GRAB ROLLS OUT PROGRAM TO BOOST MERCHANT PARTNERS’ BUSINESS
Almost 12,000 merchants joined the Grab platform since the lockdown began in March as food establishments turn to deliveries to make ends meet during the quarantine, the ride-hailing giant said.
The figure reflects the number of new merchants from March to June. Small businesses saw at least 57-percent growth in online revenue through Grab during this period, according to Grab Philippines.
In a press conference on Tuesday, Grab officials deferred from disclosing absolute figures that would show how much their market grew or shrunk during the pandemic, especially as more consumers and businesses turn to e-commerce during the lockdown.
Grab also launched its Small Business Booster Program, which aimed to support online entrepreneurs as they transitioned to the digitized platform.
Under this program, Grab committed to support over 1,000 Filipino homegrown merchants with advertising solutions to help improve their discoverability across Grab’s customer base.
Under the “Homegrown Heroes” initiative, Grab will create personalized ads for over 1,000 small Grabfood and Grabexpress merchant partners in the Philippines, featuring them on the most prominent spaces within the app for a 5-week period starting in July.
Grab will cover the cost and resources required to produce these marketing materials. On the average, merchant partners who place an ad on Grabfood’s homepage see up to 300-percent return on ad spend in terms of sales.
Grab also launched GrabMerchant, an all-in-one, selfserve merchant platform for business owners to help grow their online customer base, optimize their operations, while keeping costs in check.
Its key features include enterprise-grade Insights tool, which gives merchants a view into their sales, their operations, their customer profile and purchasing habits, and the effectiveness of their marketing campaigns.
Grabmerchant will be available to existing Grab merchant partners as an app and a web portal. The app will roll out progressively from June, followed by the web portal by end-august.