Manila, Philippines, 5 July 2018 – Grab today unveils its smart city vision to empower a future of seamless mobility, on-demand food delivery, logistics, cashless payments and financial services for the people of Southeast Asia – all within one mobile app. Soon, from the moment they wake up, consumers can book different types of Grab rides to get to work, pay for their favourite lunch meal with GrabPay, deliver gifts to their loved ones through GrabExpress, order their dinner and eat at the comfort of their home with GrabFood.

Coming from the ride-hailing innovation and growth of the TNVS industry in the Philippines,  Grab will make significant technology investments in its platform to bring an expanded range of online consumer services this year. Consumers  will now be able to order food from restaurants near them through the newly launched GrabFood within the app. With no minimum order required, consumers can satisfy their cravings and order from the wide selection of cuisines available, enjoying the convenience of having their favourite food delivered fast, right to their doorsteps.

Grab’s existing and new delivery partners will enjoy additional income and job opportunities from delivering food orders on top of delivering parcels. Food establishments and restaurants  now have their own online storefront to serve an increasingly online and mobile population by leveraging the fleet of delivery partners. They no longer need to rely solely on physical visits by consumers to their shops or stalls as their primary source of revenue. They will also get to enjoy incremental business revenue by tapping on the large user base of Grab and gaining access to GrabFood’s promotional schemes and marketing channels to grow their business.

“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 travelling 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,” said Brian Cu, Country Head of Grab Philippines.

Connecting food merchants to mobile-first consumers

GrabFood was first launched in Jakarta in 2016 and subsequently beta-tested in Bangkok last year. User research with merchant partners in these cities revealed that they have reaped incremental benefits of going online to reach more consumers and enjoyed a significant increase in orders through GrabFood, resulting in higher revenue. GrabFood has proven to be a real revenue driver for merchants in these cities, and Grab is bringing this experience to the Philippines.

Based on Grab’s user research, majority of Filipinos are excited to try new things, and will choose a food delivery platform that offers the most dependable service, providing the widest range of food offerings with best value-for-money and fastest speed of delivery. GrabFood will meet these needs of consumers, while enabling better income and revenue opportunities for delivery and merchant partners through tech innovation and new product features.

• When making a GrabFood order, the app will automatically detect consumers’ location to make more personalised recommendations of nearby restaurants.
• Consumers can track location of the delivery partner within the app real-time
• Consumers can use GrabChat to communicate with delivery partners and relay their food requests For example: non-spicy, or leave a note for delivery partners upon checkout. In the near future, Grab will bring about a more seamless user experience connecting consumers, merchants and delivery partners, so as to enable all food orders to be processed more quickly and efficiently.
• Consumers will pay by cash on delivery, and there is no minimum order value to fulfill so they can order all kinds of food from featured restaurant chains and establishments. We are also working on enabling GrabPay cashless option for more seamless payment directly to merchant partners, so that consumers can earn GrabRewards points for every order.  
• Soon, with a dedicated merchant partner app, merchants can update information on opening hours and availability of dishes within the app, for example, if they intend to close shop earlier on a particular day or if they have run out of a particular dish. Consumers will have visibility of latest updates from merchant partners before they make their order.  

Building an everyday app for the future of smart cities

From driving innovation in the transportation sector to providing safe and convenient mobility options for the riding public, Grab has played an instrumental role in uplifting the ride-hailing industry in the Philippines. In just a span of six years, Grab has evolved to become an everyday app for consumers, serving the daily essential needs of consumers in Southeast Asia.

As Grab’s service offerings expand, more and more consumers, drivers, delivery couriers and merchants will get to benefit in many ways:

• Lifestyle: Besides satisfying the daily cravings of Filipinos with GrabFood, Grab has also rolled out a new in-app lifestyle feed for the Filipino consumers that is transforming the Grab app beyond transportation. Being stuck in traffic will no longer be such a hassle with Grab Daily. With personalized features, hyperlocal content and addictive games, lifestyle news and recommendations, consumers can engage better with the Grab app. Grab Daily is now live in the app’s side menu. 
• Consumers will no longer miss their errands during a hectic day. With the beta launch of GrabAssistant, they can now book a personal shopper to order or line up for them in case they need to purchase important items but are short of time or unable to visit their location of choice.
• With the growth of the e-commerce industry, Grab also continues to establish strategic partnerships to make transactions more seamless for consumers. With the recent team up with Shopee and GrabExpress, consumers can now get their online shopping delivered fast to their doorsteps with same day express delivery option.
• Transport: Beyond just ride-hailing, Grab’s larger mobility vision is to enable a multi-modal future that serves people’s first- and last-mile needs more seamlessly. In the near future, consumers will be able to mix and match different transport options based on their travel preferences and budget. With better integration of public and private transportation options in one platform, consumers can choose to ride across and pay for multiple modes of transport seamlessly in one single journey. For instance, they can take an on-demand shuttle bus, continue their journey on public transit, and finally take a GrabCar to their final destination – all through one Grab app.
• Payments: By expanding the use of GrabPay as a mobile wallet beyond transport, both consumers and merchants have a more seamless and secure way of transacting. Consumers can enjoy the benefits of a cashless society such as greater convenience and more seamless retail experience, while traditional, cash-based businesses are able to increase productivity and save business costs by going cashless. With a large transport and food user base, GrabPay and GrabRewards will also become real revenue drivers for micro-entrepreneurs and small businesses, giving them access to new consumers in an affordable way.
• Financial services: Grab’s fintech offerings create new economic opportunities for millions of unbanked and underbanked consumers, drivers and small businesses across Southeast Asia. Over 6 million micro-entrepreneurs across the region have been enabled by Grab’s platform to date, and Grab targets to enable 100 million micro-entrepreneurs by 2020. Driver-partners can build credit histories with Grab to qualify for financial services like loans that they previously never had access to. They can also enjoy innovative in-app insurance solutions to protect their vehicles, livelihoods and families.

“We are in a position to power this future of smart cities for consumers because of the interconnectedness of each of our service and how they help each other grow. Transport allows us to expand our GrabFood and Grab Financial services. Our GrabPay mobile wallet will be used for both transport and food, two of the most relevant use cases in Southeast Asia. By building a technology platform that serves the most important everyday lifestyle needs of consumers, we are benefitting an entire ecosystem of connected users who are not only passengers and driver partners, but also increasingly agents, merchants and delivery partners. We can help everyone, particularly micro-entrepreneurs, grow their businesses and serve consumers better with how each of our service is interlinked,” Cu  added.