GrabFood Merging Into Main Grab App & Will Be Available Earlier For Easties

As one who would rather visit physical stores to purchase meals, it’s no surprise that I don’t use food delivery applications as often as my peers.

Call me sua-ku but this explains why I only found out GrabFood was a separate application from the main Grab application a few months ago.

To that, I say “better than late than never”.

In my defence, it made sense to me for Grab to have everything housed under one application since they mentioned all their services (Transport, Food, Delivery) on the main app.

Either way, it seems like Grab read my confused little mind and took my ignorance into serious consideration.

GrabFood application to be merged with main Grab app

Grab has (finally) announced news of their decision to combine the GrabFood and Grab Transport application in Singapore and Malaysia on 16 April (Tuesday).

This is to provide customers with a better experience and greater accessibility.

Also, less clutter of apps on your phone, and more space for other apps.

Lim Kell Jay, head of GrabFood Singapore and co-chief of staff at Grab said: “This will make for a more seamless user experience and put us in a strong position to drive the multi-billion-dollar food-delivery market forward”.

Not Immediately Available To Everybody

As always, the new Grab app will be put through a couple of beta tests before it is officially rolled out.

The first beta test will initiate towards the end of April for users residing in the East (Kallang, Marine Parade, Geylang, and Bedok).

Then, the beta test will include the rest of Singapore in May.

Do note that the current GrabFood app for consumers, riders and merchants will be discontinued once the beta roll-out is complete.

What to look forward to

GrabFood Users

The new app has a more user-friendly interface and functions the same way as the usual GrabFood app you’re probably familiar with.

If you’re a new GrabFood user, here’s a step-by-step tutorial on how to order your food:

Other plus points include:

• Easier viewing of ongoing promotions by restaurants as well as featured restaurants on the GrabFood home screen, so you’ll never miss out on a good deal and new alternatives to tickle your taste buds.
• Incorporation of GrabChat for consumers to update GrabFood deliverers and merchants on special instructions (i.e. please text me when you arrive, do not ring the doorbell, please draw a cat on the pizza) they may have left out during the ordering process.
• Another thing worth mentioning is that GrabChat will learn consumers’ preferences over time and auto-fill special instructions in the app before the order is submitted. Scary but cool.
• Easier redemption and usage of GrabRewards vouchers 
• Shorter food ordering process. In time to come, there will be a GrabFood widget on the super app home screen, allowing users to easily re-order the same food in lesser time.

GrabFood Riders

• Free and easier communication with GrabChat. Riders can now save on SMS charges when providing customers with updates, and enjoy greater convenience with template messages i.e. I will be there in 5 minutes
• Exclusive rider benefits – 30% off Liqui Moly products, dental care benefits from Unity DentiCare and much more including healthcare benefits in time to come.

GrabFood Merchant-partners (The makan places)

• Full visibility of assigned riders’ whereabouts in real-time. With this feature, merchant-partners can better manage kitchen operations and ensure every order is freshly packed and minimize the waiting time of riders.
• Better control of their online store – merchant-partners have the option to manage their operating hours and set preferences on alerts and notifications. They can use the new “temporary pause” feature to close their online store temporarily when they receive too many orders.

With all these exciting features in store, now I can’t wait to order food with them just to test out the various functions.

P.S. all users in Singapore who participate in the island-wide beta test will enjoy free delivery for a limited time.

Well, let’s just say that when a company with deep pockets is trying to gain market share, we always win.