On the first day of the MCO, StoreHub saw an 85% revenue drop across its F&B clients, with over 90% of businesses doing zero sales. StoreHub’s Beep Delivery now has over 500 restaurants across Malaysia on its platform.
The reason that StoreHub is able to charge only 2% of the processing fee is simple. It doesn’t deliver the food orders for its merchants. It engages delivery partners such as GoGet, Lalamove and Teleport. The delivery charges are borne by consumers.
On one hand, this reduces the cost for restaurateurs, but on the other hand, business owners have to be prepared to deal with any issue arising from said delivery partners. Despite that, merchants are willing to give it a go. Over 10,000 orders have been processed since its launch on 18 March.
Local support
Fashion e-commerce platform FashionValet and Malaysia’s largest bank Maybank have stepped in to help bridge local F&B merchants to consumers without taking any commission from the merchants. The initiatives rolled out allow consumers to order directly from merchants via WhatsApp.
According to StoreHub co-founder and CEO Fong Wai Hong, there are plans to roll out Beep Delivery in neighbouring countries that have gone into lockdown, including Thailand and the Philippines.
At this juncture, without giving exact figures, Fong acknowledges that the 2% processing fee is a result of heavy subsidy—introduced to help restaurants scale up delivery during lockdown. But how long can StoreHub offer a subsidised fee? That too in a quickly multiplying industry?
Another newcomer, Malaysia-headquartered online travel agency Kleek Group, is launching its food delivery service JomMakan on 25 April. The company also offers ride-hailing services with a fleet of 19,000 drivers in Malaysia and will redeploy these drivers for food delivery.
Its founder Aaron Yong told us that food delivery has always been on the company’s radar, but with the MCO, it has decided to accelerate the launch. Over 40 merchants have signed up with JomMakan so far. The platform will charge a 10% commission for every transaction.
Hong Kong-based Klook, a SoftBank-backed online travel agency has also joined the fray. It launched a food delivery service early this month, having signed up more than 20 F&B merchants as of 21 April. Like Beep Delivery, logistics is handled by its delivery partners Pickupp and Mr Speedy.
The new normal
The walls seem to be closing for the F&B industry world over. But as many are struggling, many are also beginning to explore different offerings to accommodate food delivery options.
According to Emily Tan, marketing lead of Klook Malaysia, the travel company will continue to provide the food delivery service for “as long as it remains a need to our customers and merchant partners”. Similar services operate in Singapore and Hong Kong. Tan declined to disclose Klook’s commission rates.
StoreHub’s Fong adds that Beep Delivery is in it for the long-haul. “Because of Covid-19, consumer behaviour and buying patterns have changed. And we believe Beep Delivery can continue to serve the new post-MCO world we’ll be living in.”