As part of its continual experimentation to improve services for users, local tech company Grab is piloting a food locker concept where riders can place deliveries in a locker.
Many Singaporeans enjoy the convenience of food deliveries, where you can get your favourite culinary fares brought right to your doorstep.
However, many office workers and condominium residents face a problem — riders often can’t reach their doorstep due to security issues. This brings about further concerns wherein orders may get taken by others if they’re left at lobbies.
Furthermore, riders can face delays in delivering such orders as it can be hard to find the location. It also wastes time and eats into productivity and earnings.
The new initiative hopes to address these problems with a simple-enough mechanism where both riders and customers only need to scan a QR code to open the lockers.
There is one food locker presently in use at the Grab HQ in one-north for its employees who are providing feedback and helping to iterate the concept.
MS News paid a visit to find out just how the food locker works.
Using the locker is just about as easy as making any ordinary order.
On the Grab app, you simply have to select the Food Locker location as the destination.
After your order’s confirmed, the rider will receive a locker box to place their food in.
When the rider arrives, they can scan a QR code to open the assigned locker for the order.
The customer will then receive a notification that they can collect their food.
The customer will also receive a notification with the specific locker where the rider has deposited the food.
After that, you can simply scan the provided QR code to open the locker and collect your order.
Grab is keeping the implementation small at present, “to consolidate feedback and ease kinks”, a Grab spokesperson told MS News. “Since its experimental launch in early 2024 at our Singapore office, we have iterated on the product extensively, guided by valuable feedback from our delivery partners and employees.”
“It mitigates delays caused by security checks in offices and apartment buildings, as well as time taken to locate customers’ addresses, which can impact productivity and earnings.”
The small scale of implementation is also to further tweak the product such that it is more ready for broad deployment.
As the product is still undergoing changes in response to feedback, the food locker on trial may not be the final version.
“Since its experimental launch in early 2024 at our Singapore office, we have iterated on the product extensively, guided by valuable feedback from our delivery partners and employees.”
Grab decided to pilot the food locker programme in Singapore to help cut down delivery times for riders. Part of the problem stems from the inaccessibility of certain residential units and offices.
“We’re always looking for ways to solve our users’ pressing, everyday problems when it comes to transport, deliveries and even beyond,” the spokesperson added.
Successful experiments which have gone live include the Group Order function on the Grab app.
Group Order is a feature which allows multiple people to add food items to a shared cart. This means delivery fees can be split among members of the group.
Source: Grab
Previously, users needed to share one phone to make a group order. The group order function allowed users to do it via their own phone through a link.
Grab has since implemented a QR code invite which others can scan to join the order, handy for when users are together in person, like during lunch in office or at a group gathering.
It has also added a cut-off mark for the group order to expire. This is so that orders do not get too messy and are easier to keep track of. They also prevent late or last-minute orders.
The host will also be able to see real-time updates when people join the group order and add items to their cart.
Those who join the order will be able to see when the order’s placed as well as when it has arrived too.
To save the hassle of dividing orders or using third-party apps to pay for items, users can use the bill-splitting function to show what each person owes clearly.
Additional fees such as delivery fees, tax, and tips will be automatically split evenly.
Paying the bill has become easier as well. Once the bill has been split, users involved in the group order would be able to make payment directly from their GrabPay Wallet to the main person who placed the order.
Another experiment also in its piloting stage is the Large Order function for riders.
Riders sometimes receive large orders that can be challenging to complete in a single trip, especially if they’re on a vehicle with two wheels such as a motorcycle or a Personal Mobility Device (PMD).
But with the Large Order function, the rider can request additional help via the Grab Driver app.
The platform will then assign a nearby partner to the job, where they can split the load
This eases the load on a single rider and allows for the food to still be delivered.
Grab said it is exploring ways to have the platform determine if the order would require more than one rider at the moment of ordering.
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Featured image by MS News. Photography by Dinah Danisyah.
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