On 4 April 2020, Enterprise Singapore (ESG) announced the Food Delivery Booster Package to support F&B businesses to diversify operations through food delivery. Under the first phase of the roll out, ESG funds five percentage points of the commission cost charged by three food delivery platforms – Deliveroo, foodpanda and GrabFood – for transactions made between 7 April and 4 May 2020. This funding was extended to new entrants and existing F&B businesses on the platforms.
In phase two, the package will be expanded to: support those that are fulfilling food delivery orders outside of Deliveroo, foodpanda and GrabFood, via third party logistics partners and equip F&B businesses with the capabilities and tools to maximise food delivery receipts on the three food delivery platforms.
The package also helps businesses transform their delivery models in the long term through building virtual brands and developing an online to offline (O2O) strategy.
Support for F&B businesses leveraging third party logistics partners for deliveries
For F&B businesses which may not be on-board Deliveroo, foodpanda and GrabFood but are fulfilling food delivery orders through third party logistics partners, ESG will fund 20% of the delivery costs. This will be valid for orders made between 7 April and 4 May 2020.
Funding will be disbursed through eligible third party logistics partners, such as Lalamove and Zeek. F&B businesses must have a food shop or food stall license issued by the Singapore Food Agency (SFA), and sell food that is prepared on premise for immediate consumption to be eligible for the delivery funding.
Equipping F&B businesses with capabilities to maximise food delivery receipts on Deliveroo, foodpanda and GrabFood
To assist F&B businesses in optimising their online presence and improving sales, ESG, together with Deliveroo, foodpanda and GrabFood, have worked out a capability development pack to cover three components. The first is capability building to enhance the online performance of their menus, develop an appropriate pricing structure, understand and run promotions and bundle deals effectively.
Second, the development pack provides marketing support to leverage the platforms’ assets such as carousel advertisements and online banners, as well as in-app marketing credits to promote products, run discounts and gain greater customer mindshare.
The last component involves data/ insight sharing to improve delivery performance and business models. Data collected can include financial (e.g. revenue generated) and operational performance (e.g. delivery fulfilment and efficiency rate).
These value-added services come on top of the current offering by the three food delivery platforms to F&B businesses, with the cost of each pack valued at more than S$1,500. F&B businesses can benefit from these additional services by paying a one-time fee of S$100; the rest of the cost will be borne by ESG and the three platform providers.
The capability development pack will be applicable for a period of one year from the date of application, on a first-come-first-served limited basis.
Developing long term digital capabilities and strategies
To further help F&B businesses respond to the growing trend of online delivery and build digital capabilities for the long term, ESG will support up to 90% of eligible costs, including digital marketing and manpower costs, for the following two areas through the Enterprise Development Grant (EDG).
Creating a virtual brand
The creation of a virtual brand can enable F&B businesses to pilot new concepts and gain additional revenue streams by attracting new customer segments, as well as optimise current capacities in manpower and operations (i.e. in the outlet, central kitchen and shared kitchens). Virtual brands can be created with lower capital expenditures and risks as compared to setting up a new brand through a brick-and-mortar format.
Developing an O2O strategy
As the food delivery market continues to grow, F&B businesses can strengthen customer engagement across the various touchpoints through a sound O2O strategy. This can be done by collecting and analysing data on how customers interact with the brand online and offline, for instance through their own online delivery shopfront and existing systems such as Point-of-Sales. By doing so, businesses are able to make more informed decisions.
Said Mr Ted Tan, Deputy Chief Executive Officer, Enterprise Singapore, “In the past year, the industry has seen a strong demand in food deliveries, as a result of changing consumer preferences. Thus, it is increasingly important for F&B businesses to optimise their business models for online sales as well as to build new capabilities to navigate the digital space.”
“Despite the challenges brought about by COVID-19, businesses can take the opportunity to start building their online presence. We encourage more businesses to leverage the Food Delivery Booster Package to effectively tap the digital space for the long term,” he concluded.
Similar to the other initiatives under the SMEs Go Digital programme, the Food Delivery Booster Package helps F&B businesses strengthen their digital capabilities to thrive in the new digital era.
