GRABFOOD - Design Thinking

What is GRABFOOD?

GrabFood is a food delivery service offered through Grab, a Singaporean technology startup. The company originated as a ride-hailing service, similar to Lyft and Uber in the United States, although users in Asia describe it as "Grab". It currently operates through a smartphone application, offering a variety of services including GrabFood (food delivery), Grab Pay (mobile payments), GrabMart (grocery delivery), and many more (Nguyen, 2021). Users can order meals from an array of restaurants and have them delivered to their door or picked up from the restaurant when it's ready . It is a convenient app that allows users to place meal orders from the comfort of their own homes at any time. As a result, the process of ordering and receiving food is greatly enhanced. 

What if GrabFood doing this?

In the era of globalization world, digital technology has fused into human daily life at every corner, resulting in the creation of numerous industries. One of the most appreciable industries will be today’s topic to be discussed — The food delivery industry. GrabFood, one of the famous food delivery services that reaches 91% of consumers in Southeast Asians to discover foods and restaurants (Grab Singapore, 2023). Even though GrabFood has achieved a milestone in consumer’s amount, it still has several spaces for improvement.

For example, GrabFood can implement blockchain technology in its server system. Based on the studies carried out in 2024, the adoption of blockchain technology seems to be able to enhance the consumer’s satisfaction in terms of traceability and trust. The reason for these circumstances is that blockchain technology can improve the perception of foods such as quality, safety, and naturalness as well as provide moderation effects on restaurant suggestions that include factors like type and location. All these reasons ultimately contribute to the correctness of adopting blockchain technology in food delivery services (Hao et al., 2024). 

To sum up, GrabFood can be expected to go to the next level if it involves blockchain technology in its service.

What wow – Safer GrabPay

    GrabPay, the in-app wallet of GrabFood with the enhanced security features to protect user privacy when making payments. One of the strengthened features is the two-factor authentication (2FA) with biometric and Grab PIN. When using GrabPay, creating a six digit Grab PIN is necessary for all users, and for further protection, users can also activate the biometric authentication like Face ID or fingerprint. This means that after activating further authentication features, user data privacy will be protected according to their device settings (Grab, 2021). At the same time, there are multiple payment methods for user to top up their GrabPay wallet, such as online banking and credit/debit cards. All funds of GrabPay users are stored in distinct accounts by Grab’s global banking partners and regulated by Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM). Thus, no leakage of funds will occur under any circumstances (Grab, 2024).

What wow – The diversity and internal management allocation of GrabFood

According to research surveys, the food delivery profession has experienced rapid growth in recent years, especially during the pandemic period. (Rahman et al., 2022) During that time, GrabFood developed 120 new product features. Among them, Grab Food services excel particularly. One significant reason GrabFood garners widespread favor in this field is due to its highly diverse food selection. Customers can choose from a wide variety of food types based on their preferences through the website. Moreover, GrabFood pays close attention to customer preferences. This very user-friendly phenomenon is reflected in the automatic recommendation feature on the Grab Food website. The system will recommend similar foods based on the types of orders customers have previously placed. Furthermore, GrabFood is closely tied to delivery services. Grab company considers and provides customers with the best user experience in every aspect. They allocate a reasonable number of "fixed area riders" for each city district. This prevents customer dissatisfaction in situations where uncontrollable circumstances may arise. For example, when it suddenly starts raining heavily, the arrangement of "fixed area riders" prevents riders from being unable to deliver food within the specified time due to weather conditions (Balakrishnan, 2021).

What works - Grab Food Features

Nowadays, convenience is a crucial component of consumer satisfaction. Grab Food's success can be attributed to its expert combination of convenience, user-friendly design, fast delivery(Tech in Asia, n.d.), and attractive prices.

Grab Food is fundamentally about convenience. Users may summon a range of gastronomic delights to their homes with a few smartphone taps, eliminating the need to battle traffic or wait in long queues(Joven, 2020). Furthermore, Grab Food's extensive network of restaurant partners provides customers with a vast choice of options, from local street food vendors to high-end restaurants(Joven, 2020). 

