Meanwhile, guess who benefits from virus scare?

KUALA LUMPUR: Business appears to be booming for those engaged in food delivery services as people opt to eat at home for fear of contracting the Covid-19 virus.

A number of restaurant owners told FMT they were catering to an increase in the number of home delivery orders, especially since the emergence of reports of a new wave of the Covid-19 outbreak.

Desonny Tuzan, the owner of Charlie’s Cafe and Bakery, said the number of his walk-in customers had been reduced by 30% to 40% since last week but this had been compensated for by additional orders from people opting to order home deliveries.

More customers were ordering in bulk, he said. “This has rarely happened before.”

He said his income was still adequate although he had to pay commissions of 25% to 35% to the delivery service operators.

According to him, his loss of walk-in customers was not as severe as the losses suffered by restaurants located in more crowded areas such as shopping malls.

Wong Wai Shung, who owns Pie Kingdom, also said he was seeing an increase in home delivery orders although walk-ins were still contributing to the larger part of his income.

He attributed this to the location of his establishment, which is surrounded by office buildings.

“My walk-in customers are mostly people working in Bangsar South,” he said. “It may be different for restaurants in the malls.”

However, he fears that his business will be affected if the second wave of infections is prolonged.

He said he was preparing for such a scenario by informing his customers of his delivery service.

DeliverEat co-founder Tan Suan Sear said there had been a 30% increase in home delivery orders, especially on weekends.

He said customers wanted to avoid crowded places, adding that he believed the trend would continue.

Tan also said more merchants, including those outside the food business, were signing up for delivery services. The recent increase for his operation was 40%, he added.

He said some merchants had told him there had been significant drops in their sales. “They believe the food delivery service can help them.” - FMT