ShopeeFood Launches in the Philippines Across Metro Manila

1 min readSep 23, 20266:04 AM

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Shopee launched its food delivery service ShopeeFood in the Philippines on September 16. The country is now its fifth market in Southeast Asia.

The service is starting in Metro Manila. It embeds restaurant ordering straight into the main Shopee app to reach millions of existing e-commerce shoppers.

Integration inside the main platform

Instead of releasing a standalone app, the company built food delivery directly into its primary interface. Users can browse menus, track couriers, and complete orders without leaving the core app. The feature links to the ShopeePay digital wallet. It also lets diners spend and earn Shopee Coins on meals.

Early restaurant partners include McDonald’s, Pizza Hut, Domino’s, Taco Bell, Dairy Queen, Krispy Kreme, and Potato Corner. For now, the rollout covers only selected areas and user groups across the capital region.

Challenging the delivery duopoly

ShopeeFood enters an urban market long dominated by GrabFood and foodpanda. Housing food delivery inside a high-traffic retail app lowers customer acquisition costs. But moving meals demands tighter dispatch networks and faster rider fulfillment than parcel logistics.

Restaurant operators gain immediate use on merchant commission fees with a third major delivery platform in play. The real test will be rider retention and delivery speeds during peak lunch and dinner hours, when rivals already run dense fleet networks.

The regional playbook

This Philippine debut mirrors the operational strategy Sea Limited used in Indonesia and Vietnam. In those markets, the parent firm tied food delivery to e-commerce to boost daily active users and drive transactions through its digital finance channels.

Pilot testing began in early September ahead of the official September 16 release. The service will expand to more districts across Metro Manila in the coming weeks before determining rollouts outside the capital.

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What this means

Shopee's integration of food delivery within its primary app, mirroring strategies in Indonesia and Vietnam, is a shrewd move to immediately tap a massive existing user base. This significantly lowers customer acquisition costs compared to rivals GrabFood and foodpanda, who operate standalone apps in the Philippines. By linking with ShopeePay and Shopee Coins, it reinforces its digital ecosystem, a core strength. However, the crucial test will be whether its logistics can match the speed and rider retention of established players during peak demand, especially as it only covers selected areas and user groups initially. The immediate pressure is on GrabFood and foodpanda to respond to commission fee competition. Watch for the service's expansion to more districts across Metro Manila in the coming weeks.

Rajiv Menon

Questions & Answers

Which other Southeast Asian countries already have ShopeeFood?

The article states the Philippines is ShopeeFood's fifth market. It mentions Indonesia and Vietnam as two countries where Sea Limited has used a similar operational strategy.

Which payment method is integrated with ShopeeFood orders?

ShopeeFood links directly to the ShopeePay digital wallet. Diners can also spend and earn Shopee Coins when purchasing meals through the service.

How does ShopeeFood plan to expand beyond its initial launch areas?

The service will expand to more districts across Metro Manila in the coming weeks. After this, it will determine further rollouts outside the capital region.

What advantage does integrating ShopeeFood into the main app offer?

Housing food delivery inside a high-traffic retail app is expected to lower customer acquisition costs. Users can also browse menus, track couriers, and complete orders without leaving the core app.

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