Grab Food's popularity originates primarily from its basic and user-friendly interface. The app's smooth navigation allows for easy menu browsing, simple ordering, and real-time delivery tracking(Tech in Asia, n.d.). 

 Furthermore, Grab Food promotes speed and efficiency in its delivery services. In addition, Grab Food uses specials and discounts to attract and keep clients. Regular promotions, loyalty programs, and partnerships with restaurants encourage users to return to the platform, making dining out more reasonable and pleasurable.

Conclusion

Beyond performance, Grab remains committed to fostering positive societal and environmental impact such as promoting electrical adoption and reducing plastic pollution to create economic opportunities for the cities. The success of the strategy on this delivery app is also shown in the Total Order Yearly Report of Grab as it increases three times from the year 2021 to the year 2023 (Grab, 2024). Additionally, the in-app wallet, GrabPay with enhanced security protection also made their customer more reliable on the Grab app cause it was efficient and user-friendly for the customer. Besides, the diversity and internal management allocation not only bring benefits to customers but also their workers and riders. For instance, Grab provided ‘fixed area riders’ with reasonable numbers so that the rider could pick up the food faster and Grab also prevented riders from being unable to deliver the food within the specified time due to weather conditions to customers. To sum up, Grab is a leading super app in Southeast Asia that brings benefits to their customers by providing everyday services such as mobility, deliveries, and digital financial services.

References

Balakrishnan, R. (2021, April 21). How grabfood is harnessing technology to overcome the challenge of food delivery in Southeast Asia. DealStreetAsia. https://www.dealstreetasia.com/partner-content/how-grabfood-is-overcoming-the-challenge-of-food-delivery-in-southeast-asia 

Delivery-Trends-Report-2023-MY.(n.f.) Grab. Retrieved from: https://assets.grab.com/wp-content/uploads/media/si/reports/2023/Delivery-Trends-Report-2023-MY.pdf

Grab. (2021, October 8). GrabPay Enhances its Safety Features for Safer Online Payments. Grab MY. https://www.grab.com/my/press/others/grabpay-enhances-its-safety-features-for-safer-online-payments/ 

Grab. (2024). Grab MY Security. https://www.grab.com/my/pay/security/

Grab Singapore. (2023, December 14). Grab’s 2023 food trends report show consumers are using the app beyond deliveries | Inside Grab. Grab. https://www.grab.com/sg/inside-grab/stories/grabfood-food-trends-report-deliveries/

Hao, F., Guo, Y., Zhang, C., & Chon, K. (2024). Blockchain=better food? The adoption of blockchain technology in food supply chain. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management. https://doi.org/10.1108/ijchm-06-2023-0752 

Joven, E. (2020, November 20). Advantages of GrabFood Delivery App in Bacolod City by Bacolod Lifestyle. Bacolod Lifestyle and Travel Guide. https://www.bacolodlifestyle.com/advantages-of-grabfood-delivery-app-in-bacolod-city/ 

Nguyen, R. (2021, May 2). Grabfood: Patterns and flows. Medium. https://rubienguyen.medium.com/grabfood-patterns-and-flows-63f7153f039f

Rahman, A., Sukmawardani, A., & Nodia Arza Fahiran, M. (2022, June 18). Implications of using grab food applications on ... IMPLICATIONS OF USING GRAB FOOD APPLICATIONS ON CONSUMER SATISFACTION. https://ojs.transpublika.com/index.php/JHSSB/article/download/218/184

Tech in Asia. (n.d.). Tech in Asia - Connecting Asia’s startup ecosystem. https://www.techinasia.com/closer-grabs-efforts-serve-ideal-food-delivery-ecosystem

Workload

Name	Topic
ERIN CHUNG SHING (TP070387)	What is GRABFOOD?
FOO JING SZE (TP070845)	Conclusion
CHUAH XIN YI (TP070340)	What works - Grab Food Features
CHONG PEY SHAN (TP070414)	What if GrabFood doing this?
GOO MAY SHYN (TP070055)	What wow – Safer GrabPay
LEE WAN CHIEN (TP070220)	What wow – The diversity and internal management allocation of GrabFood