice recalled.

A Malaysian-made leather notebook

Looking at the notebooks Align.Co offers, I found that they looked pretty similar to those by the TRAVELER’s Company. Both share the same regular and passport sizes, along with the elastic strap and band to hold pages inside.

Though both brands offer a refillable function, Align.Co has multiple options for the kinds of binding you’d want for your notebook to fit different customers’ preferences. It’s a functional design so users can switch up the inserts for a fresh page without tearing a page out from the book.

You can choose different binders and types of paper inserts / Image Credit: Align.Co

“If you’re anything like me, I have this itch to always tear out pieces of paper from my notebooks whenever something isn’t written perfectly,” Eunice elaborated.

Furthermore, Eunice explained that she was in fact inspired by the Japanese brand, but gave Align.Co’s version several tweaks. Most notably, a complementary name personalisation element, and a cheaper price point. 

Align.Co’s Regular Leather Journal (which looks the closest to TRAVELER’S) costs RM95, almost 2 times cheaper than TRAVELER’S at RM175. It presents Malaysians with an option to buy a similar product with more affordability while at the same time supporting local businesses.

Aren’t leather products unethical?

Activists may think that animal leather products are unethical and should be replaced with faux leather instead. Thus, I had to ask Eunice her perspective on this.

“Due to the amount of beef consumption, cowhides would likely be thrown away in landfills if they weren’t turned into usable leather,” she explained to Vulcan Post.

“Also [a lot of] faux leather are oil or plastic based, which isn’t as durable and does not degrade in landfills for a long time. Real leather would degrade in a much shorter timespan than the oil or plastic options once it is thrown away as well.”

Thus, it can be said that leather reduces waste in a few ways by (a) converting waste into usable material, (b) reducing the amount of oil and plastic based trash due to its durability, and (c) degrading faster when its usable life is over.

Nonetheless, there are always two sides to every argument. Eunice understands this, and to provide customers with more options, Align.Co is working on faux leather products that have yet to launch.

Learning the ropes of running a business

Business was not smooth sailing from the start. Coming from a legal background, Eunice had to pick up various business know-hows along the way such as material sourcing, product creation, photography, branding, website building, e-commerce shop listing, etc. 

“It’s still a work in progress and there’s still a lot of space for improvement. The main factor of where it is today would be attributed to pure grit and perseverance to see things through, making tons of mistakes and still trying again,” added Eunice.

The business has since expanded to offer various kinds of leather products / Image Credit: Align.Co

She shared that her biggest lesson was learning how to ask for help and guidance, and working with third parties to outsource certain tasks when it comes to bulk orders as she runs Align.Co single-handedly. While Align.Co began with leather notebooks, it’s since expanded its product range to also offer leather keychains, wallets, trays, cardholders, amongst others.

Sales-wise, Eunice addressed that it isn’t too consistent, but she receives a significant increase in orders during gifting seasons like Mother’s Day or Christmas. “The first-ever bulk order I did was in 2019, close to 20 units. Now in 2021, we’ve even done up to 600 units for a big corporation,” Eunice shared proudly. 

Currently, Eunice is pursuing her Certificate of Legal Practice to qualify as a lawyer in Malaysia and will continue to run Align.Co as a side business. 

I’d say it balances me up as it functions as my creativity outlet. It sometimes feels like an escape from daily stress. It’s definitely a good way of taking my mind off other commitments as it acts as a distraction/de-stressing tool.

Eunice Yeoh, founder of Align Collection.

  • You can learn more about Align Collection here.
  • You can read about other Malaysian startups here.

Also Read: 9 facts about personal loans in M’sia you should know to borrow responsibly in a pandemic

Featured Image Credit: Eunice Yeoh, founder of Align Collection

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© 2021 GRVTY Media Pte. Ltd.
(UEN 201431998C.)

Vulcan Post aims to be the knowledge hub of Singapore and Malaysia.

© 2021 GRVTY Media Pte. Ltd.
(UEN 201431998C.)

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