KUALA LUMPUR (Dec 30): foodpanda Malaysia believes the growth of the gig economy in Malaysia is on the right track given the local ICT infrastructure as well as the government’s effort in making the digital connection as accessible as possible to enable efficient delivery services.

In an email interview, foodpanda Malaysia managing director Sayantan Das said the growth of the gig economy can only be driven further forward when all parties such as the government, local authorities and employers work hand in hand.

He pointed out that foodpanda has been in Malaysia for almost eight years now and works very closely with several state governments in its efforts to digitise micro, small and medium enterprises and onboard home chefs to its platform.

“Home chefs are particularly something very close to our hearts as we take pride knowing that we have talented people [who] are sharing their delicious cooking to Malaysians out of their very own home kitchens, through our service.

“We also had the privilege to work with the Malaysian government as foodpanda was selected to be a part of the Shop Malaysia Online initiative under the National Economic Recovery Plan (PENJANA)," he said.

Das added that these initiatives are all implemented nationwide and were not limited to big cities and urban areas.

“In terms of job creation for rural youth, foodpanda can contribute in more ways than one.

“As we expand throughout Malaysia, rural youth could start with joining us as a rider and participate in the upskilling programmes we offer under panda purpose. With better skill sets, they could move up to join the management wing within the foodpanda ecosystem,” he said.

Commenting on the firm’s overall strategy in Malaysia, Das said foodpanda Malaysia strives to provide the best in class service and is constantly seeking ways to use innovation and technology to exceed customers' expectations.

“Now that we have entered the era of quick commerce, alongside a parallel shift in consumer lifestyles and preferences globally, speed and convenience is becoming more important than ever before.

“With years of logistics and technology expertise, we believe foodpanda is in prime position to lead in this emerging q-commerce segment.

“Ultimately, we want to grow our services together with our customers and offer them convenience for their changing needs by being a one-stop solution for all of their food-related delivery needs,” he said.

Meanwhile, on its foodpanda shops, pandamart and cloud kitchen facilities, Das said the addition of these new verticals is a step closer to achieving the firm’s vision to be the provider of a holistic solution to any food-related delivery service be it full meals or snacks or even grocery items.

“We are also able to connect with a larger network of audience, satisfy all their needs in the fastest and most convenient way possible by diversifying our offerings,” he said.

He said foodpanda shops are meant to be a marketplace for stores like its food delivery, adding it is an on-demand delivery service that offers daily essentials and grocery delivery services amongst many other products from over 3,500 vendors nationwide with a delivery time of under 30 minutes.

Das said this allows customers to order numerous products from a wide variety of stores such as Tesco, 7 Eleven, FamilyMart, Marks & Spencer, Lulu Hypermarket, Watsons, Shell Select, Petron and more on a single platform.

“pandamart is an on-demand delivery service for groceries, household essentials, beauty products, baby care products, fresh produce, over the counter medication and even more delivered directly from our own storage facilities,” he said.

On market challenges, Das said similar to any other e-commerce space, the online delivery space is highly competitive and fast-growing.

“Instead of competing, we always look for ways to improve ourselves to better suit our consumer's needs.

“Our new verticals are aimed to complement the consumers' needs and each has its own unique selling points that can benefit our consumers.

“We always strive to keep prices competitive and provide the best value for our customers, and pandamart is a great example where it does just that as the items are sourced directly from the suppliers and manufacturers. This [allows] us to keep the prices competitive while offering convenience to our customers,” he said.

Das said pandamart, which was launched in July this year, now covers over 25 locations nationwide and will look to add more locations as we progress.

“To date, foodpanda has the broadest coverage in Malaysia thanks to its wide delivery network of more than 30,000 riders and over 50,000 restaurant partners.

“Through this strong ecosystem, we believe we can set ourselves apart from the rest and provide our customers the best possible experience,” he said.

Das said the ecosystem maintained at foodpanda allows relevant stakeholders, namely riders, partners (restaurants, shops & etc) and customers to coexist, flourish and profit mutually.