Brisk business during CMCO

 

Meals on wheels: Food delivery service men waiting to pick up orders at Sunway Velocity. — LOW LAY PHON/The Star

PETALING JAYA: Food delivery companies are experiencing brisk business as more people heed the call to stay safe at home.

An increasing number of e-hailing drivers are also opting to deliver food and other items to take advantage of rising orders from work from home customers.

Main industry players are reporting an increase in delivery orders in Kuala Lumpur, Putrajaya and Selangor with the implementation of the conditional movement control order (MCO) since Oct 14.

Malaysia E-hailing Drivers Association president Daryl Chong confirmed that a good number of e-hailing drivers opted to deliver food, parcels and documents since the implementation of the first phase of the MCO in March.

“This is following a sharp decrease in demand for transport services, which saw a decline of over 50%, ” he said.

Foodpanda Malaysia public relations manager Lisa Santa Maria said there was a steady increase in orders with more people opting for deliveries of food and other daily essentials, with more weekend orders received.

Besides food, she said Foodpanda’s 30,000 active riders were also delivering fresh produce, groceries and household essentials to more homes.

A Grab spokesperson said mart and food delivery orders increased by over 30% during the initial MCO, while its transport services plummeted by 90%.

She said the firm pivoted its operations by mobilising over 100,000 drivers to support deliveries.

“Even after the MCO, almost 25% of food deliveries were handled by GrabCar drivers without disruption to our services, ” she said.

The surge in food delivery demand created income opportunities for over 10,000 new drivers and delivery riders who signed up during the MCO,

She said Grab also helped some traditional businesses such as wet markets, bazaars and foodcourts to digitise during the pandemic.

“Through these initiatives, our merchant-partners recorded a 25% increase in their online revenue, ” she said.

Lalamove Malaysia managing director Shen Ong said the company had surpassed its previous record of delivery orders during the first phase of the MCO in March.

“We are seeing a spike in orders in the current conditional MCO with a 5% increase in food delivery demand on a weekly basis since October, ” he said when contacted.

Ong said the bulk of the firm’s delivery orders came from its food and beverage clients.

“The directive to work from home and movement restrictions have encouraged people to turn to on-demand delivery services, ” he said. - Star