Gojek expects rise in food delivery orders

SINGAPORE: Indonesian ride-hailer and payments firm Gojek is experiencing a rise in food delivery orders but a fall in rides across Southeast Asia as it readies measures to help merchants and drivers deal with the coronavirus outbreak, coCEO Andre Soelistyo said.

Having evolved from a ride-hailing service founded in 2010 to a one-stop app via which users can make online payments and order food and services, the $10 billion firm is active in 4 countries and owns a startup e-wallet app in the Philippines.

“In Singapore, the drop is less significant than expected” Soelistyo told Reuters in an interview. “In Vietnam the impact has been more severe, we see food delivery increasing, while transport is reducing. It’s been similar in Thailand”

Soelistyo said the company had seen the same trends in its main market of Indonesia and expected those dynamics to increase as the capital Jakarta goes into a two-week emergency period.

He told Reuters Gojek had launched contactless deliveries and was working with drivers and merchants on the sanitision of vehicles and other health safety measures.

The archipelago of 260 million people has confirmed 688 cases of the virus and 55 deaths in last two weeks, mainly concentrated in Jakarta where Gojek is headquartered.

The firm, which closed an additional $1.2 billion funding round last week and is backed by Google and Singapore investor Temasek, will put a lot of its plans on hold, Soelistyo said.