Grab (Cambodia) Co Ltd, the subsidiary of Singapore-based multinational ride-hailing company Grab Holdings Inc, launched its on-demand everyday goods delivery service GrabMart in Phnom Penh last week, it said.
The service is the latest option for the capital’s shoppers who want groceries delivered to their doorstep. Similar services are provided by Delishop.Asia, DeliMarket.asia and Nham24.com.
Accessible via the Grab app, the service offers under one-hour delivery of groceries, packaged foods, healthcare products, beauty products, gifts and other items, said Grab (Cambodia).
By entering an address into the newly-integrated GrabMart feature, the app displays items available for purchase from nearby stores – including Thai Huot, Kiwi Mart, U-Care Pharmacy and Winest Cambodia.
During the initial launch phase, the service will only be available in the capital’s Boeung Keng Kang, Tuol Tompoung, Daun Penh and Tuol Kork districts and in “some adjacent neighbourhoods”, it said in a press release.
“Customers will have to pay their delivery driver in cash with orders limited to a maximum of $40.
“Grab plans to expand the service to the rest of Phnom Penh in the near future, with more merchant-partners to be on-boarded soon,” it said.
With much of the world adapting to new hygiene practices and social distancing amid the ongoing health crisis, traffic to online grocery stores has skyrocketed, forcing them to adapt their business strategies to cater to pandemic demand.
Earlier this month, Delishop.Asia general manager Jonathan Meuret told The Post: “The sudden and rapid spread of Covid-19 has forced everyone to scale back on many social interactions and transactions we used to take for granted.
“The simple act of going outside to buy food and other essential items at a store now requires more thought and precaution. Every day, our team is energised to keep coming up with new solutions to execute safe deliveries and transactions.”
Nham24 founder Chann Borima noted the massive increase in demand for food and grocery delivery services during the outbreak.
He told The Post: “When customers place their order, they have the option of ‘deliver in person’ or use ‘contactless delivery’, with the default option being contactless.
“With this option, clients and drivers will have to keep a distance of at least 2m, so when the driver arrives, they will call the customer and then deliver the package from a safe distance.”
Grab country head Hashim Alkaff said: “We are introducing new services to help Cambodians get through the new realities of the pandemic and will use our technology however we can to introduce and scale new services to help everyone in need.
“This is also an opportunity for our driver-partners to earn additional sources of income . . . At a time like this where people need immediate solutions to address mobility gaps during this difficult time, our on-demand services will be there to help them,” he said.
Late last month, South Korean-owned ride-hailing app MVL TADA Cambodia Co Ltd (TADA) announced the TADA Delivery online platform, which it plans to launch in the coming months.
Grab was officially launched in Phnom Penh on December 19, 2017, signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Ministry of Public Works and Transport to support the development of the Kingdom’s infrastructure.
A report by the Telecommunications Regulator of Cambodia indicated an increase in mobile phone subscribers in the Kingdom last year. The 16.12 million subscribers reported last year was an increase of 18.5 per cent from 2018.
The number of registered Facebook accounts in 2018 also rose 29 per cent last year to 8.8 million accounts.
