Grab launches grocery delivery service

It will kick off in Indonesia in July, followed by Thailand and Malaysia by late 2018.

Grab teamed up with Indonesian start up HappyFresh to launch its grocery delivery services, an announcement revealed. The move is part of Grab’s open platform strategy as it eyes to become Southeast Asia’s first everyday superapp.

Through GrabFresh, consumers can pick grocery products which will be delivered by GrabExpress drivers and other delivery partners within an hour or at a pre-arranged time.

“We’ve gone from offering our tech as a booking platform for taxi operators, to providing a fleet of delivery drivers for e-commerce companies,” Grab CEO and co-founder Anthony Tan said.

Available through the main Grab app, the on-demand grocery delivery platform will kick off as a beta service in Jakarta from July. Thailand and Malaysia can access it by late 2018.

“Grocery delivery is a huge opportunity in Southeast Asia,” HappyFresh CEO Guillem Segarra said. “From our research, 70% of grocery delivery app users shop at least once per week, and they like to shop from the stores that they are familiar with.”

The platform includes a selection of about 100,000 grocery products from over 50 large supermarket chains and specialty grocery chains as well as trained personal shoppers who could help pick items for customers.