Despite food delivery competition getting tougher in Malaysia, Shopee is not withdrawing from joining the race. Just yesterday, Shopee Malaysia he announced recruiting riders for ShopeeFood in KL and Selangor.
While you would find it hard to come across customers who would complain about having more choices, ShopeeFood will give it its job if it wants to impress.
This is because Malaysians have been facing constant problems on the local food delivery scene for a long time. In order for ShopeeFood to stand out as a choice, here’s what to look for.
1. Lack of ability and scope of riders
Recently, there has been a decline in the number of guests delivering services among local service providers, and one even said that there were 85% drop in availability.
Grub by Ahong & Friends,, Cauli and rice, i NALE there were some F&B establishments that also told the Vulcan Post that they were recording a 70% to 90% drop in sales just because of delivery due to a lack of drivers.
This is because most drivers slowly return to full-time work or switch to courier work. They offer more stable incomes because they don’t have to wait during the day for unpredictable food delivery jobs.
Popular food delivery apps with their own fleet tend to also receive complaints from customers who have ordered and paid for orders that never arrived. The reason for such occurrences are usually drivers who:
- They completely disappear with their orders (usually larger amounts and higher values),
- They claim they can’t find the customer’s location,
- Give orders to the wrong person, without proper explanation.
And then there are cases where customers have posted on social media about receiving their orders in a terrible state or with them completely missing food.
ShopeeFood must address the lack of quality control when launching its service. He would have to properly check his drivers, take customer feedback seriously and take the necessary measures to bring his drivers in line with the set standards.
With attractive incentives and the right fee, perhaps ShopeeFood could also address the issue of volume and driver availability.
2. Limited delivery radius, especially in less “popular” areas
From our previous one research in other food delivery applications, a common issue we have noticed is that many have a limited delivery radius that affects those living in less central areas.
A smaller delivery radius means consumers have fewer different eating options, and even larger players with their own fleet like GrabFood, foodpanda and airasia food can’t equally satisfy all Klang Valley districts.
As someone who lives in Cheras, it’s hard for me to get food from downtown, PJ and Bangsara. One of the only platforms I’ve tried and that can deliver me such food is Beepit, but that’s because it outsources the fleet of drivers from other suppliers.
These orders within a wider delivery radius also tend to have higher delivery fees. Unfortunately, we don’t have the proper insight to make reasonable suggestions to get through this without spending on customers, drivers, or dealers.
It would be unfair to demand that ShopeeFood immediately have a fleet large enough to provide equal coverage in both central and non-central areas. However, it would be something that should be considered in the future if they want to gain and maintain a good market share.
3. Inefficient application database update
Another common issue in the delivery driver scene is the efficiency of their database, such as the speed at which they can reflect changes such as unexpected store closures.
These events don’t always update quickly in the app (even with big players, according to friends and colleagues who are frequent users). The problem becomes when people assume the store is still open, execute orders, and eventually wait an hour or more to be told later that their order has been canceled.
I had a a similar experience at RunningMan, where a change in store location caused several problems. Not only did the store receive my order late, but the driver first went on his own to his old place.
In total, it took more than an hour to resolve the confusion about the delivery, which would not have lasted more than 20 minutes, since the store was nearby. When I called the app’s customer service, they simply described what went wrong, but I have no idea where the fault actually is.
Nevertheless, to overcome such problems, ShopeeFood must ensure that traders can easily update their database, that traders proactively make changes, and that all changes are reflected in the ASAP application, or preferably in real time.
4. High commissions for merchants
And last but not least, food delivery apps may charge exorbitant fees for their services. Traders themselves have already expressed their concern, urging customers to do so order directly instead from their outlets.
An anonymous Reddit user who claims to be part of an F&B facility in KL shared that the latest rates were quoted at 32% (GrabFood) and 28% (foodpanda).
For traders who refuse to indicate their prices and instead depend on the amount of profit, these rates can burn in their pockets, especially with the recent jump in raw material costs.
If retailers mark their costs to keep up, customers will have to pay higher prices for their orders, which can drive them away. Therefore, many traders resorted to the greatest burden of commissions and earning little profit.
To stand out, ShopeeFood would have to offer competitive prices that help retailers without passing the cost on to customers. One way to address this would be to talk to traders about possible solutions, taking into account their concerns and feedback, and reaching a compromise that benefits all parties.
Once trust is established between retailers and ShopeeFood, it would be easier to increase the boarding rate as well as attract more customers to use the app.
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We often joke that it’s better not to mess with Malaysians and our food, and if complaints on social media are to be believed, we’re not exactly happy with the current performance of our available food delivery apps.
We can’t say with certainty what it would take to address these issues, but more, but if it’s a challenge ShopeeFood is willing to take on, we have no doubt that its efforts will be recognized and appreciated.
In times like these, we are all more dependent than ever on each other to keep the economy afloat, and new initiatives should give priority to more solutions than competition.
- You can learn more about ShopeeFood here.
- You can read more articles related to Shopee that we have written here.
Credit for featured images: Shopee
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