Grab unveils GrabFood, future verticals

McKinsey global institute’s freshly published discussion paper, Smart Cities in Southeast Asia, reports that the region needs to create more smart city sandboxes other than singapore to fully integrate it. not only diverse languages, religions and cultures challenge the formation of a truly united AseAn, but also the varying capacity and intensity of each nation to run it brains and big data systems to address domains of urban life — economy, mobility, utilities, community, built environment, social infrastructure and security.

Despite the local regulatory issues it’s facing today, Grab is beginning with the end in mind as it recently unveiled its smart city vision for the whole Southeast Asia.

In the neighboring countries, Grab is one of the most frequently used Online-to-Offline (O2O) mobile platforms used not just for ride-hailing, but also for on-demand food delivery, logistics, cashless payments and financial services — all within one mobile app.

“Right now, we’re working very closely with Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas for our e-license. On the other side of GrabExpress, the courier and delivery service, we’re working with the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT). Grab is focused on ensuring that all government agencies know what we’re doing and how exactly we are doing things,” says Leo Gonzales, Grab head of public affairs.

GrabExpress has recently teamed up with Shopee so the latter’s consumers can have other options for same-day express delivery. Perhaps, sooner or later, the partnership could also include mobile wallet GrabPay as one of its payment methods.

Today, Grab has four main verticals in the country, namely, GrabTaxi, GrabCar, GrabShare and GrabExpress. But with the beta launch of GrabAssistant, customers can try how it feels to have a personal shopper to order or line up for them. There’s also GrabDaily — now live in the app’s side menu — which offers personalized features, hyperlocal content and addictive games to while away traffic.

The company’s larger mobility vision is to enable a multi-modal future that serves the public commuters’ first- and last-mile needs, integrating public and private transportation options seamlessly. For example, a Grab user books a GrabCar to take him to closest the MRT transportation, while another GrabCar waits for him at his drop-off station to eventually take him to his office.

However, hindering the feasibility of this system in the country today are issues common among local TNVS companies, including the cancelation of rides.

Gonzales remarks that it’s a two-waystreet kind of problem, “On a weekly basis, we penalize almost 2,500 drivers, so we’re working very hard to fix this. But passengers also need to lessen their cancelations because their cancelations are double than the drivers. This issue on cancelation, both the drivers’ and passengers’ sides, has caused a lack of drivers on the road. Kasi kapag kulang ang drivers on the road, usually ang

makakatanggap ng Grab mo ay medyo malayo, like five kilometers away, which translates to 30 minutes away if you’re in a rush-hour traffic.”

What Grab is most excited about now is the full launch of food-delivery platform, GrabFood. Based on the company’s user research, “majority of Filipinos are excited to try new things, and will choose a fooddelivery platform that offers the most dependable service, providing the widest range of food offerings with best value- for-money and fastest speed of delivery.”

The app automatically detects a consumer’s location and provides personalized restaurant recommendations. Like tracking one’s booked GrabCar while waiting for its arrival, GrabFood can also track the location of the delivery partner in real time. Customers can also use GrabChat to leave notes or food requests — and there is no minimum value to fulfill. The company is now working to enable GrabPay for more seamless payments, although customers can opt for cash-ondelivery.

“GrabFood is the next major step in our move to serve the daily needs of consumers. Food delivery is a natural extension of our transport offerings. Each day, millions of people in Southeast Asia rely on ride-hailing services to bring them from place to place, as well as food delivery services to save time from traveling around in congested cities to satisfy their cravings. With the expansion of GrabFood across the region, we are working with local merchants and delivery partners to deliver the best of Manila’s kitchens to the doorsteps of our consumers,” says Grab Philippines country head Brian Cu.