PETALING JAYA, 29 SEPTEMBER 2020 – Although Malaysia is slowly heading towards economic recovery, it’s undeniable that there are still communities across the country who are having a tough time coping with the impact of the pandemic and the movement control period on them. This is especially the case for small and traditional businesses who lacked opportunities to sustain on their own and are still experiencing a decrease in footfall due to capacity limitations.

Therefore, as a tech enabler and proponent of the digital economy, Grab is introducing ‘Food Courts by GrabFood’ and expanding ‘Pasar by GrabMart’ to additional cities, to help traditional vendors participate in the digital economy and grow their business while also providing Malaysians with a wide variety of affordable options during this economic climate.

These efforts will help to digitalise and boost the sales of more small and traditional businesses across the country. In addition, this will also help the homegrown everyday app to serve Malaysians nationwide with a variety of more affordable, local food.

“With the Recovery Movement Control Order (RMCO) extended till the end of the year, it’s even more vital for organisations in the public and private sector to assist those who are grappling to get back on their feet. Traditional food courts and markets are a huge part of our society that makes us uniquely Malaysian and although movement restrictions have eased, many have seen a great loss in footfall, impacting their income and livelihoods. This is why we are focusing our efforts on creating an inclusive platform traditional businesses can conveniently tap onto to increase their sales in the new normal. With a reliable delivery fleet and large community of users nationwide, we hope to play a part in helping to preserve a culture of Malaysia that is close to all our hearts,” said Sean Goh Managing Director of Grab Malaysia.

Generating demand for small, independent and traditional businesses.

Grab’s ‘Mix & Match’ feature was developed by its tech engineers to allow consumers to order from multiple stalls with one delivery fee. This was first introduced and piloted during the Movement Control Period with initiatives such as ‘Pasar by GrabMart’ as well as the ‘Grab e-Kitchen Bazar’ which saw more than 66,000 orders fulfilled by 133 vendors during the Ramadan season.

In an effort to champion the livelihoods of more traditional businesses nationwide, Grab has extended this to also include food court hawkers. With ‘Food Courts by GrabFood’, consumers will now be able order from different vendors in a single food court and  pay only one delivery fee. This allows users to support local and traditional eateries affordably while still practicing social distancing. Currently, the service is available in food courts across Klang Valley, Penang, Johor Bahru, Kuching, Kota Kinabalu, Melaka and Ipoh.

In the first month that ‘Pasar’ was launched in Pasar TTDI, participating vendors saw an average of 20% increase in daily orders. Hence, Grab is expanding its ‘Pasar’ service, following its success in the Klang Valley and Chowrasta (Penang) to Kota Kinabalu beginning with Pemborong Sayur 333. In addition, Penang users can now find additional markets on GrabMart, namely, Pasar Batu Lanchang and Pasar Bayan Baru, with Pasar Seberang Jaya and Pasar Bagan Ajam to be available by early October.

“Beyond helping traditional businesses expand their consumer base by reaching more Malaysians on the app, these initiatives also provide the greater public an affordable option to daily necessities. Moving forward, we will continue to look at further opportunities to innovate our ecosystem of services to continue supporting all Malaysians, from the various types of businesses looking for an opportunity to grow, to our consumers through technology enabled convenience,” concluded Goh.

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