GrabFood, a Singapore based food delivery company, has reportedly announced its plan to invest what it is claiming to be the largest amount towards marketing it has spent this year to expand its service offerings in Thailand. This new investment would be made under the company’s latest campaign known as Free Your Hunger. The company plans to double its customer base as well as sales through restaurant partners. Grab Thailand Marketing Head, Chantsuda Thananitayaudom stated that the company sees immense potential in the food ordering industry of Thailand, which is continuing to grow as the COVID-19 pandemic has effectively changed the people’s perception towards these services, while smartphone internet penetration has touched 80%. Thananitayaudom further added that while the food delivery industry is unprofitable, it is growing significantly, and greater consumers are required. A majority of the company’s customers are between the age of 20 and 39, and the firm aims to attract university students and office workers to the platform. During the lockdown period, which spanned between March to May, the company gained new customers with orders increasing three-fold in comparison to the pre-pandemic numbers. As per Thananitayaudom, the company’s revenue through ride-hailing was at par with its food ordering service during 2019. However, today, the ride-sharing services have dropped by 90% due to the pandemic, while the food ordering and delivery services have witnessed a significant upsurge. As per reports by Creden.co, a renowned fintech company, last year, four prominent food delivery and ride-hailing enterprises observed hefty losses of over $134.6 billion. The four firms include Line Man, Get (Gojek), Foodpanda, and Grab. Line Man, a division of renowned Japanese chat app giant Line Corp, raised over $110 million recently from BRV Capital Management and also merged with Wongnai, a renowned restaurant review platform. Line Man is currently under the reorganizing process and it has not launched any major campaign yet. Source credit: https://www.warc.com/newsandopinion/news/grabfood-spends-big-as-thailands-food-delivery-race-speeds-up/44033
