ORDERING and enjoying the food you crave in the comforts of your home without having to cook has taken on another level of hype during the quarantine. As people are restricted to go out of their houses except to buy food and medicine, the demand for food delivery services like foodpanda has also increased.
Over the months in quarantine, stories of heroism and gratitude for the modern-day heroes, including foodpanda riders, had been shared online. For employees like Joy Montecalvo of a government office in Lanang, Davao City, she appreciates the convenience of the food delivery app.
“During the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ), we still needed to report to work in the office and most of the eateries are closed. During curfew when I arrive home from work and I’m too tired to cook, I can still eat my dinner by ordering from foodpanda. It’s hassle-free and I like that they have many restaurants there that offer free deliveries,” said Montecalvo.
But more than bringing food and beverages to the Dabawenyos, foodpanda has also aided small local businesses in the city that may have been on the danger of financial struggle when quarantine was declared.
Maura Shore Creamery is a family-owned local business in the city that creates gourmet ice cream of different flavors. As a young business, the owners rented a house in Obrero, Davao City where they manufacture and store their ice cream. They are also present in different food bazaars and exhibits before the pandemic came. They have yet to have space where customers can dine-in and enjoy their ice cream.
John So of Maura Shore Creamery shared that they saw foodpanda as a good opportunity to reach out to customers.
“We decided to join foodpanda because we see that it caters to the new way of ordering food which is through the use of smartphones. Almost everyone now uses smartphone and with mobile data, they can conveniently order food through the app. This can bring more customers and boost sales,” So said.
On the other hand, Jose Tabbada, owner of Jim Hopper’s Philippines at Juna Subdivision, Matina, Davao City, saw the convenience of foodpanda for the merchants. He said with the automated ordering system of foodpanda, it takes away from the merchant’s hand the responsibility of delivery and helps with the easy incorporation of accepting and dispatching delivery in their workflow.
“We wanted to extend our business’ reach to people who couldn’t opt for dine-in through delivery. But we thought it would be costly for us and of high-liability for us to employ riders right away considering the risks involved in their line of work... So we boarded with foodpanda to test the waters of the delivery scene,” said Tabbada.
Jim Hopper’s Philippines is a restaurant offering pizza, fries, and chicken wings.
Being included among the list of local food merchants in foodpanda was a good business boost for Maura Shore Creamery and Jim Hopper’s Philippines. They were able to reach and get their products known to more people in the city.
Tabbada shared how their customer base has grown significantly since being enlisted in foodpanda. “Even before the quarantine period, we’ve been getting orders from new customers and we were able to cater to more orders without having to cram our store up with customers,” he said.
On the business management side, So said the cashless transactions is one of the features of foodpanda that they, as merchants, are very grateful for. “This helps us compute our sales more easily and it can prevent human error in money exchange.”
“As a whole, foodpanda is convenient for us in terms of sending our products to our customers and accounting our sales,” he added.