Why are food delivery apps expanding into dine-in services?

Hey there, delivery riders!

Did you know that more and more food delivery apps are expanding their service offerings for dine-in options in Asia? In the past years, customers started to go out more frequently and many of them prefer to go to restaurants instead of ordering food. 

While the food delivery service of these apps is still the largest portion of their earnings, the biggest food delivery aggregators are reacting to customer’s demands and are introducing new services.

In the following article, we’ll mention a few examples that food delivery apps have introduced in Asia.

Grab is testing its dine-in function in 15 locations in Singapore, Thailand, and Indonesia.  Users may pre-purchase dine-in vouchers at discounts of up to 50%. Users of the app may also examine restaurant menus and reviews, place orders and make payments via a QR code, and reserve transportation to eateries.

According to the company, it also intends to begin operations in Vietnam, Malaysia, and the Philippines.

In Singapore, Foodpanda was the first meal delivery service to provide dine-in options in 2021.

Singapore, Thailand, the Philippines, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Pakistan, and Bangladesh currently provide Foodpanda Dine-in services. Since 2022, more than 8,000 restaurants in these nations have begun to provide discounts for dine-in customers that range from 15% to 25%. The company believes that dine-in has "huge potential" and has the ability to grow to be "very, very sizable."

When the company first introduced GrabFood's Dine-in service, Tay Chuen Jein, head of delivery for Singapore, noted that providing these discounts "makes eating out more affordable."

According to a press release from Tay, "it not only helps our users find restaurants to visit, but also makes eating out more affordable as several merchant-partners are offering attractive dine-in vouchers that can be bought through the app."

Grab "indirectly generates incremental revenue from dine-in services." In this case, commission fees from each purchase of a dine-in coupon provide revenue.

Dear riders, what are your thoughts on these initiatives? Have you came across similar services in your countries?